Nant Hir Colliery

Overview

A small drift mine in forestry east of Seven Sisters, Dulais Valley, worked under licence from 1979 to 2024. Owned for its first and longest phase by a single man, Albert Thomas, it was visited underground in 1988 by the novelist Iris Gower, researching her novel Black Gold.

History

Nant Hir Colliery was opened in forestry east of Seven Sisters in the Dulais Valley, worked under licence from the National Coal Board and, later, British Coal from 1979 to 2010. It worked the Red Vein seam, about 34 inches thick, towards the neighbouring Elwyn Colliery. For most of that time, 1979 to 1992, it was owned and worked by a single man, A. (Albert) Thomas, largely alone: in 1982 he produced only 104 tons of coal as its sole worker, using hand-got methods with a horse named Blackie for haulage. In 1988 the Swansea-born novelist Iris Gower visited Thomas's mine and went underground to see how miners dug coal without machinery, researching her best-selling novel Black Gold; she later wrote that the visit 'gave me a good idea of what the mining industry was like in the 1920s' and that she found it 'a dirty, and quite frightening experience'. The mine closed and was opencast-worked in 1992 before Ward Brothers, the Durham-based opencast company, took over the licence from 1994; ownership passed to M. & W.A. Anthracite Ltd in 2003, when the mine received a Government grant of £31,200 as one of four South Wales collieries to qualify for the final payment of the Coal Operating Aid Scheme, and to Metal Innovations Ltd in 2008. The workings were plagued by water throughout, requiring pumping around the clock; at its peak the mine employed a workforce of 22 on a two-shift system, with its own ventilation and safety officer, using a Celtic Miner 1500 machine to drive drifts and mine coal from a 0.85-metre section, producing around 250 tons a week for a washery at Brynamman. The colliery closed and its drifts were sealed in November 2024.

Geology

Worked the Red Vein seam, about 34 inches thick, of the South Wales Coalfield.

Workings

A drift mine; hand-got in its early years using a horse, Blackie, for haulage, later worked with a Celtic Miner 1500 mining machine on a 0.85-metre section; the workings were plagued by water throughout and required continuous pumping.

Closure

Closed and its drifts sealed in November 2024, after 45 years of intermittent working.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Nearby mines

• Elwyn Colliery — 0.4 km NE
• Blaenant Colliery — 2.2 km SW
• Onllwyn Colliery — 2.2 km N
• Seven Sisters Colliery — 3.3 km W
• Abercrave Colliery — 3.8 km N, Powys

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

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in forestry east of Seven Sisters, Dulais Valley, and worked under licence from 1979, initially by Albert Thomas, working the Red Vein seam. ^1,2
• In 1982 Albert Thomas, its sole worker, produced only 104 tons of coal; the mine was abandoned in 1992 with opencast working following in 1993-94. ^1,2
• In 1988 novelist Iris Gower visited the mine and went underground with Albert Thomas to research her novel Black Gold, later writing of the experience that it made her realise 'just how courageous miners are'. ¹
• From 1994 owned by Ward Brothers; in 2003 owned by M. & W.A. Anthracite Ltd, when the mine received a £31,200 Government grant under the Coal Operating Aid Scheme (Welsh Coal Mines gives the grant as November 2003, NMRS as March 2003); ownership passed to Metal Innovations Ltd in 2008. (disputed) ^1,2
• At its peak the mine employed 22 men on a two-shift system, using a Celtic Miner 1500 machine; closed and its drifts sealed in November 2024. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) West Glamorgan Small Mines (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Small collieries of the Dulais Valley — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026