MineArchiveGlenrhondda Colliery
| Location | Blaencwm, Rhondda Cynon Taf — 51.6990, -3.5750 (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Commodity | Coal |
| Type | Coal |
| Worked | 1911–1966 |
| Maximum depth | No reliable depth figure has yet been located. |
| Operators | Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited (1911–1947), National Coal Board (1947–1966) |
| Status | Researched |
Overview
A Blaencwm colliery opened in 1911 by Glenavon Garw Collieries Ltd, whose workforce founded a colliery brass band that still performs today, long after the pit itself closed in 1966.
History
Glenrhondda Colliery was opened in 1911 at Blaencwm, in the upper Rhondda Fawr, by Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited, a company owned by R. McEwen and W. F. Gibb of Post Office Chambers, Port Talbot. The colliery was served by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway, which ran through the Rhondda Tunnel to move its coal onward. On 25 September 1913 a leading sinker, William Roberts, aged 35, drowned after falling from a moving stage into 13 yards of water in the shaft during a walling operation -- a single-fatality accident that does not meet this archive's threshold for a full disaster record. Glenrhondda passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation and was closed by the NCB in 1966, alongside the neighbouring Dunraven Colliery.
Workings
Served by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway via the Rhondda Tunnel; a leading sinker drowned in the shaft in a 1913 walling accident.
Closure
Closed by the National Coal Board in 1966, alongside the neighbouring Dunraven Colliery; the two Blaencwm sites have since been landscaped.
What remains
The site has been landscaped; boulders mark the former pithead location.
Boulders marking the former pithead location.
Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Glenrhondda Colliery was opened in 1911 by Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited, owned by R. McEwen and W. F. Gibb of Port Talbot, and served by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway via the Rhondda Tunnel. 1
- On 25 September 1913 leading sinker William Roberts, aged 35, drowned after falling from a stage into 13 yards of water in the shaft during a walling operation. 2
Photographs & further reading
This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.
Further detail on the colliery's ownership and workings.
View sourceImages
Sources
- (secondary) Blaencwm — Wikipedia
- (secondary) Glen Rhondda Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
Record created: 1 September 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026