Carway Fawr Colliery

Overview

British Coal's last major investment in the South Wales coalfield: a pair of 1,800-metre drifts driven from the Cynheidre compound from 1986 to a new anthracite seam, meant to replace Cynheidre with 750 men. The seam was reached in 1988, the project was mothballed in 1989 without raising a ton of coal, and the drifts were plugged in 1992.

History

The Carway Fawr seam was proved south-east of Cynheidre by a borehole in 1982. British Coal sank five new boreholes, ran 46 km of seismic survey and used fifteen older boreholes before committing to the £30 million project, which began in 1986. The plan was two drifts about 1,800 metres long at a gradient of 1 in 5, with their entrances in the Cynheidre Nos. 1 and 2 compound; Thyssen won the contract to drive them, while a new fan and haulage house went up on the surface. A plan of the rope haulage is dated January 1987.

By 1988 both drifts had reached the Carway Fawr seam and work had begun on the strata bunker, pit bottom and service garage, with roadways being formed for the first of 35 planned longwall faces. The mine was intended to replace Cynheidre, with up to 750 men working an estimated 8 million tonnes. At the start of 1989 the Coal Board announced that it would be mothballed, and Cynheidre itself closed that year.

Not a ton of coal was mined. Welsh Coal Mines puts it down to problems with the seam section. In 1992 the mine was plugged, the drift entrances covered and the Cynheidre buildings demolished, leaving nearly 8 million tons of reserves behind. In 2009 a waste transfer station was set up on the site of the former Carway Fawr winding shed and control room.

Geology

The Carway Fawr seam of the anthracite coalfield, proved south-east of Cynheidre; the mine stopped over problems with the seam section.

Workings

Two drifts about 1,800 metres long at 1 in 5 from the Cynheidre Nos. 1 and 2 compound, with a strata bunker, pit bottom and rope haulage; 35 longwall faces were planned.

Closure

Mothballed at the start of 1989 before producing coal; plugged in 1992, when the drift entrances were covered and the Cynheidre buildings demolished. The abandonment plan is dated 13 November 1992.

What remains

The drifts are sealed and their entrances covered; the Cynheidre surface buildings were demolished in 1992.

Redevelopment

In 2009 a waste transfer station and recycling yard was set up on the site of the former Carway Fawr winding shed, control room and yard, north of Cynheidre's Nos. 1 and 2 shafts.

Related mines

• Cynheidre Colliery — The Carway Fawr drifts were driven from the Cynheidre Nos. 1 and 2 compound as replacement capacity for Cynheidre, and NMRS treats them as part of it.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The £30 million project began in 1986, with two drifts about 1,800 metres long at 1 in 5. ^1,2
• Both drifts struck the Carway Fawr seam in 1988. ^1,2
• It was intended to employ up to 750 men working about 8 million tonnes of coal. ^1,2
• The Cynheidre colliery site was later planned to be the site of the Carway Fawr drift mine, but closed in 1989. ^2,3
• The drifts were sealed and the surface buildings demolished in 1992. ^1,2,4
• Development started in 1986 but closed in January 1989 along with the remaining Cynheidre workings, then employing 1,043 men. ^5,3
• A British Coal South Wales Area plan of the Carway Fawr rope haulage is dated 7 January 1987. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NMRS: Carway Fawr Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Carway Fawr — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Coflein: Cynheidre Colliery, Llanelli Rural (NPRN 33393) — RCAHMW Coflein
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CARWAY FAWR (Carway Fawr seam, abandoned 13 November 1992) — British Geological Survey
5. (secondary) Cynheidre Colliery — Wikipedia
6. (secondary) Museum Wales: Carway Fawr new drift mine, plan (2007.12/8) — Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales
7. (primary) The National Archives: Cynheidre Colliery/Carway Fawr Seam, South Wales Area (C4507635) — The National Archives

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026