Ogmore Vale (936911)

The brothers Richard and John Cory were Cardiff Ship-owners who decided to move into coal production. In October 1869 they purchased the Pentre Colliery in the Rhondda Fawr Valley expanded it, and from the profits made purchased the Gelli and Tynybedw pits in 1884. From their base in that Valley, they went on to own mines in the Ogmore and Neath Valleys and to become the largest of the ‘independent’ coal owners of the South Wales Coalfield. Cory Brothers and Company was formed in 1888 it became a public liability company in 1891.

They bought the Wyndham Colliery and decided to drive the Penllwyngwent (Aber) Slant a mile further down the valley. It was opened in 1905 and due to the 130 yard upthrow, Aber geological fault extensively worked the Bute seam, which it called the Yard seam, at a thickness of up to 66 inches. It also worked the Upper-Nine-Feet seam at a thickness of around 54 inches. The Lower-Six-Feet seam was extensively worked and had a thickness of up to 98 inches. In 1910/13 this colliery was managed by T. Redshaw and in 1913 it employed 394 men. This company was a Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association member. In 1916/30 the manager was D. Ferguson.

On the 15th of March 1930, 228 men involved in a walk-out at this pit settled the matter at Bridgend Police Court agreeing to pay £1 each. In June 1937 however, the men were awarded £1,500 by the Bridgend County Court when the owners shut the pit from a Friday to a Wednesday in fear of stay-down strikes.

Manpower steadily increased at this colliery until in 1935 it employed 85 men on the surface of the mine and 598 men working underground, the manager at that time was D. Ferguson while in 1945 it was E. Miles.

In 1937 “jiggers”, simply put, sliding sections of metal conveyor that shuffled or jigged the coal down the coalface, were installed, with, in
1942, the colliery came under the control of Powell Duffryn. In 1943 it employed 444 men working underground in the Pentre, Two-Feet-Nine
and Lower New Seams and 114 men working at the surface of the mine.

On Nationalisation in 1947, Penllwyngwent Colliery was placed in the National Coal Board’s, South Western Division’s, No.2 Area, Ogmore Group, and at that time employed 106 men on the surface and 421 men underground working the Pentre, Two-Feet-Nine and Yard seams. The manager was E. Miles who was still there in 1949. By 1954 the colliery employed 90 men on the surface and 385 men underground and worked the Two-Feet-Nine and Yard seams. The manager was still E. Miles.

In 1955 this colliery employed 200 men working at its coalfaces, while in 1956 there were 217 men working at the coalfaces, but by 1958 the
coalface figure had dropped back to 200 men. In 1961 it was still in the No.2 Area, Ogmore Group along with Wyndham and Western collieries. Manpower for this Group was 1,993 men, while the total coal production for that year was 505,887 tons. The Group Manager was R.A. Evans, and the Area Manager was W.B. Cleaver.

Due to a geological disturbance called the Jubilee Slide, all the seams from the Six-Feet seam to the Lower-Nine-Feet seam are missing in a belt at
least half a mile wide at this mine. Generally, this colliery produced type 301A Prime Coking Coals for use at foundries and blast furnaces.

Penllwyngwent Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board on the 28th of February 1969 and of the 320 men at this mine 197 were transferred to Wyndham/Western and the rest opted for redundancy.

Some of those that died at this mine:

  • 9/2/1910, Thomas Meyrick, aged 45, collier, run over by trams.
  • 14/2/1912, Matthew Wilson, aged 41, collier, run over by trams.
  • 30/7/1913, Frank Winterburn, aged 40, collier, roof fall.
  • 30/7/1913, William Townsend, aged 35, repairer, roof fall.
  • 8/10/1913, George Williams, aged 30, road man, roof fall.
  • 4/6/1914, Idris Godding, aged 18, slummer, run over by trams.
  • 15/7/1914, Enoch Phillips, aged 40, repairer, run over by trams.
  • 2/10/1914, Arthur Badcock, aged 38, surface labourer, fell off ladder.
  • 1/4/1927, John Edwards, aged 35, rider, run over by trams.
  • 7/11/1927, J. Stanford, aged 42, repairer, roof fall.
  • 1/6/1933, James Barnett, aged 44, collier, roof fall.

Some Statistics:

  • 1909: Manpower: 145
  • 1910: Manpower: 526
  • 1911: Manpower: 534
  • 1912: Manpower: 521
  • 1913:  Manpower: 394.
  • 1916: Manpower: 505.
  • 1919: Manpower: 505.
  • 1920: Manpower: 505
  • 1923: Manpower: 670.
  • 1924: Manpower: 739
  • 1926: Manpower: 820
  • 1927: Manpower: 646.
  • 1928: Manpower: 720
  • 1929: Manpower: 700
  • 1930: Manpower: 680.
  • 1931: Manpower:720
  • 1932: Manpower:720
  • 1933: Manpower: 638
  • 1937: Manpower: 663
  • 1938: Manpower: 654
  • 1940: Manpower: 620
  • 1941: Manpower: 650
  • 1942: Manpower: 520
  • 1944: Manpower: 533
  • 1945: Manpower: 558
  • 1947: Manpower 527.
  • 1948: Manpower: 519. Output: 110,000 tons.
  • 1949: Manpower: 510. Output: 110,000 tons.
  • 1950: Manpower: 475.
  • 1953: Manpower: 439. Output: 140,000 tons.
  • 1955: Manpower 449. Output: 114,658 tons.
  • 1956: Manpower 446. Output: 103,975 tons.
  • 1957: Manpower: 446. Output: 120,773 tons.
  • 1958: Manpower: 430. Output: 128,810 tons.
  • 1960: Manpower: 396. Output: 108,251 tons.
  • 1961: Manpower: 376. Output: 82,726 tons.
  • 1964: Manpower: 376.

 

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

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