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Ebbw Vale - from Pen-y-fal to Beaufort
Including Cwm, Waun Lwyd, Ty Llwyn and Victoria
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Ebbw Vale at 'Industrial Monmouthshire - The Leftovers'

The Ebbw Fawr valley including Cwm and Beaufort.

CWM

East Bank - Cwm Colliery, South and North levels, Marine Colliery.

Marine Colliery (SO 188040) was commenced in 1889 and drew its first coal in 1893, becoming one of the largest collieries in the Ebbw Fawr valley. Sadly 52 men were killed in an explosion in 1927. Latterly it was connected to Six Bells and closed in 1989. The site of Marine Colliery has been cleared and the winding wheels retained over the shafts.

Cwm Colliery and coke ovens (also known as 'Cwm and Mon') at SO 189044 opened in around 1880. A shallow incline went up to Cwm South (No 1) level at SO188050.  A new level, Cwm South No 2 or Red Ash, was opened by 1922 at SO 188052, 200 metres north of No 1 on the tramway that ran along the hillside to Cwm North level at SO 188071. A number of other small levels were opened along the tramway but had gone by 1901. A line of disused electricity poles goes over the hillside above North level to Blaina. All activity along the hillside had ceased by 1953, probably after the end of WW2.

All along the hillside there are plenty of earthworks to be seen from the tips, collapsed adits and the courses of the tramways.  One of the most interesting remains is the metal frame of an early wooden-bodied dram beside the tramway near Cwm South no2  level.

All along the hillside there are plenty of earthworks to be seen from the tips, collapsed adits and the courses of the tramways.  One of the most interesting remains is the metal frame of an early wooden-bodied dram beside the tramway near Cwm South no2  level.

West Bank - Graig Fawr and Pen-y-fan Collieries, Maes Mawr quarry.

The original Pen-y-fan Colliery at SO 197022 was working before 1880, with an incline down to the GWR at SO 202022 but was disused by 1901. The colliery site has been cleared but some other adits, tips and a possible incline can be seen at SO 200019.

The second Pen-y-fan Colliery had been established by 1901, possibly around 1887 with Graig Fawr. There were two levels at SO 191028 and 189030, tramways and an incline down to Graig Fawr Colliery. This colliery was disused by 1953 and the area has been forested.

Graig Fawr Colliery at SO 191033 opened in 1887, was marked as disused by 1922 and closed in 1928. The site has been cleared. Further North at SO 187037 is the gated Graig Fawr Red Ash level, a brick-built airshaft directly above it dating before 1880 and the foundations of an engine house and another building marked on the 1922 map.

A later Graig Fawr level above Tallistown at SO 184046 existed by 1922 and had gone by 1938, then became buried under Marine Colliery's tips and reclamation.

Maes Mawr quarry at SO 183048 was working from C1901 to C1922 with an incline down to the riverbank at SO 184050 and then a tramway running Southward behind the terraces past Marine Colliery to Graig Fawr Colliery. The quarry and incline are easily traceable today.

On top of the ridge, the top of the aerial ropeway from Marine Colliery can be found at SO 181043 consisting of foundations and ironwork, with some concrete bases lower down the hillside at SO 185041.

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EBBW VALE

West Side - Above Victoria and Festival Park

Victoria Incline SO 1700 0745 The incline ran half a mile from behind the coke ovens at Victoria Ironworks up to quarries and levels on the Western hillside. It was in operation before 1880 and until after 1920. The route is clear for most of it's length, running beside a public footpath.
Incline top and engine house SO 1689 0679 The foundations of the engine house and its boiler are at the top of the incline, along with a large cast flywheel and the stub axle that may have held the winding wheel. The tramway continued South up to 1901 but after that only a spur to the Northern quarry remained, another spur to levels to the North already being disused.
Furnace level and chimney SO 1698 0654 About 8ft of the chimney stands beside the tramway and below the tramway the entrance to the level iself exists. It is blocked just beyond the chimney but the furnace area is clear and there are grooves in the wall where the ventilation barriers were. A little further along are foundations and retaining walls on the site of the main adit.
Funicular Railway station SO 1703 0634 The 1992 Garden Festival had a funicular railway which ran to this station, which is still complete. The trackbed can be followed down to Festival Park. This is roughly the route of the original tramway until it gets lost in the re-development. The footpath to the right just before Troed-rhiw-clawdd skirts Festival Park and leaads you to.....
Lower Woods SO 1777 0558 The tramway can be found again at the far end of Festival Park and caarries on South past old quarrying activity and a numbers of small levels and their tips, ending at SO 1808 0522, the last of the levels.

