Mardy Colliery

Overview

The Rhymney Iron Company's Mardy pit at Pontlottyn, on the company's own freehold, about fifty years old when it was closed as unprofitable in 1909 with some 400 men. A Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery was working again by 1920, when the poet Idris Davies went to work there.

History

The Mardy Colliery, or Mardy pit, at Pontlottyn in the upper Rhymney valley belonged to the Rhymney Iron Company and stood on the company's freehold, so that no royalty was paid on its coal. In 1909 it was said to be about fifty years old. Falls killed men there: a stone fell on John Davies of Pontlottyn in June 1881, and in January 1902 a slab of coal four feet eight inches by four and a half feet from the Red seam, left up as roof over the Rhas Las, fell between two slants on the collier David Davies, 54, who died a few days later.

By early 1909 the coal was so far in from the shaft, and the men losing so much time, that the cost of the output was far from covered, and the company gave notice to everyone. The notices ran out at the end of February and about 400 men brought out their tools. A deputation with the acting miners' agent asked the agent and manager, W. T. Bowen, to keep the pit open day to day, without success; the company undertook to find work for some at Pengam, Gilfach and Groesfaen, with a workmen's train on the Rhymney Railway, but the older men, some of whom had worked nowhere else, faced a bleak outlook.

A Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery was working again by 1920. The poet Idris Davies moved there from the McLaren pit at Abertysswg in the summer of 1920, attended night classes while working there, and lost a finger in an accident underground before the 1926 strike ended his time as a miner.

Geology

South Wales Coal Measures of the upper Rhymney valley: the Rhas Las seam worked with the Red seam left as roof.

Workings

A shaft pit with slants in the Rhas Las seam; by 1909 the working faces lay far from the shaft.

Closure

Closed by the Rhymney Iron Company at the end of February 1909 as unprofitable; working again as Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery by 1920.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Culture

• Idris Davies and McLaren Colliery (Literature)
  Idris Davies worked at Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery, Pontlottyn, from summer 1920 until the 1926 strike (People's Collection Wales 36349; Wikipedia).

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Idris Davies lost a finger in an accident underground in 1925. (disputed) ⁴
• Idris Davies lost a finger in early 1926, shortly before the General Strike. (disputed) ⁵

Recorded claims

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

• Mardy Colliery was the Rhymney Iron Company's freehold property, so no royalty was paid on its coal; in 1909 it was about fifty years old. ¹
• At the end of February 1909 the Rhymney Iron Company closed Mardy Colliery as unprofitable, the coal being far in and the men losing time; about 400 men were affected. ¹
• In January 1902 a fall of coal from the Red seam, kept up as roof over the Rhas Las seam, fatally injured the collier David Davies, 54, at the Mardy pit. ^2,3
• Idris Davies joined Mardy (Rhymney) Colliery in summer 1920 after working at the McLaren pit at Abertysswg. ^4,5
• Idris Davies lost a finger in an accident underground in 1925. (disputed) ⁴
• Idris Davies lost a finger in early 1926, shortly before the General Strike. (disputed) ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Welsh Newspapers: Evening Express, 1 March 1909, 'Mardy Colliery Closed' — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
2. (primary) Welsh Newspapers: Evening Express, 4 February 1902, 'Sad fatality at Pontlottyn' — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Mardy, Rhymney, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Wikipedia: Idris Davies — Wikipedia
5. (secondary) People's Collection Wales: Idris Davies (1905-1953) — People's Collection Wales
6. (primary) Welsh Newspapers: Cardiff Times, 18 June 1881, Pontlottyn fatal accident at the Mardy pit — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

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