Rhondda History Page 3 ( How We Used To Live.)

Coal Is A Part Of The Rhondda's History

We Dedicate This Page To Coal!

Young Coal Miners

MEMORIALS OF COAL!

The Collieries.

Draft list of Rhondda Collieries with opening dates
compiled by Ceri Thompson, Curator,
Big Pit: National Coal Museum
22 February 2008

Dinas Levels (Dinas) 1806
Dinas Lower Pit (Dinas) 1812
Dinas Middle Pit (Dinas) 1832
Gwaun yr Eirw Level (Hafod) 1835
Gelliwion Level (near Pontypridd) 1838
Brithweunydd Level (Trealaw) 1839
South Cymmer Level (Porth) 1841
Nythbran Level (Porth) 1844
Cymmer Level (Porth) 1844
Gellifaelog Colliery (Tonypandy) 1845
Newbridge Colliery (Gelliwion) 1845
Porth Colliery (Porth) 1845
Troedyrhiw Colliery (Porth) 1845
Ynyshir / Jones Navigation (Ynyshir) 1845
Perch Level (Blaenclydach) c.1847
Cymmer Old Colliery (Porth) 1847
Ty Mawr (Hopkinstown) 1848
Bute Merthyr Colliery (Treherbert) 1850
Coedcae (Trehafod) 1850 - 1929
Hafod Colliery (Trehafod) 1850
Llwyncelyn (Porth) 1851 - 1895
Upper Cymmer Colliery (Porth) 1851
Glynfach Colliery (Porth) 1851
Gyfeillion Colliery (Hopkinstown) 1851
Tynewydd Colliery (Porth) 1852
New Cymmer Colliery (Porth) 1855
Ellis Level (Porth) 1855
Ynysfeio Colliery (Treherbert) 1854
Gelligaled Level (Ystrad) 1854
Tylacoch Colliery (Treorchy) 1855
Dunraven Levels (Blaen y Cwm) 1856
Gelligaled Colliery (Ystrad) 1856
Tyntyla Level (Ystrad) 1856
Bodringallt Level (Ystrad) 1856
Church Level (Pentre 1857
Ferndale Colliery No.1 (Ferndale) 1857
Pentre Level (Pentre) 1857
Penygraig Drift (Penygraig) 1857
Dunraven Level (Blaenycwm) 1858
Graig Level (Blaenycwm) 1858
Penygraig Level (Penygraig) 1858
Pontygwaith Colliery (Pontygwaith) 1858
Ynysfeio Colliery (Treherbert) 1859
Llwynypia Level (Llwynypia) 1859
Abergorchy Level (Treorchy) 1859
Glyncoli level (Treorchy) 1860
Bwllfa Level ((Ton Pentre) 1862
Brithweunydd Level (Trealaw) 1862
Llwynypia Colliery/Glamorgan Colliery (Llwynypia) 1863
Blaenclydach Colliery (Blaenclydach) 1863
Pentre Colliery (Pentre) 1864
Bodringallt/Ferndale No 4 Colliery (Ystrad) 1864
Tydraw (Blaenycwm) 1865 - 1959
Tynewydd Colliery (Treherbert) 1865
Abergorchy Colliery (Treorchy) 1865
Maendy Colliery (Ton Pentre) 1865
ParcColliery (Cwmparc) 1865
Adare Colliery (Penygraig) 1866
Ynyswen Level (Treorchy) 1869
Dinas Colliery (Dinas) 1869
Blaenrhondda Colliery (Blaenrhondda) 1869
Ferndale No.4 Colliery (Ferndale) 1874
Gelli Colliery (Gelli) 1870
Dare Colliery (Cwmparc) 1870
Trealaw Colliery (Trealaw) 1872
Glynmoch Colliery (Treorchy) 1872
Fernhill Colliery (Blaenrhondda) 1872
Clydach Vale Colliery No.1/Cambrian Colliery (Clydach Vale) 1872
Llwynypia Nos. 4 & 5 Colliery 1872
Clydach Vale Colliery No.2/Cambrian Colliery (Clydach Vale) 1872
Maerdy No 1 Colliery (Maerdy) 1875
Maerdy No 2 Colliery (Maerdy) 1876
Ynyshir Steam Colieries/Standard 1 and 2) (Ynyshir) 1876
Lady Margaret (Treherbert) 1877
Cymmer Colliery (Porth) 1877
Pandy Colliery (Tonypandy) 1879
Ely Colliery (Penygraig) 1880
Dinas Colliery (Dinas) 1881
National No.1 &2 Collieries (Wattstown) 1881
Bertie, Trefor, Hafod Collieries/Lewis Merthyr Colliery (Trehafod) 1881
Clydach Vale No.3/Cambrian Colliery (Clydach Vale) 1891
Nantgwyn Colliery/Naval Colliery (Penygraig) 1892
Lady Lewis Colliery (Ynyshir) 1904
Anthony Colliery/Naval Colliery (Tonypandy) 1910

This is the old miners pit: LEWIS MERTHYR Colliery.
By 1990 not one productive colliery existed in the Rhondda,
but the spirit of the turbulent and proud Rhondda past
has been captured and preserved as an historic landmark
at the LEWIS MERTHYR Colliery, now the RHONDDA HERITAGE Park.

