| Ebbw Vale Works | |
|---|---|
The Ebbw Vale Steel Iron and Coal Co. Ltd. owned
several pits in the Ebbw vale district and together with their Iron and
Steel plants, were known collectively as the "Ebbw Vale Works". |
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| Ebbw Vale Miners sometime between 1860 and 1900 | ![]() |
| Victoria Colliery ( the prince of wales) | |
| The Prince of Wales Colliery Ebbw Vale 1920 (right)
Victoria pits were a series of 16 mine workings producing both coal and iron ore to supply the Victoria Ironworks owned by the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Co. Ltd. The shaft of the original Victoria No.1 colliery was sunk to
a depth of 690 feet by the Ebbw Vale Company and completed in 1846 (other
shafts were sunk later). Although it was only a single shaft it was used
to raise both coal and iron from three different levels. Winding was by
the Water Balance method. There occurred an accident just over one year after it opened, when 11 miners who were descending the shaft fell to their deaths after a rope, which was connected to a counter balance bucket became detached. |
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| On March 2nd 1871, a gas explosion occurred at the Victoria No.1 pit killing eighteen men and one boy. |
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At the inquest the government mines inspector reported that a blower of gas from the coalface had been ignited by a naked flame, he also added that the ventilation was inadequate and this was compounded by the abnormal weather conditions. In his report to the Home Office the inspector stated if his earlier advice on ventilation improvement had been put into practice the explosion probably would not have occurred. After the explosion the pit was closed down, it reopened eleven years later when steam powered ventilation fans were installed. In 1896 a workforce of 363 were producing coal from the Big Vein,
Byddeg, Old Coal and Old Woman's Coal seams.By 1908 the workforce had
increased to 463. |
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No. 6 closed in 1894 |
No. 5 closed in 1895 and reopened in 1914 it was
then called Prince of Wales, Victoria. Victoria No. 1 closed in 1914. |
Victoria Colliery Disasters |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
21st of June 1848 |
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| Name | Age | Occupation | Status | Lived at |
| Chivers, Hubert | 13 | |||
| JamesDavis | 39 | Married | ||
| Richard Edwards | 26 | Single | ||
| John Harris | 47 | Married 4 Children | ||
| William Owen | 18 | Single | ||
| John Morgan | 32 | Widowed | ||
| James Phelps | 29 | Single | ||
| Emanuel Stilman | 27 | Widowed | ||
| David Thomas | 29 | Married 2 Children, | ||
| Isaac Williams | 23 | Single | ||
| Richard Williams | 27 | Single | ||
2nd of March
1871 |
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| Name | Age | Occupation | Status | Lived at |
| Francis Adams, | 21 | Collier, | Single, | Briery Hill |
| John Chapman, | 23 | ,Collier | Married 1 Child | Old Pitty |
| Samuel Cooke, | 18 | Collier | Single | Bee Row |
| John Evans, | 31 | Collier | Married 5 Children | Victoria Town |
| Charles Ford | 20 | Collier | Single | Powell's Row |
| John Gallope | 30 | Collier | Married 6 Children | Briery Hill |
| Joseph Gallope | 25 | Collier | Married | Old Pitty |
| James George | 24 | Collier | Married 1 Child | Briery Hill |
| Joseph Harris | 12 | Doorboy | Boy | Powell's Row |
| Thomas James | 21 | Collier | Single | Briery Hill |
| ThomasMitchell | 39 | Collier | Married, 10 Children | Victoria Town |
| Phillip Phillips | 59 | Collier | Married | Bee Row |
| David Phillips | 21 | Collier | Single | Bee Row |
| George Williams | 23 | Haulier | Single | Briery Hill |
| William Plummer | 24 | Collier | Married | Victoria Town |
| Jonathan Price, | 50 | Fireman | Married, 6 Children | Powell's Row |
| John Price | 18 | Collier | Single | ( Son of Jonathan ) |
| James Tanner | 58 | Collier | Married, 6 Children | |
| George Turk | 18 | Collier | Single | Briery Hill |
| Waun Lwyd Colliery | |
|---|---|
| The Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal Company Ltd sank Waunlwyd Colliery
between 1874 and 1876.
