As with many settlements in the Taff
Ely area, the village of Beddau owes its existence and
growth to the coal industry. As late as 1861, the census
shows that Beddau consisted only of a few farms including
Llwyncrwn Uchaf and Gelynog. The area's most important
farm was Ty'n-y-nant situated near Nant Myddlyn. Nearby
stood Tynant Dingle (woodlands) where the squire of Castellau
would participate in fox hunting. Most of the farms surrounding
Beddau are over three hundred years old.
The place name Beddau means graves and two suggestions have been offered as possible
explanations. On the one hand it could be named because of the district's importance
during tribal wars. On the other hand the 1833 Ordnance Survey map marks four
cart tracks and their meeting point was known as Coesheol Y Beddau. (Crossroads
of the Graves) Felons were hanged from a tree at the crossroads and buried beneath
the gallows.
Left: Cwm Farm which was later to be the site of Cwm Colliery
Above: This 1878 map of
the area clearly shows the lack of housing around Beddau
at that time
The 1860s saw the beginnings
of the development of the village of Beddau. A number of
coal pits began working in the surrounding areas, Ty'n-y-nant
and Gelynog pits being the most important. Many of the
sources of coal were relatively short lived. As a result
of this industrial development cottages and a Post Office
were built on the Square, Beddau. We can see from looking
at the 1871 census that the vast majority of the village's
inhabitants were miners. A few years later the Ordnance
Survey map of 1878 shows us that the village also comprised
of Bethania Baptist Chapel (1867), Gelynnog Inn (1871)
and Beddau School (1877). The school's first headmaster
was Mr Rees Morgan who eventually became the first headmaster
of Pontypridd Boys
Grammar School. Transport was almost non-existent and many
people walked to Pontypridd for shopping and entertainment.
The further development of Beddau remained relatively static
until 1909. That year saw the first turf cut on the site
of the Cwm Colliery.
During the following years houses
were built near the colliery including streets that eventually
came to be known as Commercial Street, Mildred Street and
Parish Road. Large scale developments didn't start until
1921 when local councils were empowered to provide houses
for the first time. Unsurprisingly Beddau's school population
increased to the extent that a new school was opened in
February 1931 as Beddau Senior School. With the community
increasing rapidly there was a need for transport. Beddau
Halt had opened in1909 but was first known as World's Ends
and by the 1920s bus services ran between Beddau and Pontypridd.
The inter-war years saw the establishment
of a number of places of worship. The original church at
Beddau was opened in 1921 and is now the Church Hall. It
was known as St John's Church. The present church is dedicated
to Saint Michael and All Angels and opened its doors in 1936.
Mount Pleasant (1924) and Zion Church (1921) also played
roles in the religious life of the community.
Left : One of the first bus services ran
from Beddau to Pontypridd
Places of entertainment were opened to cater for Beddau's inhabitants. The Welfare
Hall and Institute was opened in October 1933. Concerts, dances and even boxing
matches took place there but in 1935 it became the Gaiety Cinema. The cinema
closed in 1964 and today the building is a social club. Mount Pleasant Park was
opened in 1938 although work on it wasn't completed until after World War II
and in 1940 a health clinic opened.
Cwm Colliery
The sinking of Cwm Colliery in 1909 by the
Great Western Colliery Company Limited marked the beginnings
of Beddau's rapid development. The company had been incorporated
to sink pits in the Pontypridd area to provide steam coals
for the Great Western Railway. The wife of the company's
Managing Director, Mrs C.H. James, had the privilege of cutting
the first turf. Among the local dignitaries were Lady Margaret
and Lady Mildred Bramwell of Tir Mab Ellis. Their names were
to continue an association with the colliery because the
two shafts sunk were better known as the Margaret and Mildred
Pits. Sinking operations were still continuing in 1913 when
the pit employed 212 men. By 1934 it was in full production
employing 100 men on the surface and 780 men underground.
Powell Duffrun Steam Coal Company acquired the colliery in
1928 and worked them until the mines were nationalised in
1947.
Cwm Colliery developed throughout the inter war years
and after World War II, both manpower and production increasing
significantly. An underground railway linking the Maritime
Colliery, Pontypridd with Cwm was completed in 1931. In
1957 a similar railway linked Cwm with Coedely Colliery.
The merger of these two pits created the largest colliery
in the South Wales Coalfield. Production and manpower reached
a peak in 1960 as Cwm Colliery employed 1,470 men and produced
324,794 tons.
Cwm coke works opened in 1958. It was designed to centralise and maintain the
production of South Wales foundry coke. The coal mined at Cwm was very suitable
for foundry coke given its low sulphur content. Cwm Colliery was closed by the
NCB in 1986 and the coke works ceased production in June 2002.
