Prior to industrialisation, the villages
we know today as Treherbert, Tynewydd, Blaenrhondda and
Blaencwm consisted of a number of isolated farms and a
small number of scattered homesteads. The area was sparsely
populated and as the Revd. Lewis described in his 1959
outline History of the Parish of Treherbert, ' lay completely
off the beaten track, at the head of a secluded, pastoral
valley, which had preserved all the characteristics of
rural charm'. Although there is evidence of human habitation
going way back to Celtic times the population of this district
remained small, in 1841 there were only 218 people residing
in the 'Middle hamlet of Treherbert'. However by 1861 this
had increased by 500% to 1,203.
The development of these villages,
and indeed to a certain extent all of the Rhondda depends
largely on one event, namely the sinking of the first steam-coal
pit at Cwm- Saebren (Treherbert) in 1855.
The trustees of the Marquess of Bute sank this pit after
buying Cwmsaebren farm from William Davies for a fee of £11,000
in August 1845. The sinking of a trial pit began in 1850,
however progress was painfully slow due in large part to
the inadequacies of the transport system in the Rhondda in
the 1840's. All the equipment had to be hauled by horse along
rough tracks the eight miles from the Taff Vale railway terminus
at Dinas.
Left: William and Catherine Davies of Cwmsaebren Farm
Despite this in April 1853 the Upper 4ft seam
of steam coal was struck at a depth of 125 yards, and production
was begun in 1855. Incidentally it was in January of this
year the first recorded use of the name Treherbert was seen
in the Parish records, commemorating one of the family names
of the Marquess of Bute. The first 38 wagons of steam coal
were transported from the newly extended Taff Vale Railway
station at Gelligaled (Ystrad) to Cardiff on the 21st December
that year. From this time in the mid 1850's the expansion
of the villages at the top end of the Rhondda Fawr really
began and the building of the first rows of houses took place,
the first being at Bute Street, Dumfries Street, and Baglan
Street.
Treherbert Coal Industry
The following are brief histories of some
of the main mines in the Treherbert, Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm
area, but is not intended as a comprehensive listing of all
the workings in the area.
Abergorky ( Abergorchi) Colliery - Treherbert
A small level existed here in the early 1800's however
it was after the Bute pit was sunk and an influx of coal
speculators came to the upper Rhondda that this mine was
expanded and fully exploited. In September 1859 a level
was driven to the Rhondda No.3 seam by a partnership of
Houghty Huxham, Thomas Hopkin and William Morgan. This
level was subsequently purchased by H. Insole for £7,000.,
in 1862 who sunk a shaft to the steam coal seams, and then
by Bunyeat, Brown and Company who purchased the colliery
in 1874. It was finally purchased by the Ocean Coal Company
in 1926, but was no longer being worked when the mines
were nationalised in 1947.
Abergorky Colliery circa 1900
Bute Merthyr Colliery (Treherbert)
Sunk in 1851 it reached the Upper-Four- Feet seam at a
depth of 125 yards in 1853, the upcast was sunk between 1853
and 1854. The Bute Estate leased it out in 1857 to company
that failed in 1859 when it lay idle for nine months. In
1862 W.S.Clark decide to supervise production himself on
behalf of the Bute Estate and production increased rapidly.
By 1869 production had almost doubled, and the pit was deepened
striking the Two-Feet-Nine seam, the Six Feet seam, and the
Nine-Feet seam. United National Collieries purchased the
colliery in 1915, and control was subsequently passed to
the Ocean Coal Company in 1926.
The colliery was not worked by the National Coal Board after nationalisation,
but was kept open as a pumping station for a short time.
Bute Merthyr Colliert circa 1885
Fernhill Collieries
Fernhill consisted of a series of five pits and levels,
which included the North Dunraven pit. Ebenezer Lewis sank
the FERNHILL NO.1 and 2 pits in 1869. These reached the six
feet seam in 1871 and he sold them to a partnership of Messrs.
Crowley, John and Oldroyd that same year. They subsequently
sold the pits in 1877 to George Watkinson and Sons, who also
bought the North Dunraven (Blaenrhondda) Pit in 1893 and
merged this pit with Fernhill Colliery. Watkinson then formed
a public company called Fernhill Collieries Limited. The
Cambrian Trust Limited later absorbed this company in 1910,
and by 1913 the combined manpower of these pits numbered
over 1,700 men.
Fernhill No.1 and No. 2 pits
In 1920 the last of the Fernhill pits to be
sunk was the NO.5 and the company became part of the Welsh
Associated Collieries Limited which in turn merged with Powell
Duffryn in 1935, becoming Powell
Duffryn Associated Collieries Limited who controlled
the Collieries until nationalisation in 1947. After Nationalisation
Fernhill was placed in the National Coal Boards' South Western
Division No.3 area Group 4. At that time the colliery employed
over 1,000 men and worked the Four Feet, Nine-Feet, New and
Two-Feet seams. Fernhill was merged with Tower Colliery,
Hiwaun in 1966 and its output was raised at Tower., the Fernhill
section was finally closed in 1978.
Glen Rhondda Colliery (Blaencwm)
This colliery was opened in 1911 by the Glenavon Garw
Collieries Limited, a member of the South Wales Coal Owners
association, and was served by the Rhondda and Swansea Bay
railway. It consisted of two levels a slant and a pit and
during its lifetime employed anywhere between 200 and 500
men, producing both house and manufacturing coals. After
nationalisation the colliery was placed in the National Coal
Boards' South Western division's, NO.3 Area, Group 4 and
at that time No.s 1 and 2 pits had a combined manpower of
over 450 men, whilst the NO.2 level employed approximately
70 men. The no.2 level had closed by 1954 and the colliery
as a whole was closed by the National coal Board in 1966
Glen Rhondda Colliery circa 1963
Lady Margaret Colliery (Treherbert)
This was one of the earliest pits in the Upper Rhondda,
sunk by the Marquess of Bute in 1853. It was served by the
newly extended Taff Vale Railway, and the colliery sidings
had a capacity for 160 full, 114 empty and 45 other wagons.