No.1 and No.2 shafts both downcast at 272 yards and 168 yards deep respectively, No.3 shaft up-cast at a depth of 269 yards. An underground fire broke out near the stables, on September
22nd, 1879 killing three men including a father and his son, 16 horses
also perished. An air-door, which had been purposely left open to clear
a pocket of gas was accidentally close by a fireman sending the gas to
the naked lights at the stables, where it ignited. |
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The Dead.;
|
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| Cwm and Monmouthshire Colliery | |
|---|---|
| Situated near Llan dafal in Cwm, this colliery is
first mentioned in the Inspector of Mines list 1880.
It
is again mentioned in the 1896 list when the owners were Monmouthshire
and Cwm Collieries Co. At this time there were 124 men employed here producing
coal from the Tillery seam. |
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| Red Ash Level | |
|---|---|
The Red Ash Level mine was one of the many mines that were set into the easterns side of the ebbw Vallley. This was down to the many seams found along the Ebbw Valley and was often concidered dangerous to be worked in. also along the valley at this time one could find mines names the Black Vein, Big Veinand the old coal |
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| Marine Colliery | |
|---|---|
| The sinking of this colliery began in 1889 by the Ebbw Vale Steel,
Iron and Coal Company Ltd. The downcast shaft being 418 yards deep and the
up-cast 414 yards. The first coal was produced in 1893. From the Inspector of Mines list 1896, there were 833 men employed producing from the Old coal, Three quarters, Big and Elled seams, in 1913 there were 2,407 men employed.On the 1st of March 1927 an underground gas and coal dust explosion killed 52 men. The death toll would have been many more if it wasn't for the quick thinking of the manager Mr. Edward Gay, who on his arrival at the mine ordered the ventilation fan to be slowed down so that it wouldn't fan the flames of any fires burning below. It turn out that his actions saved the lives of the men still alive in the district where the explosion occurred. At this time there were 1400 men employed at the colliery but fortunately when the explosion occurred only the night shift were working underground. By 1935 the ownership of the colliery change hands to Partridge, Jones & John Paton Ltd. who worked the colliery until Nationalisation in 1947, when there were 1,540 men employed. During the 1970's it became integrated with Six Bells colliery with all the coal being handled at the Marine,. in 1982 £2.5 million was spent on a new skip winding system, also a new coal handling plant was installed on the surface. Sadly Marine Collery was the last deep mine to work in the Ebbw valleys, it closed March 1989. |
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Marine Colliery Accident |
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|---|---|---|
On Tuesday, March 1 st, 1927, fifty two men died in the Marine Colliery at Cwm. Marine was a modern pit compared with others in the district, and the people of Cwm and Company officials were shocked when the explosion occurred. The night shift of firemen and maintenance men had only been down a few hours before the explosion took place. It was due to fire damp which had gathered in the Black Vein area and then swept with devastating effect through the return, to the upcast shaft. There were about 140 men underground at the time, and it was believed that fifty men had been trapped by the fall. Officials and rescue teams used the downcast shaft and pumps were set up to force ventilation through the workings. This would prevent further explosions and allow rescue teams to get to the trapped men. The first three officials who went down were F. P. Hann, the Managing Director, H.' McVicar, General Manager, and W. H. John the Colliery Agent. These were overcome by carbon monoxide gas, commonly known as "black damp", and were brought back to the surface. Relatives and friends waited anxiously for news as miners with light injuries arrived at the Ambulance Room, but by 2.30 a.m. and it was obvious that many of the miners still underground must have been killed. Doctor Florance O'Sullivan lived nearest to the pit, in Wood vi lie Road, and later wrote an account of the disaster. He led one of the rescue teams and was joined by other local doctors, including Doctor