Park and Blaina Colliery

Overview

Anthracite slants and a pit at Penybanc, near Ammanford, worked in the Stanllyd and Pumpquart seams from the 1880s, employing over 300 men at their height around 1900 and abandoned in the 1930s after passing through the anthracite combines.

History

The Park and Blaina workings were anthracite slants at Penybanc in the Amman Valley, near Ammanford, flanked by Tir-y-Dail Colliery to the west, Pontyclerc to the east and Saron to the south. David Lloyd owned and managed them in 1882-87, when they worked the Stanllyd seam. The Blaina slant was opened in 1891-92 by the Blaina Colliery Company, which became the Blaina and Park Colliery Company in 1893; the official lists often gave the Park and Blaina manpower separately. In 1896 the company employed 163 men underground and 62 on the surface, with E. R. Fisher as manager, and manpower reached 315 in 1900. As the Blaina Colliery Company Limited it employed 235 men in 1908-09. The Lower Pumpquart seam was abandoned at the end of 1912, and a new drift was driven to the Little vein to replace the falling output of the Blaina pit; it was finished in 1913, and by 1915 headings from Blaina New drift were reaching Stanllyd and Middle Pumpquart coal. In 1919 the Stanllyd here was said to be the best malting coal in the trade. In October 1924 a locomotive shunting at the Blaina sidings crashed through the iron-girder bridge into the river. During the anthracite strike of 1925 the colliery saw some of the strike's most violent scenes: explosives were set off and its telephone lines cut. That year it passed to Blaina and Raven Anthracite Collieries, and in 1928 to Welsh Anthracite Collieries. One account has it abandoned in 1933; another lists Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries working it with 110 men in 1935. It was not worked by the National Coal Board.

Geology

Anthracite of the western South Wales Coalfield: the Stanllyd, Little, Grasisaf and the Lower and Middle Pumpquart (Gellideg) seams.

Workings

The Blaina slant and pit (downcast and upcast, the latter known as Glasbrook's shaft), the Park slant, and from 1912-13 the Blaina New drift to the Little vein.

Closure

The Lower Pumpquart was abandoned in December 1912; the colliery was abandoned in 1933 by one account and listed as working in 1935 by another. It was not taken over by the National Coal Board.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Pantyffynnon Colliery — The Blaina Colliery Company, earlier the Blaina and Park Colliery Company, opened Pantyffynnon slant in 1902; both later passed to the Blaina and Raven company and to Henderson's (NMRS; WCM).

What's uncertain

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

• The colliery was abandoned in 1933. (disputed) ²
• In 1935 Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries Limited owned it, employing 100 men underground and ten on the surface. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• David Lloyd owned and managed the Park and Blaina slants in 1882-87, working the Stanllyd seam. ¹
• The Blaina slant was opened in 1891-92 by the Blaina Colliery Company, which became the Blaina and Park Colliery Company in 1893. ²
• In 1896 the Blaina and Park Colliery Company employed 163 men underground and 62 on the surface. ¹
• The Lower Gellideg (Lower Pumpquart) seam at Blaina was abandoned in 1912. ^2,3
• In 1919 the Stanllyd seam at this colliery was said to be the best malting coal in the business. ¹
• During the 1925 anthracite strike explosives were set off at the mine and its telephone lines were cut. ¹
• The colliery was abandoned in 1933. (disputed) ²
• In 1935 Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries Limited owned it, employing 100 men underground and ten on the surface. (disputed) ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Park & Blaina Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (Ray Lawrence)
2. (secondary) Carmarthenshire Small Mines (Blaina Slant, Pantyffynon) — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Blaina, Upper Pumpquart Level, Lower Gellideg (Lower Pumpquart) seam, abandoned 1912 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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