It was sunk to the Upper Four foot seam and also worked the
Two-Feet-Nine, Four-Feet, and Six-Feet seams before their
abandonment in 1909. United National Collieries Limited purchased
the colliery, along with Bute Merthyr, in 1915 and in 1926
Ocean Coal Company gained a controlling interest in this
company. When nationalised in 1947 Lady Margaret was only
used for pumping and ventilation purposes.
Lady Margaret Colliery circa 1916
Tydraw Colliery (Blaencwm)
This pit was originally known as Dunraven Colliery after
its original owners, the Dunraven United Collieries Limited,
formed by Thomas Joseph. This company went into liquidation
in 1866 after finding the Two-Feet-Nine seam in 1865. It
lay idle until 1872 when it was purchased by Watts and Company.
It was served by the Taff Vale railway and had a sidings
capacity in 1897 of over 340 wagons. When the Cory Brothers
purchased it in 1913 it employed 806 men. It remained in
their hands until Nationalisation in 1947 when it was placed
in the National Coal Board's, South Western Division's, NO.3
Area, NO.4 Group at which time it employed nearly 450 men.
The mine was closed in January 1959.
Tydraw Colliery can be seen in the
background
Treherbert Transport
Prior to the sinking of the Bute Merthyr Pit,
transport in the upper reaches of the Rhondda was what you
would expect in a small rural area in the early 1800's. There
was no railway link and the public highway consisted mainly
of rough tracks and innumerable bridle paths, access to neighbouring
valleys was through a ridgeway meeting the Neath/Aberdare
road. Means of crossing the river at this time was via two
fords, Rhyd-Y-Cwm, above Blaenrhondda, and Rhyd Tonllwyd
at Treherbert. The industrial development of this area was
intrinsically linked to the development of transport links
to the area, ending its rural isolation and making it a centre
of industrial activity. One of the major factors governing
the development in the area was the need for the Taff Vale
Railway to extend its operations, and hence its profits,
into the area of the Upper Rhondda. In the 1840's the railway
ran as far as Dinas, but speculation was rife as to the mineral
wealth contained in the Upper Rhondda. As such the Taff Vale
Railway secured the powers to extend their line as far as
Tynewydd in 1846, however the cost of such an enterprise
would have been prohibitive but for the value of the mineral
resources in this part of the valley.
Blaenrhondda station platform
Therefore the Company offered a £500
reward to anyone who would sink a pit at a depth of more
than 120 yards in the upper reaches of the Rhondda Fawr.
The Bute Merthyr pit achieved this when a seam of steam coal
was proved at 125 yards in 1853. The effect on transportation
was immediate, with the Taff Vale Railway at first extending
its line to Gelligaled in Ystrad Rhondda and thence on to
Bute Merthyr in Treherbert in 1856. This had an immense effect
on the feasibility of large-scale mining operations in the
area, no longer did equipment have to be carried by horse
wagon eight miles up the valley along unsatisfactory roads.
Also the coal once mined did not have to be carried down
the valley in the same way. As such the whole process was
speeded up and therefore more efficient and of course most
importantly for those concerned, more profitable. It has
to be noted that at this time railways in this area were
seen as being for primarily freight operations, it was not
until January 1863 the first passengers were carried into
Treherbert station.
Another major railway link that had great influence on this area was the creation
of the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway that opened the top end of the Valley
and made it accessible to the Areas of Neath and Swansea. The Rhondda and Swansea
Bay Company was incorporated in 1882 with the intention of linking the Upper
Rhondda to the ports in Swansea Bay, and as they saw it emancipating the coalfield
from the monopoly of the Taff Vale Railway. The outstanding engineering feat
of this railway was the creation of the tunnel at Blaenrhondda through to Blaengwynfi,
which at nearly three and a half thousand yards long is the largest in Wales,
and which at the height of construction employed upwards of 1,100 men. The railway
was never the success it was hoped that it would be, and never succeeded in breaking
the grip of the Taff Vale Railway. One by-product of its existence was the way
it made accessible to the population of the Upper Rhondda the area west of the
Rhondda, particularly popular during the summer months when trainloads of day-trippers
made for the beaches of Aberavon and Swansea.
As stated previously the roads of this area were woefully
inadequate for the influx of people that came to the area
to work in the newly created coal industry. It was up to
individual colliery owners to initiate a road-building programme,
and in this respect the Bute Estate was at the forefront
of developments, and in the early 1860's called for a length
of road 50ft wide from Treherbert to Pontypridd. This plan
never came to fruition but was carried out by the Bute Estates
themselves from Treherbert to Treorchy. Later in the 1920's
the Rhigos road, then known as the New Road, was built by
the local council thus linking the top end of the valley
to the Cynon and Neath valleys.
Ynysfieo Bridge circa 1900
Early road traffic consisted of mainly of hansom cabs,
brakes and waggonettes but in the 1860's two horse omnibus
services were set up, running between Treorchy and Treherbert.
This service was extended in the 1870's with three services
daily between Treherbert and Ystrad. In April 1906 the Rhondda
Tramways Company was formed leading to the first electric
tramcar into Treherbert in 1908. The trams were substituted
for buses in the 1930's and in 1931 the first bus ran from
Treherbert to Cardiff. Thus in the space of less than eighty
years the Upper Rhondda had been transformed from a sleepy,
isolated parish, largely unchanged for hundreds of years,
to a bustling industrial town with links to all of South
Wales.
