Aberpergwm

Last updated

Aberpergwm is the site of a colliery in the Vale of Neath near Glynneath in south Wales.

Contents

Mine history

The site at Aberpergwm had been worked since 1811 as a series of drift mines, but full commercial working began from the 1860s when W. Williams opened a mine on the site. The mine was consolidated with the nearby Pwllfaron drift mine from 1880 with common ground works, under one owner Morgan Stuart Williams. A new drift was opened in 1906, giving the combined colliery access to the Eighteen Feet, Four-Feet, Nine-Feet, Three-Feet and Cornish seams. In 1920 the colliery was bought by Vale of Neath Collieries Co., which itself was consolidated into Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Ltd in 1929. After World War 2 the mines were nationalised, and under British Coal in 1950 the various drift mine workings employed 855 working the Eighteen Feet, Nine Feet and Three Feet seams. By 1969 the mines faced severe geological problems. As a result, only the White Four Feet and Cornish seams were worked. It was also decided as a possible final act to work the pillars left within the Victorian workings of the Eighteen Feet seam. A £750,000 investment in the early 1970s led to extraction from the Pentreclwylla Fault, but the National Coal Board closed Aberpergwm on 7 October 1985. [1]

Present day

The drift mine was reopened in 1996 by local investors Anthracite Mining Ltd, with the mine estimated to have recoverable reserves of 7.6 million tonnes of high-grade anthracite. [2] Bought out by UK-based Energybuild, in 2011 Energybuild was bought by Walter Energy of the United States. At this time, most of the coal was delivered to Port Talbot Steelworks owned by Tata Steel. The colliery suspended working the multi-entry system in the 18 ft seam and concentrated on the development of the 9 ft.

In July 2015, after the bankruptcy filing by Walter Energy, the mine ceased production and was placed on a "care and maintenance" basis. [3] After three years of closure, in 2018 Energybuild was bought from the administrators by another group of UK investors. Today Aberpergwm is the only producer of high-grade anthracite in Western Europe, creating a high-carbon coal which creates a clean burn with low emissions, low sulphur, and high efficiency. Although some product is still transported to Port Talbot Steelworks, now most of the output is finely crushed to produce a carbon product suitable for use in carbon filtering. [4]

Other

The ruined, derelict Aberpergwm House stands on the grounds, the former seat of the Williams family of Aberpergwm.

The Healthcare Property Company Wales built a two-storey healthcare centre, which opened in 2019, on the site of the former washery. It is to provide integrated healthcare services for Glynneath, Cwmgwrach, Pontneddfechan, Ystradfellte, Rhigos, Resolven, Clyne and Abergarwed. It will be run by Swansea Bay University Health Board, the Vale of Neath Medical Practice and D R Cecil Jones Pharmacy. [5]

Related Research Articles

Seven Sisters is a village and community in the Dulais Valley, Wales, UK. It lies 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Neath. Seven Sisters falls within the Seven Sisters ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glynneath</span> Human settlement in Wales

Glynneath, also spelt Glyn-neath and Glyn Neath, is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward covers only part of the community, with some 840 electors included in the neighbouring ward of Blaengwrach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales</span> Region of Wales

South Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards to include Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In the western extent, from Swansea westwards, local people would probably recognise that they lived in both south Wales and west Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park covers about a third of south Wales, containing Pen y Fan, the highest British mountain south of Cadair Idris in Snowdonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales Coalfield</span> Region of Wales rich in coal deposits

The South Wales Coalfield extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales Valleys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn, Neath Port Talbot</span> Human settlement in Wales

Bryn is a village and community in Neath Port Talbot County Borough in Wales. It has a population of 913. The village is located in the hills between Cwmafan, in the Afan Valley, and Maesteg in the Llynfi Valley, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from Port Talbot and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Maesteg. The name of the village now familiarly 'Bryn', is Bryntroedygam. So wrote the first vicar of St Theodore's in Port Talbot. There was a farm situated above Meadow Row named Bryn-Troed-y-Garn as shown on the 1876 OS map, as many more immigrants came to 'Bryntroedygam' it seemed the name of the village was to be shorted to Bryn. 12% of the village speak Welsh. The population rose to 923 by 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower Colliery</span> Historic Welsh coal mine active until 2008