Alan P. Brown. The rescue team which Dr. O'Sullivan led, consisted of two ambulance men, two stretcher bearers and a guide. The team made its way into the affected area, slipping and slithering down shafts and pitches and met a fireman, with a linnet in a cage. They arrived at a point where the bird stopped chirping and died, and they quickly returned to the surface. They then went down again to an area where trapped men had been located. This time there was no risk of gas, but they were in danger of being crushed by rockfalls. The team rescued two men, but it was nearly two days before all the bodies were recovered. When the men were found, they all appeared to be alive, for the effect of the gas had made their cheeks red. Relatives and friends stood in the mud and driving rain and waited anxiously for news. Fifty two men had been killed and several families lost two or more members. Workers in the same heading were killed. William Matthews, and his two collier sons, Trevor and Herbert were lost. There followed days of comforting the bereaved and identifying the bodies as they were brought to the surface. On Wednesday the Prime Minister, Mr. Stanley Baldwin and his wife, visited the scene of the disaster and called on many bereaved families. On the day of the funeral in Cwm, a bus carrying sightseers and mourners, turned over as it was travelling over the bridges near the colliery and several of the passengers had to be treated in hospital There was a seperate funeral for the Ebbw Vale , but most of the the forty one victims from were buried in a special section of Cwm cemetery. On September 29th, 1927 a momerial tablet to those who died was unveiled at Cwm Institue by the general manager, Sir Fredrick Mills Marine Colliery was one of the last fully operational colliery in the Blaenau Gwent area and during the last ten years of its life the surface works was expanded and modernised. At the time of its closure the coal seams had not been exhausted, and in the interests of economy the collieries at Six Bells and the Rose Heyworth, Abertillery, were linked to Marine underground. |
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| Name | Employment | Address |
| Harry Brain, | Labourer | 104 Marine Street, Cwm |
| William Bryant | Repairer | 2 Newcombe Terrace, Cwm |
| Bert Button | Collier | 22 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Wilfred Button | Engineman | 22 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Joseph Chappell, | Assistant Collier | 42 William Street, Cwm |
| John Clarke, | Collier | Mill Terrace, Cwm |
| Charles Cox | Haulier | 122 King Street, Cwm |
| William Crowley | Repairer | 8 Rees Street. Ebbw Vale |
| W. G Davies, | Repairer | 9 School Terrace, Cwm |
| Davies, Reginald | Repairer | 43 Western Terrace, Ebbw Vale |
| William Dudley | Labourer | The Huts, Beaufort |
| David Evans | Labourer | Llanelly Hill, Brynmawr |
| Tom Gatehouse | Labourer | 191 Marine Street, Cwm |
| Charles Green | Repairer | 85 Lilian Grove, Ebbw Vale |
| Fred Green, | Repairer | 48 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Alfred Griffiths | Collier | 36 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Sidney Hill | Repairer | 3 Steward Street, Cwm |
| John Hobbs | Labourer | Duffryn Villas, Cwm |
| Llewellyn Jenkins | Repairer | 24 Station Terrace, Cwm |
| William Jones | Collier | 12 Council Street. Ebbw Vale |
| Charles Lee | Labourer | 123 Marine Street, Cwm |
| Tom Lewis | Engineman | 8 Station Rd, Waunllwyd |
| Edward Mason | Labourer | 5 Railway View, Cwm |
| William Mathews | Overman | Kitchener Terrace, Cwm |
| Trevor Mathews | Collier | 43 Marine Street, Cwm |
| Herbert Mathews | Collier | 13 Park View, Waunllwyd |
| Walter Mathlin, | Repairer | 14 King Street, Cwm |
| John Miles, | Collier | 71 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Charles Monaghan, | Labourer | 74 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Richard Monaghan, | Labourer | 74 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Tom Morris, | Collier | 4 King Street, Cwm |
| Tom Morris, | Haulier | 108 Beaufort Hill,Beaufort |
| Richard Nation, | Haulier | 77 Emlyn Avenue, Ebbw Vale |
| William Penny, | Labourer | 103 Canning Street, Cwm |
| Robert Pester, | Haulier | 242 Marine Street, Cwm |
| William Pickford, | Collier | Osborne Road, Brynmawr |
| Wilfred Probert, | Labourer | 49 Station Terrace, Cwm |
| Harold Reed, | Fitter | 224 Marine Street, Cwm |
