Celynen North Colliery

Celynen North Colliery - ST 212972

Celynen North Colliery downcast shaft was sunk in 1913, followed by the upcast and the Graig Fawr house coal shafts in 1924. After an uneventful life Graig Fawr closed in 1961 and the rest of the colliery in 1989. Latterly it was connected underground to Oakdale Colliery. The site has been cleared and supports an industrial estate and some waste land.

A set of steps on the Eastern side of the A467 lead up through the woodland (ST 214977) where the frame of a 2'6" gauge wagon lies in the undergrowth. The frame is split just behind the axlebox, either as a result of its fall down the hillside or the cause of its being dumped. Further up the hillside above the wagon is a large 2 chamber water tank with a dire warning about trespassers from the NCB! This was the site of wooden cooling towers for the colliery, hot water being pumped up, condensed and piped back down. A tramway ran Southwest down to the colliery, presumably the route of the wagon.

Celynen North wagon frame	Celynen North wagon frame	Celynen North Colliery reservoir
Celynen North Colliery reservoir	Celynen North Colliery reservoir	Colliery site and miners sign

Celynen North Colliery in the past

'No 5 Abersychan' at Celynen North	'58' at Celynen North Colliery	'Sir John Wyndham Beynon'	'Sir John Wyndham Beynon'
'Sir John Wyndham Beynon'	'Sir John Wyndham Beynon'	'Sir John Wyndham Beynon'	'58' at Celynen North Colliery
'No 5 Abersychan' at Celynen North	Reservoir cooling towers	Reservoir cooling towers	Reservoir cooling towers

Other Collieries at Newbridge

Cwm Dows Colliery - ST 2007 9684

Cwm Dows Colliery was an old colliery working from around 1805 to the 1930s with a number of breaks in between. Around 1910-1915 it was owned by the Twyngwyn Colliery Co. and known as 'Twyn-gwyn No 2'. The colliery tramway connected to the Crumlin branch of Halls Road. A few walls and the culvert / airway can be found at the site.

Cwm Dows Colliery, 1879	Cwm Dows Colliery, 1916	Cwm Dows Colliery tramroad
Cwm Dows Colliery tramroad	Cwm Dows Colliery tramroad	Cwm Dows Colliery quarry
Cwm Dows Colliery wall	Culvert under the TVER at Cwm Dows	Culvert under the TVER at Cwm Dows

Twyngwyn Colliery - ST 2018 9714

Twyngwyn Colliery was at the end of a tramway which ran from a tipping dock on Halls Road Kendon branch, through a tunnel under the GWR Taff Vale Extension Railway, to reach the colliery. The colliery is on the 1880 OS map, marked as an 'old level'. It re-opened from c1891 to c1916 as the Twyngwyn Coal Co and the Twyngwyn Colliery Co Ltd. The company also owned Cwm Dows Colliery, referring to it as 'Twyn-gwyn No 2'. There was also a 1950s level known as 'Woodland' in this area. A small filled-in airshaft and other signs of activity are up the valley.

Twyngwyn Colliery, 1901	Twyngwyn Colliery loading bank	Twyngwyn Colliery loading bank	Twyngwyn Colliery loading bank
Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR
Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR	Tramway tunnel under GWR
The site of Twyngwyn Colliery	Workings near Twyngwyn Colliery	Workings near Twyngwyn Colliery	Workings near Twyngwyn Colliery
Trial shaft near Twyngwyn Colliery	Trial shaft near Twyngwyn Colliery	Trial shaft near Twyngwyn Colliery

Bush Colliery - ST 2061 9751 and ST 2065 9775

The first record of Bush Colliery seems to be a lease of 1865, auctioned in 1867. The main owners, amonst others, were the Bush Coal Co and the Newbridge Colliery Co. There were a number of levels in the area, linked by a tramway down to screens on Halls Road Kendon branch. After c1947 the 'new' level was worked by the Waites and Gerald Plant until closure in c1988. The 'new' level site is now an owl and bird sanctuary and is private.