Maerdy Colliery

PIT PONIES

A CHILD UNDERGROUND

WHY COAL ?

DANGERS

Mining was a very dangerous job.
Deaths were common especially in the deep mines.
Accidents which could leave a man crippled and
unable to work for the rest of his life were very common.
There were about 100 serious accidents for every one death.
Conditions in the mines did improve as better
ventilation and safer lamps were introduced.
Accidents could be caused by stones falling from the roof,
trams running over miners, flooding, breathing in
bad air or dust, cages falling or blasting power.
Gas was a deadly killer:
there were different kinds of gas found in mines;
some exploded, others suffocated miners.
Explosions also caused fires and flooding.
This was why safety lamps were invented,
and miners were not allowed to carry matches.

UNDERGROUND LIGHTING

The invention of the Davy "Safety" lamp in 1815
improved safety in mines by replacing the naked light.
The Davy lamp surrounded the lamp flame with a wire gauze.
The heat of the flame spread into the gauze which
never became hot enough to cause any gas outside to explode.
The light given off by the lamp was poor in its early days.
It was used mainly to test if "Fire Damp" was present.
If not the miner would work by the light of candles or open flames.
Working with poor light often caused nystagmus
which damages the eyesight, and caused giddiness and blackouts.
By 1839 the Davy lamp had been redesigned a number of times
and the flame was then surrounded by a cylinder of glass.
Between 1887 and 1908 a series of Coal Mines Regulations
were made to ensure that all lamps were in good working order.
A man was appointed to inspect every lamp daily
before it was put into use. Lamp stations were
situated both on the surface and underground.
Before going underground a miner would hand his
lamp check to the Lampman and receive his lamp.
These checks were used as a record of who was underground.
Underground lamp stations were used to re-light
lamps which were blown out.

Drams of coal reached the surface after having
been wound up the shaft by the winding engine.
They were then weighed. Each collier would mark
his dram with his number. Then his pay would be
worked out for the amount of coal he had cut that shift.

When the coal reached the surface, it was taken to the screens
where it was sorted out into lumps of different sizes.
Any stone or other rubbish was removed.

At the end of their shift, miners would have to
walk home in their wet, dirty clothes.
There were no pithead baths built until the 1930s.
Miners would bath at home in front of the fire.
There was often more than one miner in each house,
so it was a long and difficult job for the
miner's families to provide enough hot water.
Some miners would not go straight home.
Instead they would call in a pub for a drink
to "damp down the dust".

"On reaching the pit top at night, naturally
I wanted to get away with the other boys,
and generally succeeded.
If however, we were just a little late
and my pals were gone, then I had to keep
in close touch with my master.
We had two miles to walk from the pit to home.
There was a solitary pub on the way and Thomas
- nobody dared to call him Tom -
when alone, entered to get one well deserved pint;
when I accompanied him to this pub, he had two pints,
I got the first drink from each pint; then home."
{Edmund Stonelake, Age 12, 1885}.

NEXT: INSIDE TERRACED HOUSES

When the miner got home,
he would have a bath in front of the open coal-fire
(There were no bathrooms in homes in those days).
The big kettle was always on the boil,
awaiting the miner's return home from the pit.
Eventually, showers were provided at the collieries,
but this wasn't until about the 1940s or so.

The Kitchen was the most important room in the house for miners' families.
It was where water was boiled for washing and bathing,
where the food was prepared and cooked, where miners bathed
and where people gathered to eat and chat.
It was also the most dangerous room in the house
for women and children.
Most of the accidents and deaths in the home happened here.
There were open fires, boiling water, heavy
tubs and boilers, sharp knives, and hot irons.
It is no wonder that accidents happened.
In the early years, there was little furniture in the Kitchen,
a plain wooden table that could be scrubbed, a few chairs
and possibly a dresser to store plates and dishes.
The most important item in the Kitchen was
the Kitchen range, or kitchener.

The Kitchen range or Kitchener was the centre of the home.
It was made of cast iron.
Coal, wood and household rubbish, were burnt on the fire.
Every week, the range would have been cleaned
with a special polish called "blacklead".
Mam had to rub it hard with blacklead to keep
it black otherwise it went rusty.
She made up the blacklead from turps and linseed oil,
then rubbed it over the whole thing,
then polished it until it shone.
Mam took a great pride in keeping her Kitchener shining.

Soap had been taxed during the first half of the 19th Century,
so many people made their own using animal fats and lye.
Lye was mixed with limestone.
Melted fats and lye were boiled together.
It was a long smelly process.
The tax was repealed in 1853 and, as a result,
there was a tremendous rise in the sale of ready-made soap.
Soap powder could be purchased but women often
made their own by mixing shredding soap with soda.
Lux soap flakes could be obtained from 1900 and
Persil soap powder nine years later.

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