| Gordon Riddock, | Labourer | 187 Marine Street, Cwm |
| John Rogers, | Examiner | Railway View, Cwm |
| John Rogers, | Labourer | 18 The Huts, Cwm |
| Shellard, Walter | Collier | 6 Mill Terrace, Cwm |
| Ben Stibbs, | Assistant Collier | 52 Stanfield Street, Cwm |
| Tom Tarr, | Collier | 2 Duffryn Villas, Cwm |
| Fred Trowbridge, | Labourer | 12 Duffryn Rd, Waunllwyd |
| Jim Vaughan, | Repairer | 53 Woodland Hill, Ebbw Vale |
| William Warren, | Assistant Haulier | 25 Currie Street, Cwm |
| Ted Wilcox, | Ropeman | 25 Crosscombe Terrace, Cwm |
| Ellis Williams, | Examiner | 75 Marine Street, Cwm |
| Albert Wright, | Labourer | 2 Waen Goch, Beaufort |
| Time Line For the works rail link to Ebbw Vale | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1789 | Ebbw Vale Company Works | Opened. |
| 1837 | Victoria Ironworks, Ebbw Vale | Opened. |
| 1837 | Beaufort Ironworks Tramway | Passenger station by Victoria Ironworks and Ebbw Vale Company's Victoria Colliery called Victoria. |
| 1846 | Victoria No. 1 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Mine sunk. |
| 1847 | Victoria No. 6 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Mine sunk. |
| 1859 | #West Somerset Mineral Railway# | Line leased by the Ebbw Vale Steel, Iron and Coal company (originally the Ebbw Vale company) for 55.25 years |
| 1859 | Merthyr Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway | Company incorporated. Backed by Crawshay Bailey of Nantyglo, James Hill of Blaenavon and Thomas Brown of Ebbw Vale. Engineer; John Gardner. |
| 1864 | West Somerset Mineral Railway, Ebbw Vale Company | West Somerset Mineral Railway taken over by the Ebbw Vale Company to procure iron ore. |
| 1868 | Ebbw Vale Ironworks | Bessemer process introduced. |
| 1868 | Ebbw Vale Company Works | Bessemer process introduced. |
| 1871 | Victoria No. 1 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Gas explosion, 19 killed. Pit closed. |
| 1882 | Victoria No. 1 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Re-opened after new ventilation fans fitted. |
| 1894 | Victoria No. 6 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Closed. |
| 1895 | Victoria No. 5 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Closed. |
| 1909 | #West Somerset Mineral Railway# | The Somerset Mineral Syndicate sub-lets the line from the Ebbw Vale company. The line is re-opened between a new jetty at Watchet and Brendon Hill where a 2 foot mine line extends the railway. Gupwrthy is not re-opened. |
| 1910 | London and North Western Railway, South Wales | Run-away coal train piles up after being diverted onto a dead-end siding by signalman on Ebbw Vale Branch. |
| 1914 | Victoria No. 5 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Re-opened as Prince of Wales, Victoria. |
| 1914 | Victoria No. 1 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Closed. |
| 1919 | #West Somerset Mineral Railway# | Ebbw Vale companys lease expires and no longer has to pay for use of line. |
| 1919 | Ebbw Vale Company Works | Works closed. |
| 1929 | Victoria No. 5 Pit, Ebbw Vale | Production ends. |
| 1935 | Ebbw Vale Company Works | Acquired by Richard Thomas & Co. |
| 1938 | Ebbw Vale Company Works | Re-equipped and Ironworks, Steelworks and mills re-opened as the first continuous wide-strip mill in the UK for tinplate. |
| 2005 | Ebbw Vale Steelworks | Closed |
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Some of the Other Coal Mines found in the Ebbw
Vale area |
|---|
Drissiog |
Ganister |
Graig Vawr |
Bwlch Y Garn |
Aberbeeg, Newport, Powell Bros |
Abercarn, No.1, Neport, Ebbw Vale Co. Limited. |
Abersychan Works, Ebbw Vale, Ebbw Vale Co. Limited. |
Beaufort, Aberstrouth, Beaufort Colliery CoCwm, Aberbeeg, J. Cook and Co |
Bush, Crumlin, Bush Coal Company,Beaufort Works, |
Nantyglo, Nantyglo and Blaina Co Limited. |
Llandaval, Aberbeeg, |
Monmouthshire and Cwm Collieries Co.Old Engine, |
Nantyglo, Coalbrook Vale Coal Co. |
Pantyforest, Ebbw Vale, Powell and Co. |
Pontypool Works, Pontypool, Ebbw Vale Co., Limited. |
Sirhowy Works, Newport, Ebbw Vale Co., Limited. |
Sun, Nantyglo, Morgan and Williams. |
Tillery, Abertillery, Jaynes Tillery Colliery Co. |
Tredegar, Tredegar, Tredegar Iron and Coal Company Limited. |
Tirphill, Tredegar, J. P. Jones. |
Wain Level, Nantyglo, Morgan Thomas. |
Winches, Nantyglo, John Lewis. |
Yard Level, Nantyglo, Chilton and Jones. |
| Other Notable mines attached to the the Ebbw Vale area |
| Drybrook Level, Newnham, Ebbw Vale Co. Limited. |