The Llynfi Valley had a number of pits working through the years and numerous levels (drift mines). The deep pits included:
Garth – sunk in 1864 and closed in 1930
Coegnant – sunk in 1882 and closed in 1981
Caerau – sunk in 1889 and closed in 1979
Oakwood – sunk in 1868 and closed in 1928/9
St.John’s – sunk in 1908 and closed in 1985 (the last deep mine in the Llynfi Valley)
Click on the images to find out more about them.
Caerau Colliery 1979.
St. John’s Colliery
Caerau Colliery 1979.
The spare sheave wheel (in 2 halves) which can be seen in the courtyard here, were sent to St. John’s Colliery when Caerau closed down but they were never used as St. John’s closed down not long after. The sheave wheel was eventually donated to the South Wales Miners Museum by the National Coal Board and is now on display there.
Caerau Colliery being demolished in 1979.
St. John’s Colliery. The coal here is going down to the washery in Maesteg.
Coegnant Colliery from the distance when it was working. The pit closed in 1881.
Caerau Colliery c. 1900
Notice the head gear on the left has no wheel on it. It was probably under construction at the time.
Oakwood Colliery.
It was sunk in 1868 and closed in 1928/9.
You can see here that the head frame was made from wood.
Coegnant Colliery just before it closed in 1981.
The pond in the foreground is the ‘feeder’ for the boliers. An almost unique feature of this colliery was that the head frame was encased in concrete.
St. John’s Colliery in 1984 before closure.
On the right you can see the hydraulic roof supports which were used underground.
St. John’s Colliery in 1984
St. John’s Colliery in 1984
St John’s Colliery 1985
Coegnant Colliery 1981.
It had just closed.
Coegnant Colliery 1981
St. John’s Colliery 1985
Coegnant Colliery 1981.
When they demolished the head frame it collapsed on top of the winding house.
St John’s Colliery in 1985 during the miners’ strike.
I was invited to take some pictures here at that time by my friend John James who said it was ‘nice and quiet’.
Coegnant Colliery 1981
Coegnant Colliery 1981
St. John’s Colliery 1985.
This was the first time I had ever tried a colour film.
I always think it looks more dramatic in black and white.
Coegnant Colliery 1981
Coegnant Colliery 1981
This is the compressor house.
Coegnant Colliery 1981
Retrieving the the water pipes (which pumped the water out of the pit)
St. John’s Colliery 1985
St. John’s Colliery 1985
The manager asked me not to photograph the junk in the yard as it was too messy. I did anyway. I got a lot of stuff from here for the South Wales Miners’ Museum. I got so much I could have opened my own museum!
