# Cwm Coke Cokeworks, Beddau, South Wales – March 2015



## Landie_Man (Mar 14, 2015)

Cwm Coke Cokeworks, Beddlau, South Wales – March 2015

Wow, this is one I have wanted to do for years and finally I got to see it. Me and Southside Assassin loaded up the car and headed off for a mixed weekend away in Wales. 

After taking a wrong turn and ending 20 miles too far from the location, we headed in the RIGHT direction and arrived on site mid morning. 

The site is huge and we also met up with Hamtagger and Geoff later on. Got some amazing photos and videos here and thought we would try our luck on the elevators. I would try this on a more still day and obviously tread carefully as you ascend, looking at any movements. They seemed pretty solid on our visit.

The trip was sadly cut short when one of our groups was spotted while snapping an external, meaning we covered the whole site but not the main room that we had saved till last 


A brief paragraph about Coke from wiki:



> Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes.



History Borrowed and Adjusted from H1971’s 2013 report on 28 days


Dating back as far as 1909; when the Great Western Colliery Co. began sinking pits to provide steam coals for the Great Western Railway.


By 1914 coal was being produced on the Colliery, all of which came from two shafts named Magaret and Mildred, which were over 750 yards deep.


In 1928 Powell Duffryn Associated Colleries ltd took over the colliery which employed approximately 1000 men and continued production under this name until 1947; at which point, The National Coal Board was established to run the nationalised coal mining industry in Britain.

Between the years 1952 and 1960 the colliery underwent an extensive £9 million reconstruction scheme which included linking CWM to Coedely Tonyrefail.

By the 1970s around 1,500 men were producing 515,000 tons of coke on a yearly basis at CWM until the privatisation of the National Coal Board in 1986.

The Colliery ceased production in 1986 although there were an estimated 80 million tonnes of coal seams and reserves still there which were never mined.

CWM Coke was designed to centralise and maintain the production of South Wales foundry coke. The coal mined at CWM was suitable for foundry coke given its low sulphur content The coke works continued to run after the colliery’s 1986 closure and ceased production in June of 2002. The MASSIVE site has sat rotting ever since.


In true Landie Style I have SMASHED the 10 photo thing, I usually allow myself to creep up to 13 or so, but this site took my breath away. The decay just makes it, its amazing here. And hey we all have fast connections these days right?

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#-VIDEO- Climbing the Elevators

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJT2haGI0_U[/ame]


Thanks again guys 

More (If you want!!) At:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/landie_man/sets/72157651326002345/


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## brickworx (Mar 14, 2015)

Wow, huge place .... Nice day for it by the looks of things... Kudos on a nice set of pics.


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## mockingbird (Mar 14, 2015)

Still on my list for my next wales adventure cheers mate for sharing! love the close ups!


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## BikinGlynn (Mar 14, 2015)

Looks amazing, well reported thanks!


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## HughieD (Mar 15, 2015)

Nice day + great site + thorough explore = ace pix. Thanks for sharing.


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## flyboys90 (Mar 15, 2015)

Cracking images and video.


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## cunningplan (Mar 15, 2015)

Bet your glad you got there, went on my own the first time and hated it and couldn't get out quick enough, second time went with a couple of others and spent over 4 hours there.
Brilliant photos and vid.


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## Onmyown (Apr 3, 2015)

Nice set of shots there fella, loved my visit last year with CP..


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## smiler (Apr 4, 2015)

That is a bloody humongous site, is there a B and B nearby &#55357;&#56354; fantastic pics and I enjoyed the vid, you had to attempt an ascent &#55357;&#56322; bin there done that, and it is great feeling when you succeed, Many Thanks.


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## stu8fish (Apr 4, 2015)

Awesome. Super place, I'd like to go there but I don't have a passport.


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## UrbanX (Apr 9, 2015)

Stunning set of photos, you've done the place proud. 
Thanks for sharing


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## DirtyJigsaw (Apr 10, 2015)

Awesome set right there! I wouldn't mind a nose round ere


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## Tammytom (May 2, 2015)

Looks great there - I am fairly new to exploring - would this place be a good place to start or is it quite hard?


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## krela (May 2, 2015)

It's pretty hard, very exposed in places and has active security with a lose German Sheppard dog. It's also a definite death trap if you're not too sure about what you're doing.

It's perfectly possible with a good dose of common sense, but it's certainly not easy.


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## Tammytom (May 3, 2015)

krela said:


> It's pretty hard, very exposed in places and has active security with a lose German Sheppard dog. It's also a definite death trap if you're not too sure about what you're doing.
> 
> It's perfectly possible with a good dose of common sense, but it's certainly not easy.



thanks for the advice


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## mookster (May 3, 2015)

Not sure it has the loose dog still but it definitely has new-ish security measures in place as there is some activity going on in a building on site now. When I was there in June last year there was nobody to be seen at all but it all changed soon after. Not the best place for a noobie to be wandering really.


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## welsh_noir (Aug 19, 2015)

cwm coke works is a great place, some brilliant photos


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## pyropeck (Sep 3, 2015)

I loved that place but the dog is fooking huge, thought it was a bear when I first spotted it.
Great set of pics.


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## Bones out (Sep 3, 2015)

stu8fish said:


> Awesome. Super place, I'd like to go there but I don't have a passport.



Just say Boyo already, fit in a treat.


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