Bedwellty Pits

Near Tredegar, Sirhowy Valley (15450629)

The Bedwellty Pits were worked by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company from the mid-1800s to the 1930s. This company was a member of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. The mine consisted of the Nos. 1 & 2 Pits and the Bedwellty Nos. 1 & 2 Levels. The No.2 Pit was sunk to a depth of 227 yards and struck the following seams:

• The Four-Feet seam at a depth of 225 yards.
• The Polka or Upper Black Vein seam was 47 inches thick and divided from the Lower Black or Rhas Las by 22 feet of rock,
• The Rhas Las was 33 inches thick.
• The Big Vein Group of seams consisted of, from the top seam; Four-Feet 65 inches, clod 36 inches, Yard coal 39 inches, clod 36 inches, Three-quarter coal 72 inches.
• The Old Coal was coal 27 inches, clod 8 inches, coal 24 inches thick,
• The Elled seam consisted of 6 feet of coal.

The shafts went to the Big Vein seam and were about 230 yards deep and 16 feet by 11 Feet. They were 12 yards apart. The Ty Tryst Colliery had two shafts of similar dimensions which were connected to the Bedwellty shafts. On the 16th of June 1865, an explosion killed 26 miners in the pits. On the 16th of September 1867, another explosion at this pit killed one man and injured two others. On the 31st of October 1870, there was another explosion of firedamp, with one man being severely burnt. On the 4th of April 1879, yet another explosion of firedamp killed three men and severely burned another three. Less than a year later in March 1880, four more men were killed by an explosion. Reports of these explosions can be found here.

In November 1869, this pit was described as having two pits, 20 yards apart, 16ft by 11 ft, and 230 yards deep. One was the upcast and the other the downcast ventilating shaft. Coal was raised in both pits at an average of 540 tons a day. The winding engine at the downcast pit had two 25-inch horizontal cylinders, four feet stroke, and wound from the Yard seam at a depth of 230 yards. The upcast winding engine had one horizontal cylinder with a six-foot stroke, two rope coils, 9 feet and 10.5 feet in diameter, one winding to the Yard seam at 230 yards, and the other to the Elled seam at 203 yards. The cylinder on the pump engine was placed part over the downcast pit and had a 50-inch cylinder with a 9.5-foot stroke, going four strokes per minute. The piston rods were underneath and directed to the pump rod, to which was connected four forging sets raising water from a depth of 240 yards. Six boilers supplied the steam to the engines.

The report continued to state that from the bottom of the downcast levels were driven on either side, both for 600 yards. On the west side, about 100 yards in, two roads were driven down in a southerly direction, then two cross-drifts worked off the main drift, they were 60 yards apart and going south-east, with other roads similar to these being opened out as the main road was extended. The coal of the Yard seam was won on the long-wall system on both sides of the main road, the roads being ten yards apart, with the stall being worked by two colliers.

The workings on the east side were similar. The sections of the two seams worked were; Big Vein: Top Coal 40 inches, shale 40 inches, and Bottom Coal 24 inches. Yard Seam: coal 36 inches. There were 26 horses employed near the workplaces, the trams then being brought out by a steam-driven haulage engine. The Pontygwaith seam was worked by a level 800 yards above the pit top, and the coal came down a self-acting incline to the pit top railway sidings. This seam was 33 inches thick and worked by 10-yard stalls and leaving 10-yard pillars. About 150 tons of coal per day was produced.

In 1878 the manager was H. Jones, in 1888 it was W.H. Routledge, at that time the pits were working the Big Vein, Yard, No.1 and No.2 seams. The No.1 Level worked the Pontygwaith (Brithdir) seam and the No.2 Level the ‘Old Man’s Coal.’In 1896 the levels employed 20 men underground and 8 men on the surface while the pits employed 560 men underground and 102 men on the surface working the Big Vein and Yard seams. The manager of both was W.H. Routledge. In July 1898 the pits were linked to the newly opened McLaren Colliery.

