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Welsh mine-owners pioneered the use of horse-drawn and later steam railways to transport coal to the docks. The switch from wood to coal for fuel during the Industrial Revolution was heavily influenced by Welsh innovations. [1] The land under which coal could be found was generally in private ownership.
Northeast Wales also had its own coalfield and Tower Colliery (closed January 2008) near Hirwaun is regarded by many as the oldest open coal mine and one of the largest in the world. Welsh coal was regarded as some of the best burning and highest quality material for power generation, railroading, shipping, and was sold for higher prices.
Coal mining in the South Wales Coalfield was a dangerous occupation with lifelong health implications. [15] Between 1849 and 1853, miners over the age of 25 in the Merthyr Tydfil district were found to have a life expectancy of around 20 years lower than in other mining areas of England and Wales. [16]
The Closed date is the year where the colliery or level stopped extracting coal, though many mines were kept open as ventilation or pumping shafts after they became economically nonviable. Men employed returns the numbers of workers at each mine at the colliery's peak. This does not reflect the tonnage of coal extracted, just the numbers of men ...
The other major factor in the decline of coal was the massive under-investment in Welsh mines over the past decades. Most of the mines in the valleys were sunk between the 1850s and 1880s, so they were far smaller than most modern mines. [8] The Welsh mines were comparatively antiquated, with methods of ventilation, coal-preparation and power ...
Tower Colliery (Welsh: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was located near the villages of Hirwaun and Rhigos, north of the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley of ...
The Cambrian Colliery was a large coal mine that operated between 1872 and 1967 near Clydach Vale in the Rhondda Valley, south Wales. It is notable for its huge production and for two infamous explosion disasters, in 1905 and 1965, in which a total of 64 miners were killed.
Tredegar Iron and Coal Company was an important 19th century ironworks in Tredegar, Wales, which due to its need for coke became a major developer of coal mines and particularly the Sirhowy Valley of South Wales. It is most closely associated with the Industrial Revolution and coal mining in the South Wales Valleys.