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Geoff Palfrey now lives in Toronto but remembers this area well :-

"I emigrated here 8 years ago after working in the steel industry of Saudi Arabia. I did my apprenticeship with British Steel in Ebbw and worked in Alpha (or Mir Steel now) and Tremorfa works (Celsa)in Cardiff. Growing up in Ebbw Vale as it was in the sixties made me develop a great interest in industrial archaeology of the area, for example one of our dens was a "castle" to us kids, in reality it was a wooden sleeper floored flooded airshaft of the extensive Drillground pit complex!

I have collected many original maps of Ebbw Vale and Mining maps of the British /Abertillery areas C 1919, the oldest map I own of the Ebbw Vale furnaces is dated 1830. I can help with some of the artefacts shown on the photos, for example the mountainside level and winding house was roofless but much more complete in my youth, the walls were pulled down for the garden festival of the early nineties because they were in poor state. The flywheel has a casting mark and initials in its periphery, it looks like a crucible is chiselled into it, it was probably cast in Victoria foundry, surf "the works" archives and you will see the areas of the old iron and steelmaking plants pre 1936. If you go down the bank East of the boiler you will find the ashes from its long dampened fires. there is another adit north of the boiler too but it is walled up. The coal seam itself can be seen at the top of the north quarry and the ganister clays. I used to ride my dirt bike along the sheep path above it and get up to a big stone just below the summit of the Domen Fawr, risky but great fun..

The level mined coal and possibly ganister or fireclay as it was known, the haulage engine drew the journey of drams up the incline which is on the 1 in 12 dip of the seam, from the curved air inlet level south of the chimney, the furnace itself was on the return airway and is blocked too, the coal was dropped down the incline to a bank of Coke ovens used to make coke for Victoria ironworks. Millstone grit was quarried for buildings and shafts in the EV steel and coal co empire, the general manager in 1900 was Edward Mills and he revitalised the works keeping open outdated collieries to feed the coke ovens and electrifting and sinking new and older colieries down the dip of the site. He lived in a mansion below the level. The last level of the series is in the lower farm part of the tramroad, the farmer told me that on the vesting day of the NCB in 1947 the owner could not afford the licence and closed it with all the equipment still underground, finally the winding rope of the haulage engine exists as part of the fence at the roadway that bisects the tramway proper, it is unravelled and nailed to the posts, or it was 20 years ago!

My primary school teacher told me it closed in about 1926 when the EVSIC wound up after cessation of WW1 caused Welsh coal and iron demand to drop! My Grandad and Great uncle and thousands of other Welsh colliers fought through the Western front battles not knowing that they would be putting themselves out of work a decade later when France claimed German coal as reparations.

