Tower Colliery was the oldest continuously worked deep-
coal mineCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and possibly the world, and the only mine of its kind remaining in the
South Wales ValleysThe South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
. It is located near the villages of
HirwaunHirwaun is the name of an electoral ward, a community, and a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is four miles from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
and
RhigosRhigos is a village in the north of the Cynon Valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. For postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare, although it is some from Aberdare town centre....
, north of the town of
AberdareAberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the River Dar and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,619...
in the
Cynon ValleyCynon Valley is an ex-mining area near Rhondda in Wales, in the South Wales Valleys area.From 1974 to 1996 the area was one of the districts of Wales, formed from the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts, and part of Neath Rural District, along with the parish of Penderyn from...
south
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
.
With
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
located so close to the surface, it was known by locals to be possible to drift mine coal from Hirwaun
commonCommon land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel. By extension, the term "commons" has come to be applied to other resources which a...
. This activity
increasedMining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century....
from 1805, until in 1864 the first drift named Tower was started, named after the nearby Crawshay's Tower, a
follyIn architecture, a folly is a building constructed strictly as a decoration, having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional structure. In the 18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized...
built in 1848 and named for
Richard CrawshayRichard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...
.
In 1941, a new shaft was sunk to a depth of 160metres.
Tower Colliery was the oldest continuously worked deep-
coal mineCoal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal. Coal that is used to create coke for steel manufacturing is referred to as coking or metallurgical coal...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, and possibly the world, and the only mine of its kind remaining in the
South Wales ValleysThe South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
. It is located near the villages of
HirwaunHirwaun is the name of an electoral ward, a community, and a village at the northwest end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The village of Hirwaun is four miles from the town of Aberdare, and comes under Aberdare for postal reasons...
and
RhigosRhigos is a village in the north of the Cynon Valley, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. For postal purposes it comes under the town of Aberdare, although it is some from Aberdare town centre....
, north of the town of
AberdareAberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the River Dar and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,619...
in the
Cynon ValleyCynon Valley is an ex-mining area near Rhondda in Wales, in the South Wales Valleys area.From 1974 to 1996 the area was one of the districts of Wales, formed from the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts, and part of Neath Rural District, along with the parish of Penderyn from...
south
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
.
History
With
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
located so close to the surface, it was known by locals to be possible to drift mine coal from Hirwaun
commonCommon land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel. By extension, the term "commons" has come to be applied to other resources which a...
. This activity
increasedMining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century....
from 1805, until in 1864 the first drift named Tower was started, named after the nearby Crawshay's Tower, a
follyIn architecture, a folly is a building constructed strictly as a decoration, having none of the usual purposes of housing or sheltering associated with a conventional structure. In the 18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized...
built in 1848 and named for
Richard CrawshayRichard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...
.
In 1941, a new shaft was sunk to a depth of 160metres. From 1943 until closure, this shaft was used as the main "return" ventilation shaft and for the transport of men. In 1958 Tower No. 3 was driven to meet the No. 4 colliery workings, and was used as the main "intake" airway, conveying coal to the surface and transporting materials into the mine working areas.
The
AberdareAberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the River Dar and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,619...
branch of the
Merthyr line|}The Merthyr Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from central Cardiff to Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. The line is part of the Cardiff urban rail network, known as the Valley Lines...
continued north from
Aberdare railway stationAberdare railway station is a railway station serving the town of Aberdare in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is the terminus of the Aberdare branch of the Merthyr Line, 36 km north of Cardiff Central...
to the colliery. While passenger services terminate in
AberdareAberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the River Dar and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,619...
, freight services operated several times a day along this stretch of line, directly owned by the colliery.
British Coal closure
Post the
1984/5 UK Miner's strikeThe UK Miners' Strike was major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...
, the Conservative government authorised
British Coalthumb|right|British Coal company logoThe British Coal Corporation was a nationalised corporation in the United Kingdom responsible for the extraction of coal...
to close the majority of the UK's deep mines on economic grounds, including Tower.
In October 1993 the red flag was raised on Hirwaun common as a symbol of unity between workers of Tower Colliery during a march to commemorate the Merthyr Rising in 1831, and highlight the plight of their own pit. In 1994, the
constituencyCynon Valley is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
,
Ann ClwydAnn Clwyd Roberts is a British Labour MP. She has represented Cynon Valley in Wales since 1984.-Early life:Clwyd is the daughter of Gwilym and Elizabeth Lewis. She lived in Pentre Halkyn in Flintshire and attended Holywell Grammar School , the independent Queen's School in Chester and the...
staged a
sit-inA sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more persons nonviolently occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change.-Process:...
in the mine to protest its closure, accompanied by the late Glyndwr 'Glyn' Roberts (Senior) of
PenywaunPenywaun is a village situated between Aberdare and Hirwaun, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.-Background:The population of Penywaun is approximately 3,300....
