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Wattsville is a small village in the Sirhowy Valley, eight miles north west of Newport, built in the 20th century for accommodation for mine workers.
Modern Wattsville consists of two villages, Wattsville and Brynawel. It consists of one main street (Islwyn road) with another hugging the valley below. Wattsville is the base for the Sirhowy valley country park, starting at the tourist centre in Full Moon Cottage (the site of a 19th century village of Full moon, a site for hillwalking and mountain biking on the old railway trackbed.
Further up the valley at Cwmfelinfach is the old site of Nine Mile Point Colliery. This was the site of the first ever 'sit in' of miners. At Wattsville the New Risca Mine, opened 1878 and was 855 feet deep. It was located on the eastern edge of Wattsville and was the first colliery in South Wales to have electric lighting at the pithead and underground in 1892.
The bassist and lyricist of Manic Street Preachers Nicky Wire lived in Wattsville and wrote a song about the village called "Wattsville Blues", where he describes his love of the village. The song appears on the album Know Your Enemy .
About halfway up the main street, there is a noticeable gap in the terrace. This is where 4 houses used to stand, which were flattened due to subsidence from underground mine workings. There is now a monument and garden on the site. There is a similar gap next to the play area on Duffryn Terrace.
Wattsville is home to Wattsville football club Wattsville F.C.
Just north-east of the village is Wattsville Castle, a four-storey drystone structure built by veteran Mikey Allen, construction of which began in 2019, and which became a local tourist attraction visited by over 10,000 people. In 2024, after Caerphilly Council received a complaint, it was ordered to be demolished, a process expected to be completed in 2025. [1] [2]
Osi Rhys Osmond, artist
51°37′05″N3°09′18″W / 51.61806°N 3.15500°W
Barnsley is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 96,888 in 2021, while the wider borough had a population of 244,600 in the 2021 census.
Pleasley is a village and civil parish with parts in both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It lies between Chesterfield and Mansfield, 5 miles (8 km) south east of Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and 2.5 miles (4 km) north west of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The River Meden, which forms the county boundary in this area, runs through the village.
Risca is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, re-opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years. It is split into two communities; Risca East and Risca West. It has a population of 11,700. Cardiff the capital of Wales can be reached in under 28 minutes from the nearby railway station of Risca and Pontymister station which reopened in 2008 after a gap of nearly 60 years.
Waldridge is a village in County Durham, in England. The population at the 2001 Census was 215. Prior to the 2011 Census the parish boundaries changed and the population shown at this census was 4,215. It is situated to the south west of Chester-le-Street. It is known as either Waldridge Fell or Waldridge Village, the 'Fell' referring to the surrounding area of moorland. The village used to be known as Waldridge Colliery. The current village dates back to the 1890s, the original village having been located on the fell which overlooks the present location. Rainwater runs into the Cong Burn to the north and the South Burn to the south, both of which flow into the River Wear which is a few miles to the east.
Hackenthorpe is a village 5 miles south east of Sheffield’s city centre, now classed as a historic township of the city. Due to much expansion, the village became a part of Sheffield city during the 1950s. During much of the late 19th and 20th centuries the village was noted for its steelmaking, with the Thomas Staniforth & Co Sickle works being based at Main Street. Another prominent feature of the village is the 17th century Hackenthorpe Hall, built by John Newbould for the Hounsfield family, with James Hounsfield being a prominent land owner. The building is today used as a nursery.
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable 35-mile (56 km) length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural character and tranquillity belies its original purpose as an industrial corridor for coal and iron, which were brought to the canal by a network of tramways and/or railroads, many of which were built and owned by the canal company.
Cwmfelinfach is a small village located in the Sirhowy valley of south-east Wales. It is part of the district of Caerphilly within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is located north of Wattsville, about 5 miles north of the nearest town Risca, and south of Blackwood. To the east the valley is bordered by the hills of Pen-y-Trwyn. To the west is Mynydd y Grug.
Kibblesworth is a village 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Birtley, Tyne and Wear, England. Kibblesworth was a mainly rural community until the development of the pit and brickworks and the resulting increase in population. Following the closure of the pit in 1974, few of the residents now work in the village. Historically in County Durham, it was transferred into the newly created county of Tyne and Wear in 1974.
Nine Mile Point colliery was a coal mine at Cwmfelinfach in the South Wales Valleys, originally known as "Coronation Colliery", and constructed between 1902 and 1905. The deepest shaft was 1,176 feet deep. Seven men were killed on 13 August 1904 during the establishment of the mine.
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.
Oakdale is a large village in Caerphilly county borough, Wales, 9½ miles north of Caerphilly itself, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Situated in the Sirhowy valley, it is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Blackwood, with which it forms a conurbation. At the 2001 census Oakdale had a population of 4,478.
Nine Mile Point railway station was a halt on the Newport to Tredegar line of the Sirhowy Railway. It served the village of Wattsville. It marked the position of the end on junction between the Sirhowy and Monmouthshire tramroads, being nine miles from the end of the Monmouthshire section of the tramroad at Llanarth St, Newport. Marshalling yards to the north were for the Nine Mile Point Colliery. Nine Mile Point had two signal boxes, No 1 & 2 within short distance of each other. This was due to the very narrow valley allowing just an up and down line. Traffic between the marshalling yards and the colliery was considerable needing the use of two signal boxes. Little remains of this site other than a water tower foundations and evidence of a platform. At its peak there were 11 daily services between Nine Mile point and Newport or Tredegar.
Oakdale Colliery was a coal mine located in the Sirhowy Valley, one of the valleys of South Wales.
Cilfynydd is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, a mile from the South Wales Valleys town of Pontypridd, and 13 miles north of the capital city, Cardiff. Cilfynydd is also an electoral ward for the county council and Pontypridd Town Council.
Caerau is a former mining village in the community of Maesteg, Bridgend County Borough, Wales, located approximately 2 miles north of the centre of Maesteg town in the Llynfi Valley. Caerau, surrounded by mountainous terrain and forestry, is one of the border points between Bridgend County Borough and Neath Port Talbot County Borough, bordered to the north by Croeserw and Cymmer, Neath Port Talbot. Caerau, borders Dyffryn and Spelter to the south in Nantyffyllon, Maesteg.
Marley Hill is a former colliery village about six miles to the south west of Gateshead, near the border between Tyne and Wear and County Durham. It has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead since 1974. Prior to this it was part of Whickham Urban District. It lies within the Whickham South & Sunniside electoral ward of the Blaydon parliamentary constituency.
Manvers Main Colliery was a coal mine, sunk on land belonging to the Earl Manvers on the northern edge of Wath-upon-Dearne, between that town and Mexborough in the Dearne Valley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The regional headquarters and laboratories of British Coal were situated in the complex.
Tredegar Iron and Coal Company was an important 19th century ironworks in Tredegar, Wales, which due to its need for coke became a major developer of coal mines and particularly the Sirhowy Valley of South Wales. It is most closely associated with the Industrial Revolution and coal mining in the South Wales Valleys.
Garth is a village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Garth is situated to the east of the town of Maesteg, and lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley. During the 19th century Garth was an industrial coal-mining village which contained its own colliery, the Garth Merthyr Colliery.
Warsop Vale is a village in the Mansfield district of western Nottinghamshire, England. It is 18 miles (29 km) north of Nottingham, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Mansfield. It is in the civil parish of Warsop. Warsop Vale's heritage is primarily as a former mining village. It lies in the very picturesque area known as the Dukeries and is easily accessible to Clumber Park, Thoresby Park and hall, Rufford Park and the Earl of Portland estate of Welbeck, together all part of Sherwood Forest.
