Nant Fach Colliery

Overview

A tiny licensed mine on Baran Mountain near Pontardawe, worked from 1991 to 1998 in the No. 1 Rhondda seam, one of the last in South Wales to haul its coal with horses.

History

Nant Fach Colliery was on Baran Mountain, near Tresgyrch Farm at Rhydyfro above Pontardawe, and worked the No. 1 Rhondda seam. It was opened in 1991 by Tesgyrch Mining Ltd and closed in 1996, then reopened in March 1997 by the brothers Anthony and Andrew Austin.

It was a very small working. In 1995 three men and one horse worked the mine; the coal was hand got and brought to the surface by horse, and it was one of the last mines in the area to use them. The two horses still working there in March 1998 were Dobbin, sixteen years old, and Patch, five, and when the mine closed both were retired to the RSPCA's Wyndham Cottle Home of Rest at Milton Keynes. That left only one mine in South Wales using horses, Pantygasseg.

The mine was last worked on 20 March 1998, the date on its abandonment plan.

Geology

The No. 1 Rhondda seam.

Workings

A small hand-got working with horse haulage to the surface.

Closure

Closed in 1996, reopened in March 1997 and last worked on 20 March 1998.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Nant Fach was opened in 1991 by Tesgyrch Mining Ltd. ¹
• It worked the No. 1 Rhondda seam. ^1,2
• In 1995 three men and one horse worked the mine, the coal brought out by horse. ¹
• It was last worked on 20 March 1998. ^1,2
• Its last two horses, Dobbin and Patch, were retired to an RSPCA home at Milton Keynes. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Other small mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: NANT FACH, No. 1 Rhondda seam, abandoned 20 March 1998 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026