.
British Coal closed Tower Colliery on 22 April 1994 on the grounds that it would be uneconomic in current market conditions to continue production.
Colliery Buy-Out by Workers
Led by local NUM Branch Secretary
Tyrone O'SullivanTyrone O’Sullivan OBE , is a Welsh former National Union of Mineworkers Branch Secretary, and current Chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd., the owners of Tower Colliery.-Biography:...
, 239 miners joined
TEBO (Tower Employees Buy-Out), with each pledging £8,000 from their redundancy payouts to buy back Tower. Against stiff central government resistance to the possibility of reopening the mine as a coal production unit, a price of £2million was eventually agreed.
With their bid accepted, the miners marched back to the pit on January 2, 1995, with a
balloonA balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a type of gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were sometimes made of dried animal bladders...
inflated for each worker. On January 3, 1995 the Colliery re-opened under the ownership of the workforce buy out company
Goitre Tower Anthracite. Philip WeekesPhilip Weekes was a renowned mining engineer who rose to the head of his profession within the mining industry in Wales and beyond....
, the renowned Welsh mining engineer, was a key advisor to the buy-out team and became (unpaid) Chairman.
Operations
Up to 14 coal seams had been worked at Tower Colliery during its history, and the neighbouring mines within the lease area of Tower, which was 14.8
kmKM, Km, or km may stand for:*Kilometre *KM - the Michaelis constant in Michaelis-Menten kinetics*Kernel methods*Kettle Moraine High School*Khmer language...
in circumference to create an area of 221.3 hectares. The actual boundaries of the lease were defined either by faults or seam splits in the local geostructure, or excess water to the northwest in the Bute seam. The seams produced good quality coking coal, which was washed onsite at a coal washing plant built in the mid-1980s, after extraction through the hillside on a
conveyor beltA belt conveyor consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
.
Although the mine remained financially viable and continued to provide employment to the workers, by the time of the buyout the only seam worked at Tower was the Seven Feet/Five Feet, a combined seam of several leaves which offered 1.3m of anthracite in a mined section of 1.65m. Working directly under the shaft of the former Glyncorrwg Colliery's "nine feet" workings, the four faces worked in the western section of the lease were considered uneconomic by British Coal.
As the worked seam reduced in capacity, the management team considered three possibilities to extended the length of mine production:
- Work another nine faces in the existing workings, in coal classed only as mineral potential
- Address the water problem in the Bute seam, to the northwest
- Open new developments in the Nine Feet seam, 100m above the existing seam; the Four Feet seam, a further 30m above
But none of these prospects seemed economic, so the board recommended that work be concentrated on coal to the north of the existing workings, which had been left to protect the safety of the existing shafts. Accepted by the workforce and shareholders in an open vote, this decision effectively accepted the end of Tower as a deep mine.
Second closure
Having mined out the northern coal extracts, the colliery was last worked on January 18 2008 and the official closure of the colliery occurred on January 25. The colliery was until its closure, one of the largest employers in the
Cynon ValleyCynon Valley is an ex-mining area near Rhondda in Wales, in the South Wales Valleys area.From 1974 to 1996 the area was one of the districts of Wales, formed from the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts, and part of Neath Rural District, along with the parish of Penderyn from...
.
The Site today
The shareholders are still debating the future of the site, which they eventually wish to have developed to leave a legacy for the area which provides employment. They are presently discussing plans and options with several potential partners.
The possibility of additional revenues exist, with residual coal stocks probably best extracted via open cast mining. There has been talk of using machinery and manpower from Tower to boost production at the nearby Aberpergwm Colliery, a smaller mine closed by the
National Coal BoardThe National Coal Board was the Statutory Corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in Britain. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on 'vesting day', 1 January 1947...
in 1985 but reopened by a private concern in the mid 1990s.
Eventually there are plans to develop the site, with combinations of housing, industrial estate,
industrial heritageIndustrial heritage is an aspect of cultural heritage dealing specifically with the buildings and artifacts of industry which are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations, often forming a significant attraction for tourism.The...
museum or tourism resort being debated.
External links