Glynmoch Colliery

Overview

An anthracite mine at Glynmoch, Glanamman, that ran in three lives: a Victorian level worked from the 1850s to 1883, a brief revival in 1901-02, and, as Ystrad Colliery, a licensed small mine reopened in 1949 that passed through a string of private owners until it closed in 2000. A gas explosion there in 1978 killed two colliers.

History

The first record of the mine, as Glynmoch, is in 1853, when John Arthur was working it. By 1871 it was in the hands of David Lloyd and Sons; it closed in 1872, reopened the next year under David Lloyd and Company, and was abandoned by April 1883 after Lloyd's bankruptcy. The Glynmoch Colliery Company reworked it in 1901-02 with nineteen men. In 1949 D. J. Griffiths reopened the old workings under the name Ystrad, spending a long time pumping them out, and worked the mine under licence from the National Coal Board. T. T. Lewis and Company of Neath took it over in 1958 and still held it in the 1960s and early 1970s; in 1969 it employed 20 men underground and 5 at the surface. From about 1973 the owners were Raymond Owens and Edgar Thomas, trading as Thomas and Owens. On 11 May 1978 a gas explosion in a heading about half a mile in killed two colliers (see Disasters, below). Tumble Anthracite took over in 1988, Ystrad Colliery Limited by 1990 until its bankruptcy in 1992, and then the Thomas brothers of Glanamman, who worked the No. 2 level until they stopped in March 1995. After a pause the Dragon Coal Corporation took the mine on in 1997, and it closed for good on 31 May 2000. Between 1950 and 1990 it usually employed ten to twenty-five men, with thirty-seven in 1987.

Geology

Anthracite from the western South Wales Coalfield; the seams worked at Ystrad are not named in the sources read. Coal reserves were given as 276,000 tonnes in 1964.

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

Workings

A level, later a group of drifts: the No. 1 or Ystrad entrance and a fan drift and fan shaft at SN 660 129, and the No. 2 or Bodyst drift at SN 655 123, which began hauling coal in 1971. Older shafts are recorded nearby at SN 656 125, 655 123 and 654 122. The 1978 explosion was in a heading about half a mile into the mine.

Closure

The Victorian mine was abandoned by April 1883 after its owner's bankruptcy, and the 1901 revival was abandoned in 1902. The last owners stopped work on 31 May 2000. One NMRS list gives a different licensee in 2000 and says the mine was no longer listed by 2003. No reason for the final closure is given.

What remains

Unknown. A former worker who visited in 2009 did not think anything remained at the site.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Glanamman Colliery — 0.7 km E
• Cawdor Colliery — 2.0 km SE
• Gellyceidrim Colliery — 2.0 km E
• Garnant Colliery — 2.4 km E
• Bodyst Uchaf Colliery — 2.7 km W

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Ystrad Colliery Explosion, Glanamman, 1978
  11 May 1978 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  A gas explosion in a heading about half a mile into Ystrad Colliery, a small licensed anthracite mine at Glynmoch, Glanamman, killed two colliers, David Fish and Vivian Brown. Cigarette ends and matches were found in the heading afterwards, but at the inquest no witness had seen anyone smoke, and the coroner recorded that the cause remained unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Glynmoch was worked by John Arthur in the 1850s, then by David Lloyd and Sons and David Lloyd and Company, closing in 1883; the Glynmoch Colliery Company reworked it in 1901-02, and it reopened in 1949 as Ystrad Colliery. ^1,2
• First recorded in 1853 under John Arthur; David Lloyd & Sons by 1871, closed 1872, reopened 1873 under D. Lloyd & Co. Ltd; Lloyd bankrupt 1882 and the mine abandoned by April 1883; Glynmoch Colliery Co. employed nineteen men in 1901 and abandoned it in 1902. ²
• Worked under NCB licence in 1957 by D. J. Griffiths of Ammanford and in the 1960s and 1970s by T. T. Lewis and Company Limited of Neath; Thomas and Owens in 1975/80+, Tumble Anthracite Limited in 1988, the Ystrad Colliery Company in 1992, and the Thomas Brothers of Glanamman on the No. 2 level in 1994/6. ³
• It employed 20 men underground and 5 at the surface in 1969. ³
• Between 1950 and 1990 it employed between ten and twenty-five men, thirty-seven in 1987; reserves were given as 276,000 tonnes in 1964. (uncertain) ²
• The Dragon Coal Corporation took over in 1997 and the mine closed for good on 31 May 2000. (disputed) ²
• E. S. Morris of Gloucester was the licensee in 2000, and the mine was not listed in 2003. (disputed) ³
• A list of mines working in 2000 names the Dragon Coal Corporation Ltd, Ystrad Colliery, Glynmoch, Ammanford, as a licensee. ⁴
• Glyn-moch Colliery is shown on old maps with a tramway down to the main road and railway near the Farmers Arms, at about SN 660 129, where a shaft is marked. ⁴
• Entrances recorded at SN 660129 (No. 1 or Ystrad; fan drift and fan shaft) and 655123 (No. 2 or Bodyst), with old shafts at 656125, 655123 and 654122; Bodyst first hauled coal in 1971. (uncertain) ²
• In 1979 the owner of Ystrad was prosecuted by the Inspector of Mines and Quarries and fined 2,800 pounds. (uncertain) ²
• A Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan (SWR1467) titled 'Glynmoch' records the Red Vein; the catalogue entry gives no location, and another Glynmoch (with Abergorky, in the Rhondda) also appears in the catalogue. (uncertain) ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Amman Valley — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (observational) Ystrad mine Glannaman (Welsh Coal Mines forum thread, 2008-2009) — Welsh Coal Mines forum
3. (secondary) Small Collieries of the Amman Valley worked under NCB Licence (Ystrad Colliery entry) — Northern Mine Research Society (information from Ray Lawrence)
4. (secondary) Coal mining in Gwauncaegurwen and Cwmgors and local area (Glyn-Moch Colliery; Ystrad, Glanaman) — Gareth Hicks, GENUKI
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: GLYNMOCH — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026