Ffaldau Colliery

Overview

A Garw valley colliery at Pontycymer, sunk to 300 yards in 1876 by the Ffaldau Steam Coal Company and also known as the Oriental. It was integrated with the Braichycymmer pit, passed through Cory Brothers and Powell Duffryn to the National Coal Board, and in 1975 was joined with the neighbouring Garw Colliery to work as Garw/Ffaldau. It closed in November 1985 with 630 men out of work; a proposed workers’ buy-out was made prohibitively expensive after the Coal Board cut the ropes on the cage and tipped 200,000 tonnes of hardcore down the shaft.

History

The Ffaldau Steam Coal Company sank the colliery to a depth of 300 yards in 1876; it was also known as the Oriental. By the Inspector of Mines list of 1896 it belonged to Ffaldau Collieries Co. Ltd and employed 247 men producing both steam and house coal. In 1908 the workforce, including the coke ovens, numbered 367. It was later integrated with the Braichycymmer pit, and in 1918 the two together employed 995 men. A list of 1923 gives 189 men at the Ffaldau and 992 at Braichycymmer, both producing house and steam coal from the Two Feet Nine, Lower Six Feet, Five Feet and Upper Nine Feet seams. Production was suspended in 1926 and the pit kept as a pumping station only. In 1934 it came under Cory Brothers & Co. Ltd, who sold it to the Powell Duffryn group; they held it until the National Coal Board was formed in 1947. The workforce numbered 596 in 1945, and after nationalisation the colliery underwent a major reconstruction. In 1949, 150 men were transferred in from the International Colliery, and a reorganisation in 1950–52 lifted output from 580 tons a day in 1949 to 920 in 1950. The colliery had 1,100 workers in 1927, about half that by the mid-1930s. In 1975 Ffaldau was joined with the neighbouring Garw Colliery — sunk by the Ocean Coal Company from 1883 and producing top-quality bituminous house coal from 1886 — to work as the Garw/Ffaldau Colliery. The pit closed in November 1985 and 630 miners lost their jobs. A workers’ buy-out had been mooted, but it was judged prohibitively expensive after the National Coal Board cut the ropes on the caged lift and poured 200,000 tonnes of hardcore down the mine shaft.

Geology

The South Wales coalfield in the Garw valley. The 1923 list gives the seams worked as the Two Feet Nine, Lower Six Feet, Five Feet and Upper Nine Feet, producing both house and steam coal — the Garw valley’s pits sat where the steam-coal measures of the middle coalfield meet the house coals, and Ffaldau and its neighbours took both.

Workings

Sunk to 300 yards in 1876, later integrated with the Braichycymmer pit and equipped with coke ovens by 1908. It was kept as a pumping station only from 1926, reconstructed after nationalisation, and reorganised in 1950–52 in a way that lifted daily output from 580 to 920 tons. From 1975 it worked as one undertaking with the Garw Colliery.

Closure

Garw/Ffaldau closed in November 1985 with the loss of 630 jobs. A workers’ buy-out was considered and abandoned as prohibitively expensive once the National Coal Board had cut the ropes on the caged lift and tipped 200,000 tonnes of hardcore down the shaft.

What remains

The colliery site at Pontycymer has been cleared. The Garw valley’s pits are gone entirely, and the valley floor where Ffaldau stood has been reclaimed.

None identified.

Nearby mines

• Lluest Colliery — 1.6 km S
• Wyndham Western Colliery — 3.0 km SE
• Caerau Colliery — 4.8 km NW
• Cambrian Colliery — 6.9 km E, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Park Slip Colliery — 7.0 km SW

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• The Ffaldau Steam Coal Co. sank the colliery, also known as the Oriental, to a depth of 300 yards in 1876. ¹
• It belonged to Ffaldau Collieries Co. Ltd by 1896, came under Cory Bros. Co. Ltd in 1934, was sold on to the Powell Duffryn group, and passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. ¹
• A list of 1923 records both Ffaldau and Braichycymmer producing house and steam coal from the Two Feet Nine, Lower Six Feet, Five Feet and Upper Nine Feet seams. ¹
• Production was suspended in 1926 and the pit kept as a pumping station only; after nationalisation it underwent a major reconstruction, and a reorganisation in 1950–52 raised output from 580 tons a day in 1949 to 920 in 1950. ^1,2
• The Garw/Ffaldau Colliery was formed in 1975 at Pontycymer from the joining together of the Garw Colliery and the Ffaldau Colliery. ²
• The pit closed in November 1985 with 630 miners losing their jobs; a workers’ buy-out was deemed prohibitively expensive after the National Coal Board cut the ropes on the caged lift and 200,000 tonnes of hardcore were poured down the mine shaft. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ffaldau Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Garw/Ffaldau Colliery — Wikipedia
3. (observational) The Garw valley collieries — Digging up the Past

Record created: 7 September 2026 · Last researched: 7 September 2026