Ffaldydre Colliery

Overview

A Cory Brothers drift high in a side valley above Resolven, opened in 1914 into the No. 1 Rhondda seam beside the Glyncastle shafts and worked with Glyncastle for most of its life. It employed over 400 men in the 1920s, was laid idle in the depression, reopened in 1937 and was closed by the NCB in 1963 so that its men could be moved to Glyncastle.

History

A level called Ffaldydre, with Lefel y Gwydab, was opened by J. W. Lyon in 1837. The colliery of that name was a drift driven by Cory Brothers in 1914 into the No. 1 Rhondda seam, 42 inches thick here, near the Glyncastle shafts and between Glyncastle to the north and Garth Merthyr to the south, with its offices and baths down in Resolven. It employed 70 men in 1916 under T. Redshaw, and although only 17 were at work in 1918, it had 284 men the next year. Manpower passed 400 in 1923, when it raised 112,000 tons, and reached 518 in 1930. On 28 July 1925 Edward Snook, an 18-year-old collier boy, was killed by a fall of roof. The drift was temporarily closed in 1928, reopened in 1929, closed again in 1932 and reopened in 1937, from when it was worked in conjunction with Glyncastle under the same manager, R. Rosser. On nationalisation in 1947 it had 135 men. By 1954, under H. R. Davies, it employed 222, and by 1963 its coalfaces lay more than a mile and a half from the drift mouth, reached by a surface haulage engine, a 150 hp haulage and four conveyors. It closed on 28 September 1963 with 211 men. It had not run out of coal: Glyncastle could not keep its workforce, and the Ffaldydre men were transferred there.

Geology

Worked the No. 1 Rhondda seam, about 42 inches thick here, producing anthracite, house, manufacturing and steam coals.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (historical documentary reference)

Workings

A drift high in a small side valley east of Resolven, near the Glyncastle shafts, with a separate return drift. By 1963 the faces were over 1.5 miles in: coal and materials travelled 1,000 yards by surface haulage engine to the main double parting, then by a 150 hp haulage and four conveyors of 500, 156, 305 and 150 yards.

Closure

NMRS dates closure to 28 September 1963, when the men were transferred to Glyncastle; the Resolven History Society also gives 1963. A photograph caption on a plan-archive account gives abandonment as 28 April 1965, the month Glyncastle closed. Earlier closures ran 1928-29 and 1932-37.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Glyncastle Colliery — Worked in conjunction with Glyncastle from the 1930s under the same manager, and closed in 1963 so its men could be transferred to Glyncastle.

Nearby mines

• Glyncastle Colliery — 0.5 km E
• Ynysarwed Colliery — 1.0 km SW
• Cwmgwrach Colliery — 4.0 km E
• Blaenant Colliery — 4.7 km N
• Graig y Fforest No.2 Colliery (Pinetrees) — 5.0 km NE

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 Ffaldydre drift was opened in 1914 by Cory Brothers into the No. 1 Rhondda seam, 42 inches thick, near the Glyncastle shafts. ^1,2
• In 1914 Cory Brothers opened a new level at Ffald-y-Dre above Glyncastle, which employed a further 286 men by the end of the First World War. ³
• In 1918 it employed 186 men including 72 on the surface, and 427 in 1924; in 1938, 52 worked underground at Ffaldydre alongside Glyncastle, and 184 in 1945. (disputed) ¹
• NMRS gives 17 men in 1918, 284 in 1919, 403 in 1923 (112,000 tons), 518 in 1930, 135 in 1947, 222 in 1954 and 211 in 1961. (disputed) ²
• In 1950, 165 men worked at Ffald-y-Dre. ³
• On 28 July 1925 Edward Snook, aged 18, a collier boy, died under a roof fall. ²
• It closed on 28 September 1963 with 211 men, 90 on the coalfaces, because Glyncastle could not retain its manpower and the Ffaldydre men were designated to Glyncastle. (disputed) ^3,1,2
• A photograph caption of the return drift gives the mine's abandonment as 28 April 1965. (disputed) ⁴
• The BGS mine-plans catalogue holds a Mining Remediation Authority surface plan titled 'Glyncastle & Ffald y Dre Collieries' (SFE87). ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Glyn Castle (Glyncastle, Ffaldydre and Rheola collieries) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Ffaldydre Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (Ray Lawrence)
3. (secondary) Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen History Society: Coal in Resolven — Cymdeithas Hanes Resolfen (Resolven History Society)
4. (observational) Ffald-Y-Dre Colliery, Return Drift (photograph and caption) — Flickr
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GLYNCASTLE & FFALD Y DRE COLLIERIES — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 16 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026