Tirpentwys Colliery Remembered.

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Tirpentwys Colliery was opened by Darby and Norris who established the Tirpentwys Colliery Company which was incorporated as the Tirpentwys Black Vein Steam Coal and Coke Company in 1888. In that year this colliery was working the Meadow Vein (Yard/Seven-Feet) with the manager being B. Nicholas. The workings in this seam had reached their north-eastern limits by 1892, the eastern limit had been reached by 1890, the southern limit was reached by 1892 and the western boundary was reached in 1895. In 1896/1900 the manager was B. Nicholas and the pit was working the Tillery and Black Veins.
On the 8th of October, 1902, eight men, who had been working in the Big Vein Seam, were killed when they were thrown out of the ascending cage. The full report can be found here.
From 1918 to 1945 the manager was T.P.S. James. In 1943 this pit employed 850 men working the Big, Black and Meadow Vein seams and 209 men working at the surface of the mine.
On Nationalisation of the Nation’s coal mines in January 1947, Tirpentwys Colliery was placed in the National Coal Board’s, South Western Division’s, No.6 (Monmouthshire) Area, and at that time employed 205 men on the surface and 817 men underground working the Big Vein, Black Vein and Meadow Vein seams.
The colliery had its own coal preparation plant (washery) and was the site for a wagon repair workshop. The manager was still T.P.S. James. In 1950 the NCB estimated reserves of 11,203,000 tons of coal not including the Garw seam. At that time the colliery was pumping up one million tons of water per day. In 1954/55 this colliery was one of 42 that caused concern to both the NUM and the NCB over the high level of accidents. In 1956 out of the total colliery manpower of 911 men, 353 of them worked at the coalfaces.
In July 1969 this colliery was placed on the NCB’s jeopardy (closure) list when output per man shift slumped to 16.6 hundredweights. The South Wales Coalfield average was 28 hundredweights.
This colliery was closed by the NCB on the 29th of November 1969 as a production unit but remained open in the 1970s for pumping and ventilation purposes for Blaenserchan Colliery. At the time of closure, G.E. Griffiths was the manager.
Generally, this colliery produced type 501 High Volatile Coals, medium to strong caking, with a low ash and sulphur content. These coals were mainly used for coking blends.
From its sinking to nationalisation in 1947 there were 64 fatal accidents at this colliery, including two who were killed under a fall of roof in 1910 and the eight who were killed in 1902 when the winding carriage became detached from the rope and fell down the shaft. These are some of them:
8/09/1910, George Bailey, Age: 37, Rope splicer, Owen Roberts, Age: 41, Labourer : Fall of roof on a haulage road. A pair of timbers and a pulley frame were knocked out by a journey of trams leaving the rails, and while the place was being repaired a large fall occurred discharging 6 pairs of timbers. Two other men were injured. 2 killed.
6/12/1912 , Percy Albert Lewis, Age: 23, Haulier: He was overpowered and killed by a tram which he tried to stop
21/11/1913, Rupert Price, Age: 26, Collier: Fall of side at the working face. In pulling down coal and clod a post was discharged. The post in falling struck him in the forehead causing a fractured skull.
25/02/1914, Frederick Gilbert Ford, Age: 16, Collier boy: He stumbled over a fallen post and slightly hurt his foot and arm. He died of blood poisoning on March 15th, 1914.
3/06/1915, Edward Harris, Collier: Roof fall.
23/05/1916, Percy Davies: Collier: Timber fell on head.
10/01/1918 , Arthur Hassell, Collier: Fall of clod.
7/02/1918, Alfred Cutter: Collier: Roof fall.
12/03/1919, Richard Jones: Collier: Roof fall.
13/05/1919, George Brookes, Collier: Fall of quantity of stone.
19/03/1920 , William Davies, Collier: Fall of coal and clod.
2/11/1921, Augustus Bowen, Collier: Roof fall.
10/12/1921, William Webb, Fell down shaft.
27/01/1922,George Pearce, haulier: Kicked by a horse.
27/03/1923, Sydney Johns, haulier: Crushed by trams.
11/08/1923, William James, Collier: Fall of rubbish.
18/01/1924, Albert Thomas, Collier: Fall of coal.
9/11/1925, James Weeks, haulier: Crushed by a tram.
11/11/1925, John Hooper: Collier: Roof fall.
17/12/1925, George Hoffman, Age: 50, Collier: Fall of coal. Died 19th.
5/02/1926 , James Evans, Collier: Fall of rubbish.
8/10/1927, Cyril Bessell, Collier: Fall of stone.
3/04/1929, William Benjamin Dowding, Age: 39, Stoker: Came out of pump room and passed under bridge where a workman was throwing bricks to the boiler house, one of them bricks caught his head. Died 5th.
16/10/1929, Morgan Williams, Age: 62, Haulier: killed by a horse.
30/03/1929, Joseph Pepler: Strain - brain haemorrhage.
17/11/1933, William Woolfall, Age: 34: Collier: Fall of stone.

[@garethroden3009]

Great to see Tirpentwys represented. It was the first deep mine I went down and stimuated my interest in working in the industry.