Tower Colliery was the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was located near the villages of Hirwaun and Rhigos, north of the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley of South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhigos</span> Human settlement in Wales

Rhigos is a small village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of the old Neath Rural district Council under Glamorgan until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of The Cynon Valley Borough which subsequently became Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales in 1996. It lies just off the old Aberdare road that was the main link between Aberdare and Glynneath, before the A465 road was extended in the 1960s. The hamlets of Cefn Rhigos and Cwm-Hwnt lie to the west of the main village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blaengwrach</span> Human settlement in Wales

Blaengwrach is a community near Glynneath and Resolven in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, which is a larger area than the Community. The principal settlement is Cwmgwrach, a village on the south side of the Neath valley, of which the eastern end is called Blaengwrach, which sometimes causes confusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberthaw power stations</span> Two decommissioned power stations in Wales

Aberthaw Power Station refers to two decommissioned coal-fired and co-fired biomass power stations on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. They were located at Limpert Bay, near the villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw. The most recent power station on the site, Aberthaw B Power Station, co-fired biomass and as of 2008 had a generating capacity of 1,560 megawatts (MW). The power station closed on 31 March 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mining in Wales</span> Overview of the mining industry in Wales

Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early to mid twentieth century. It was key to the Industrial Revolution in Wales, and to the whole of Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cefn Coed Colliery Museum</span> Mining museum in Neath Port Talbot, Wales

Cefn Coed Colliery Museum is a former coal mine, now operating as a museum. It is located at Crynant near Neath in the South Wales Valleys.

The Vale of Neath, one of the South Wales Valleys, encompasses the upper reaches of the River Neath in southwest Wales. In addition to the River Neath, it is traversed by the Neath Canal and the A465 dual carriageway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cilybebyll</span> Human settlement in Wales

Cilybebyll is both a village and a community in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. It includes the villages of Alltwen, Fforest Gôch, Gellinudd and Rhos. The village is located 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Pontardawe, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Neath and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Swansea. The community has a population of 4,769 in 2011 census.

The South Waratah Colliery was a coal mine located at Charlestown, in New South Wales Australia.

Nantgarw Colliery was a coal mine and later developed Coking coal works, located in the village on Nantgarw, Mid Glamorgan, Wales located just north of Cardiff.

Cynheidre Colliery was a coal mine located in the Gwendraeth valley, in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Opened in 1954, it closed in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberpergwm House</span> Ruinous country house in Wales

Aberpergwm House is an abandoned and ruinous country house located in Glynneath, Wales. Within the grounds of the house sits the church of St. Cadoc, which is possibly of late medieval origin.

The Tarenni Colliery and its associated workings, are a series of coal mines and pits located between the villages of Godre'r Graig and Cilybebyll located in the valley of the River Tawe, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, South Wales.

Abernant Colliery was a coal mine in the River Amman valley at Pwllfawatkin, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Pontardawe and 13 miles (21 km) north of Swansea, West Wales.

Bwllfa Colliery was a coal mine located in the Dare valley near Cwmdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It operated from 1856 to 1957, remaining open as a ventilation shaft for Mardy Colliery until 1989.

References

  1. ↑ "Aberpergwm". Welsh Coal Mines. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. ↑ Blake, Aled (19 December 2007). "Energybuild flotation 'boost for Aberpergwm'". Wales Online. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Jobs to go as South West Wales coal mine is mothballed". South Wales Evening Post . 26 June 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Water filtration". Energy Build. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "New Vale of Neath centre delivers integrated healthcare services". Building Better Healthcare. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

51°45′04″N3°39′50″W / 51.75111°N 3.66389°W / 51.75111; -3.66389

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.