My Great Grandfather was apprenticed in the ironworks and lived as a youth in Bwlch y Garn Ty Hir or long house, he subsequently became successful and owned the King David pub in Brynmawr, he also built an electrically powered machine shop and foundry and garage to the side of it about 1910. This brings me to the Red Ash level on the Mynydd Carn y Cefn side of the valley. The end of the tramway in your photograph was the yard of a large Balance pit belonging to Nantyglo and Beaufort ironworks, the tip was regraded in the early seventies, I have maps showing the tramroad going from the level and pit, around the scoured outcrop where West Mon golf club is and onto the machine pond area of Brynmawr where Twyncynhordy pit was ( its shaft is in the corner of a field at Twyncynhordy farm and was open 20 years ago too) the drams then entered Nantyglo ironworks through the north entrance which still exists, it's opposite the new Asda and underneath the roadbed of the Abergavenny to Merthyr railway line which is a road now. Both enterprises closed when Crawshay Bailey died in 1875 along with many other iron works that could not afford to adapt to the Bessemer/ Thomas process to make steel instead of puddled wrought iron. The Nantyglo works was taken over for a few years but failed so I think that by 1885 or so the mines would have been derelict.
I have spent the evening surfing the oldmaps UK website, if you look at the area on the current map and lock onto the Bush inn which was below the incline, (its a house now), you will get access to the levels proper, interestingly the 1, 10000 map of 1880 shows two engine houses serving an incline apiece and another quarry is metalled above the main dip, I had forgotten about this but there is a trampath in poor state above and south of the engine house, I remember walking into it years ago, on the same site open up the 1900 1.3500 and 1.10000 map, by this time the top quarry has a working face and just one engine house, imagine how the locomotive boiler was brought up there! Even in the scrap drives of WW2 the parts were not salvaged. The north level that I spoke about is shown as disused at this date. Have a look at the extensive park and ponds shown below on the 1880 maps, the owners and managers lived like kings.

Finally the flywheel on the mountain is very old and was poorly maintained at the end of its life, based on the square forged wrought iron shaft and the number of poorly set keys on the wheel and gear, I guess the existing equipment up there from about 1850 or so was utilised to the end, its amazing how it has survived probably over a hundred and fifty years or so of bleak wet weather, the castings are still good, the wrought shaft is not so good but it can hold out another century with ease I bet..."

Geoff has provided these historical photos of the Victoria area :-

Victoria
1/ Victoria - The Becker Coke Ovens
that replaced the Coppee
ovens in c1936 		Victoria
2/ Victoria - The new blast furnaces
under construction, c1936 		Victoria
3/ Victoria - The old blast furnaces
with the tramway in the top
right background, c1900
Victoria
4/ Victoria - Coppee coke ovens
and Park Road 		Victoria
5/ Victoria - A general view
of the ironworks 		Victoria
6/ Victoria - No 5 Pit (Prince of Wales),
c1936 with Bwlch-y-garn tips
on the right skyline
Waun Lwyd
7/ Waun Lwyd Colliery c1950s with
Silent Valley tips and incline
in background 		Ty Llwyn
8/ Ty Llwyn with Bwlch-y-garn
in the background 		Victoria
9/ Victoria - The foundry floor, c1900

Geoff's notes on the photos -

1/ The new Becker ovens built at the end of the incline on the site of the older ones, 1936 - 1975.
2/ Erecting the new blast furnaces in 1935 ish, one furnace "the Yankee" was sufficiently modern to be updated and become part of the trio used in Ebbw 1936- 1975.
3/ Heres a photo of the bottom of the incline in the right hand corner and the Blast Furnaces that the coke was fed into, Victoria started about 1830 and was separate from the Ebbw Vale works, it integrated later however and when the photo was taken around 1900 it fed iron to the Bessemer steelworks at Tyllwyn along the rail track. Note the rudimentary electrical cables from the generator hall, they are going to the mills and No 5 colliery which became the Prince of Wales when Edward the seventh went down it 20 years later.
4/ The Copee coke ovens from Park road ( Edward Mills personal park that is...)
5/ Victoria Furnaces and Copee coke ovens, closed 1926, partly reopened in 1936. ( i worked in the turbine hall there and they had a 1920"s Esher Weiss turbine generator for example, the national grid was a product of the 1930's so the power fed towns too in lots of cases..
6/ No 5 colliery, Prince of Wales, in 1936 ish, it was an 1830's pit modernised by Edward Mills, it shut after WW2 but was used as pumping pit for process water, submerisbles being fitted to the shaft after the winding motor burned out around 1970, filled and demolished around 1988. Note the spoil heaps being removed for the terraces to fit the new mills and Engineering shops onto.
7/ Heres a great shot from about 1950 showing Waunllwyd deep mine, opposite the level, it was joined to the Marine Colliery and shut C1965, Look at Silent valley and the Slag tips from the Blast Furnaces of the steelworks, the floor of the valley was full of spoil so it had to go somewhere, a slagpot is on the rails of the south tip. The tips were reduced in size by removing the slag to Llanwern site when it was being built, the inclined haulage is on your site, it ran from 1936 to about 1960, The slag was crushed and used for roadworks after that.
Mr Morris, (whos family was relocated to Park farm below the level) lived in the upland farm destroyed by the tips in 1945, It was the finest upland farm in the district and was covered over by hot slag, no questions asked!!
There a shot of a works Peckett loco too, the locoshop was near the old furnaces in Ebbw Vale, I did 6 months of my training ( sic) working on the diesel locos there in 1976.
8/ Shot of Tyllwyn just above the Bessemer plant, the slag above the houses is from Ebbw vale furnaces, note Bwych y Garn balance pit tip on the skyline. I lived opposite here as a kid and some Friday nights thousands of litres of wate palm oil from the rolling mills would be burned at night, pollution galore.
9/ The interior of Victoria Foundry where the hillside wheel was most probably cast, look at the big compound steam engine cylinder casting on the moulding sand of the casting floor, the company could design and make their own equipment on site.

