Varteg Red Ash Level

Also known as	Deakins Red Ash Level, Varteg Red Ash Colliery, Red Ash Level, Varteg
Location	Varteg, Afon Lwyd valley, Torfaen — 51.7507, -3.1031 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1907–24 September 1956
Maximum depth	Unknown.
Operators	Varteg Deep Black Vein Collieries Limited (1907–1925), J. Vipond and Company Limited (1922–1947), National Coal Board (1947–1956)

Overview

A drift into the Red Ash (Brithdir) seam on the hill above Varteg, opened as the Varteg Red Ash Level in 1907 and worked from the 1920s by John Vipond and Company. Always troubled by water after heavy rain, it employed about 100 men under the National Coal Board and closed on 24 September 1956.

History

The Varteg Red Ash Level, later known as Deakin's Red Ash, was a drift into the Red Ash seam, also called the Brithdir or Tillery, on the mountain above Varteg. NMRS says it was opened in 1907 by the Varteg Deep Black Vein Collieries, the company formed in 1901 by Thomas Hedges Deakin to work the Lower Varteg collieries; the earlier Red Ash working lay further east. NMRS also describes it as a drift opened in 1922 and worked by John Vipond and Company, which took over the Deakin collieries when the Deep Black Vein company was dissolved in 1925. In 1923 the Red Ash level employed 24 men; in 1930, 44 underground and 4 at the surface under R. Jones; in 1935, 86 underground and 9 at the surface; in 1938, 110.

The take was bounded by Cwmtillery Colliery to the west, Big Pit to the north, the outcrop of the coalfield to the east and Deakin's colliery to the south. The drift ran north-west, its coal hauled out by a 70-horsepower Uskside steam engine, with compressed air for the underground machines piped from Varteg Hill Colliery and a separate fan drift. It was badly affected by water whenever there was heavy rain. Six men died in underground accidents there up to 1947, five of them under falls of roof.

At nationalisation in 1947 the National Coal Board placed it in its No. 6 (Monmouthshire) Area, with 15 men at the surface and 72 underground under H. D. Connick, working the Back District east of the Blaenavon fault and the Hard Heading District between the Blaenavon and Clydach Bridge faults by machine-cut headings and stalls. Some 404,000 tons were reckoned to remain, mostly in the Hard Heading District, but that coal went to the deep and pumping would have made it uneconomic. It produced 16,000 tons in 1954 and 17,714 tons with 100 men in 1955, and closed on 24 September 1956.

Geology

The Red Ash seam of the Upper Coal Measures, known also as the Brithdir or Tillery; the take was cut by the Blaenavon and Clydach Bridge faults, and the coal to the west dipped to the deep.

Workings

A drift driven north-west with a separate fan drift, steam haulage by a 70 hp Uskside engine, compressed air from Varteg Hill Colliery, and machine-cut headings and stalls in the Back and Hard Heading districts.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board on 24 September 1956; the remaining coal lay to the deep, where pumping would have made it uneconomic.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

Lower Varteg Colliery — Both opened by the Varteg Deep Black Vein company and later Vipond's; men transferred to the Red Ash level at closure.
Varteg Hill Colliery — Both John Vipond and Company's; the Red Ash level drew its compressed air from Varteg Hill Colliery.

Nearby mines

Lower Varteg Colliery — 1.2 miles (1.9 km) SE
Cwmtillery Colliery — 1.2 miles (2.0 km) W, Blaenau Gwent
Varteg Hill Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.1 km) E
Cwmsychan Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.2 km) S
Cwmtillery Red Ash Colliery — 1.4 miles (2.3 km) W, Blaenau Gwent

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

What's uncertain

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

It was opened in 1907 by the Varteg Deep Black Vein Collieries as the Varteg Red Ash Level. (disputed) ¹
The drift was opened in 1922 and worked by John Vipond and Company. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

It was opened in 1907 by the Varteg Deep Black Vein Collieries as the Varteg Red Ash Level. (disputed) ¹
The drift was opened in 1922 and worked by John Vipond and Company. (disputed) ¹
The Red Ash level employed 24 men in 1923 and 110 in 1938. ²
It was badly affected by water every time there was heavy rain. ¹
Six men died in underground accidents there up to 1947, five under falls of roof. ¹
It was closed by the National Coal Board on 24 September 1956. ^1,2,3

Photographs & further reading

NMRS: Deakins Red Ash Level (reference)

Ray Lawrence's account of the drift, its boundaries, equipment and closure.

View source

Welsh Coal Mines: Vipond's collieries (reference)

John Vipond and Company's Varteg mines, with a photograph of the Varteg Red-Ash in the 1950s.

View source

Sources

(secondary) NMRS: Deakins Red Ash Level — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Vipond's collieries, Varteg — Welsh Coal Mines
(primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: DEAKINS RED ASH (Tillery, abandoned 24 September 1956) — British Geological Survey
(primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: DEAKINS RED ASH LEVEL OLD LEVEL (Red Ash (Tillery)) — British Geological Survey
(secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: Lower Varteg Slope (Deakin's) — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026