Glyncymmer Colliery

Overview

A level near Cymmer in the Afan valley, known locally as 'Goodie', worked by the Gibb family's companies from the 1890s and employing up to 190 men; it closed at nationalisation in 1947.

History

Glyncymmer Colliery, known locally as 'Goodie', worked house, steam and manufacturing coals from the take to the south of Cymmer in the Afan valley. In 1896 it belonged to Robert Gibb of Glyncorrwg and employed 61 men, with John Thomas as manager. David Daniel, manager by 1908, ran it for some twenty years; in 1908 it employed 165 men underground and 22 at the surface.

By 1913 it belonged to the Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited, owned by R. McEwen and W. F. Gibb of Port Talbot and members of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners' Association, and in 1921 it came under the control of the Gibbs' Navigation Coal Company. Its workforce stood between about 130 and 190 from 1900 to 1930.

It worked the Red, Six-Feet and Nine-Feet seams, abandoned in August 1912, and the No. 2 Rhondda, which here had split into the Field Vein and the Wenallt seam of 30 to 36 inches; the Wernpistyll Rider was finally abandoned in June 1928. Roof falls killed the collier David Davies, 26, on 17 August 1910 and George T. Baitup, 51, on 4 March 1926. Its compensation registers for 1929 to 1945 survive, and the colliery closed in January 1947.

Geology

South Wales coalfield: the Red, Six-Feet and Nine-Feet seams; the No. 2 Rhondda, split here into the Field Vein and the Wenallt seam; and the Wernpistyll Rider.

Workings

A level working the take south of Cymmer.

Closure

The Red, Six-Feet and Nine-Feet were abandoned in August 1912 and the Wernpistyll Rider in June 1928; the colliery closed in January 1947.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Glenavon Colliery — Both belonged to the Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited of R. McEwen and W. F. Gibb.

Recorded claims

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

• Glyncymmer Colliery was known locally as 'Goodie' and worked the take south of Cymmer. ¹
• Robert Gibb of Glyncorrwg owned it in 1896, the Glenavon Garw Collieries Limited by 1913, and the Gibbs' Navigation Coal Company from 1921. ¹
• Its Wernpistyll Rider workings were finally abandoned in June 1928. ^1,2
• The colliery lay at Cymmer, at SS856960, and its compensation registers for 1929 to 1945 survive. ³
• Glyncymmer closed in January 1947. ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Glyncymmer Colliery (Near Cymmer, Afan Valley, 85679593) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) BGS mine plan: GLYNCYMMER, No. 2 Rhondda / Wernpistyll Rider, abandoned 1928 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
3. (secondary) Colliery records for family historians (Glamorgan Archives guide) — Glamorgan Archives
4. (secondary) NCB Collieries - Wales — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026