The Pontygwaith seam was abandoned in October 1900. At that time the pits were working the Big and Yard seams. In 1908 the colliery employed 1,060 men underground and 117 men on the surface with the manager being R.W. Tolfree, in 1913/5. The colliery employed 1,251 men, in 1916 it employed 1,066 men, in 1918 it employed 918 men working underground and 157 men working at the surface, the manager was E. Rees who was still there in 1919 when it employed 1,053 men. Those figures had dropped to 540 men in 1932 with Mr. Rees still the manager, and dramatically to 46 men underground and 10 men on the surface producing 10,000 tons of coal for the year of 1934. In 1938 there were 80 men working underground and 18 on the surface, the manager was B.L. Phillips.

Bedwellty’s coals were generally classed as type 301A Prime Coking Coals for use as foundry and blast furnace coke. The No.2 Pit closed in 1939, with the No.1 Pit closing in 1941. It abandoned the Elled, Big, Yard, Three-quarter, Upper and Lower Rhas Las seams when it closed in 1941.

Some of those who died at this mine:

• 28/2/1862, Thomas WILLIAMS, Age: 42, Collier, roof fall
• 15/8/1866, James WARREN, Age: 61, Collier, Fall of stone
• 27/11/1866, Edward WILLIAMS, Age: 14, Doorboy, run over by trams.
• 27/4/1867, Hannah REES, Age: 17, Bankswoman, Fell from the top of a deep pit.
• 11/4/1872, William SAUNDERS, Age: 32, Collier, Fall of roof
• 23/7/1874, Solomon LEWIS, Age: 20, Collier, Fall of coal.
• 3/12/1877, David LEWIS, Age: 37, Haulier: Injured by fall of clod Died 13th Dec.
• 18/1/1878, Robert EVANS, Age: 27, Haulier, Injured by trams. Died 24th Jan.
• 13/9/1879, John WARRELL, Age: 44, Repairer, Fall of coal.
• 18/1/1881, Lloyd JONES, Age: 33, Collier, Fall of stone. 2 killed.
• 18/1/1881, T. KINSEY, Age: 15, Collier, Fall of stone. 2 killed.
• 15/2/1881, W. LLEWELLYN, Age: 20, Collier, Fall of clod.
• 12/3/1884. Theophilus JONES, Age: 40, Collier, Fall of Stone.
• 31/7/1885, John PRICE, Age: 25, Collier, Injured by a fall of clod and died the next day.
• 8/4/1887, James EDWARDS, Age: 25, Collier, fall of the roof.
• 28/3/1888, David DAVIES, Age: 37, Collier, Fall of roof
• 13/3/1891, John CLAYTON, Age: 27, Repairer, Notes: Crushed by a full tram
• 28/2/1895. Samuel CHARLES, Age: 14, Collier, roof fall.
• 10/7/1895. John HOPKINS, Age: 16, Collier boy, fall of the roof.
• 29/12/1896, William COOKE, Age: 43, Collier, A fall of coal from the face which killed him.
• 22/9/1911, Thomas MORGAN, Age: 34, Haulier, run over by trams.
• 29/11/1911, Thomas WILLIAMS, Age: 48, Fitter, While examining some pulleys and belting his clothes became entangled in a revolving shaft and he was whirled around, falling 13 feet. Died 1st December, 42
• 26/2/1912, William GEORGE, Age: 37, Collier, Fall of roof
• 2/10/1912, Timothy DAVIES, Age: 25, Shackler, A journey of empty trams was being taken up a cross measure by a tail rope, when the rope flew off the curb, displacing a rail, which struck him.
• 21/4/1913, John EVANS Age: 34, Labourer, Died from natural causes.
• 23/7/1913, Philip RUTTER, Age: 25, Collier, Fall of the roof at face.
• 6/8/1914, Alexander JONES, Age: 32, Latcher: While sitting on a beam of a locomotive engine ready to raise the coupling link attaching the engine to three practically empty trucks, a runaway journey of nine trucks of pitwood crashed into the rear end forcing the front empty wagon up to the beam where he was sitting crushing him to death against the end of the engine.
• 6/11/1914, George RUSSELL, Age: 33, Asst. repairer, In trying to escape being run over by runaway trams he was struck by the front tram against a post and received such injuries that he died
• 1/5/1925, David WILLIAMS, Age: 42, Collier, Fall of stone. Died 2nd.
• 5/6/1928, Charles LONG, Age: 36, Collier, Fall of stone. died 17th June.

Information supplied by Ray Lawrence and used here with his permission.