Crugau Colliery

Overview

A small private mine in the Rheola forestry near Glynneath, worked from 1947 in the No. 2 Rhondda seam with pit ponies until 1990 and closed in 1993.

History

Crugau Colliery was a small private mine in the Rheola forestry, between Resolven and Glynneath in the Vale of Neath, overlooking the old Rheola aluminium works. It worked the No. 2 Rhondda seam by hand-got methods, with ponies hauling the drams; the nearest mine was Ivy Rock.

R. J. Pothecary owned it from 1947 to 1950, and Jack Hamer by 1951 as R. J. Pothecary and Company. On 18 December 1952 a new company, Crugau Colliery Co. Ltd, was launched, with John 'Jack' Hamer as managing director and his wife Glenys as a fellow director; Rhys W. Jeffreys, later chairman of the South Wales Small Mines Association, was also involved. In 1955 Hamer and the company opened Blaenpergwm Colliery nearby to work the Red Vein.

Through the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s up to twenty men worked underground. The ponies were replaced by a conveyor at the end of 1990, and a No. 2 level was driven around 1992. The Crugau company stopped production on 6 March 1993; the Lehaj Mining Company took the mine over and closed it in July 1993.

Geology

The No. 2 Rhondda seam.

Workings

Levels (No. 1 intake and No. 2 return, and a later No. 2 level), hand-got; ponies hauled the drams until 1990, then a conveyor and diesel haulage.

Closure

The Crugau Colliery Co. stopped production on 6 March 1993; the Lehaj Mining Company closed the mine in July 1993.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Crugau worked the No. 2 Rhondda seam by hand-got methods. ^1,2
• Crugau Colliery Co. Ltd was launched on 18 December 1952 with Jack Hamer as managing director. ¹
• Ponies hauled the drams until Christmas 1990, when a conveyor replaced them. ¹
• The Crugau company stopped production on 6 March 1993. ^1,2
• The Lehaj Mining Company closed the mine in July 1993. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Other small mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: CRUGAU (CRUGAU NO.2), No. 2 Rhondda seam, abandoned 6 March 1993 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026