# Penrhiwfer colliery and miner's cottages remains, South Wales, Feb 2012



## Flexible (Apr 10, 2012)

I've sat on this report for a couple of months hoping to provide more info on the site, and after trawling around and even contacting a local historian, I've managed to get . . . well, not very far. So here's the best I could cobble together.

This report is about what I believe to be the remains of Penrhiwfer coal mine. Information on this place is scarce, and I've only been able to obtain the basics. Opened in the late 1850's after several unsuccessful trial shafts nearby, the small colliery produced coal for some seventy years before it closed. Now I'm not sure if the structures shown in the pics are of the colliery buildings, as it doesn't look much like a coal mine! Interestingly, I heard that because of the remote-ish location, a brickworks was constructed to provide bricks for the shafts and outbuildings, so what we see could be the furnace and kilns for the brick manufacturing side of the operation.

About a 1/4 of a mile away, are the remnants of Bruce Terrace, a row of about six or seven terraced cottages built for the accomodation of miners at the colliery or the shaft-sinkers. These mega-derelict cottages were abandoned for reasons unknown, in the late 1950's / early 60's. I remember as a very young kid passing in the car in the distance and seeing this row of houses when they were still standing, and used to call them the 'ghost houses', probably due to the bleak location and they always seemed to be semi shrouded in mist and hill fog!

There are also a few blocked and flooded adits of levels and filled-in trial shafts in the area, which I shall re-visit and post up.



















































And now on to the remains of the terraced cottages















































Thanks for having a look!


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## UEP-Wales (Apr 10, 2012)

Very nice photographs there! Love the icicle shot


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## borntobemild (Apr 11, 2012)

It does look bleak!

Some serious brickwork there.

Nice pics


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## flyboys90 (Apr 11, 2012)

Great photos,thanks for sharing.


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## whitelaw (Apr 11, 2012)

And captured in your images, are the voices and spirits of those who once worked there. Thank you.


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## Flexible (Apr 14, 2012)

whitelaw said:


> And captured in your images, are the voices and spirits of those who once worked there. Thank you.



Thank you very much for such an eloquent compliment. It means a lot.


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## Flexible (Apr 14, 2012)

borntobemild said:


> It does look bleak!



It is!  I was told that the children who lived here were allowed to leave school half an hour earlier during winter, because it was so far to walk home!


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## Lost_In_Normandy (Apr 14, 2012)

Great work and nice write up...the icicle photo is gorgeous!


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