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East Side - Waun Lwyd

Silent Valley Incline SO 1784 0732 The incline was constructed in the 1920-30s, connecting the Victoria Foundry with tips in Silent Valley. The tips have been removed and the area is used as a refuse tip.
Incline footbridge SO 1770 0734 Steel footbridge taking a footpath over the incline.
Incline subway SO 1798 0730 A concrete subway taking the incline under a mountain track. It appears to have had separate passages for each direction and is now used as an animal shelter.
Incline upper section SO 1810 0729 The upper section has the remains of sleepers and lengths of the haulage cable.
Reservoir SO 1808 0743 The reservoir was in existence by 1880 feeding a string of linear reservoirs running along the hillside below, presumably feeding the original ironworks. A concrete spillway exists at the Southern end and another about halfway along. This area was being 'prettified' in 2010.


Waun Lwyd
Silent Valley incline, 2010 		Waun Lwyd
Silent Valley incline subway, 2010 		Waun Lwyd
Waun Lwyd reservoir, 2010

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East Side - Ty Llwyn

Bwlch-y-garn Pit and Red Ash levels were both in existence by 1880. Bwlch-y-garn Pit was linked to Beaufort Ironworks by a lengthy and very exposed tramway, the Red Ash levels by a well-constructed incline. Both were marked disused by 1901 with the second level at Red Ash already disused on the 1880 map.

Red Ash level SO 1825 0847 The main adit at the end of the tramway from the incline top with a branch tramway running back to the second adit at SO 1823 0877
Red Ash incline top SO 1815 0870 Site of brakehouse and tips from a small quarry used for its construction.
Red Ash incline SO 1800 0893 Substantially built incline on embankments at both ends and a cutting in the centre. A length of rail is visible at the lower end of the cutting (2010)
Red Ash incline tipping dock SO 1783 0918 The tipping dock appears to be stone built and connected with the Beaufort tramway just beyond Bwlch-y-garn Pit.
Bwlch-y-garn Pit SO 1780 0926 Now part of the farm, some indistinct foundations and the Pit reservoir remain.
Bwlch-y-garn tramway SO 1772 1018 This is a good section of the trackbed of the tramway which ran to SO 1819 1110 and then reversed down to the Beafort tramway. The route northwards has been landscaped.


Ty llwyn
Red Ash incline, 2010 		Ty llwyn
Red Ash incline cutting, 2010 		Ty llwyn
Red Ash Level tipping dock, 2010

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Photo Gallery

Many photos of the Ebbw Vale area, including Marine Colliery and the Victoria Tramway are on my photo gallery website :-
'Transport and Industry - The Leftovers'

Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Ty Llwyd and Victoria - The Cwm and Ebbw Vale gallery


Other Locations

A comprehensive sortable 'Excel' spreadsheet of all known sites is on The Home Page

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