Bush Colliery, 1879	Bush Colliery, 1901	Bush Colliery, 1962	Bush Colliery, 1962
Bush Colliery	Bush Colliery	Bush Colliery tramway	Bush Colliery tramway
Bush Colliery rail	Bush Colliery incline	Bush Colliery incline	Bush Colliery incline
Bush Colliery incline	Bush Colliery incline	Bush Colliery incline

Taff Vale Extenson Railway

The Taff Vale Extenson Railway skirted the outskirts of Newbridge on its way from Pontllanfraith to cross Crumlin Viaduct. It's not too easy to trace but Pennar Lane bridge and the trackbed can be walked quite easily. Again approaching Treowen a short stretch can be identified along with the footings of the Bush Colliery incline tunnel.

The TVER at Pennar Lane	The TVER at Pennar Lane	The TVER at Pennar Lane	The TVER at Pennar Lane
The TVER at Pennar Lane	The TVER at Pennar Lane
The TVER at Treowen	The TVER at Treowen	The TVER at Treowen	Treowen Road bridge abutments
The TVER at Crumlin High Level	The TVER at Crumlin High Level

Pant Lane canal bridge - ST 2128 9677

Pant Lane canal bridge hides between Bridge Street and the A472. The bridge crossed the Southern end of Pant Lock, now lost under the bypass. This is probably the most Northerly relic of the Crumlin Arm of the Monmouthshire Canal.

Pant Lane canal bridge, 1879

Pant Lane canal bridge

Pant Lane canal bridge

Pant Lane canal bridge

Pennar Lane Pillbox - ST 2011 9665

A pillbox sits in the junction between Pennar Lane and Bryngwyn Road though I'm not at all sure what it was guarding.

Pennar Lane Pillbox

Pennar Lane Pillbox

Around Newbridge

Abercarn UDC Isolation Hospital at ST 2145 9755 opened sometime after 1901 and appears to have closed during WW2. Cefn-Rhos-y-Bedd Uchaf Farm sits above Pantside.

Abercarn UDC Isolation Hospital

Cefn-Rhos-y-Bedd Uchaf

'Halls Road' to Pennar Tunnel

Pen-rhiw-bica Junction - ST 2103 9644

Pen-rhiw-bica was the junction for the Crumlin and Kendon branch of Halls Road, leaving the main line to loop around the valley to Cwm Dows. This is the end of the trackbed from Crosskeys as the Newbridge by-pass now interrupts the route.

Pen-rhiw-bica Junction	Pen-rhiw-bica Junction	Halls Road Kendon branch	Halls Road Kendon branch
Pen-rhiw-bica looking South	Pen-rhiw-bica looking South	Pen-rhiw-bica looking North	Pen-rhiw-bica looking North
Halls Road main line	Halls Road main line	Halls Road main line

'Halls Road' main line - ST 2032 9664

From the by-pass to the level crossing and down Tunnel Terrace to the tunnel portal

Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge
Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Halls Road trackbed, Newbridge	Tunnel Terrace level crossing
Tunnel Terrace level crossing	Halls Road, Tunnel Terrace	Halls Road, Tunnel Terrace	Halls Road, Pennar Tunnel

The Kendon Tramroad branch of 'Halls Road'

The Kendon Tramroad to Crumlin and Kendon Colliery left the main 'Halls Road' tramroad at Pen-rhiw-bica Junction to execute a u-turn around Cwmdows towards Treowen. Work on the line began after the main line was opened to the annoyance of Cwmdows Colliery's owners, who protested but had to wait until 1814 for transport. The tramroad eventually linked to Cwmdows, Twyngwyn and Bush Collieries in Newbridge. The tramroad was gradually shortened as the collieries closed, being used less and less, probably out of use by 1900 and closed completely by 1912.

The Kendon Tramroad from Newbridge to Kendon Collieries

The Kendon Tramroad left the main line near Pen-rhiw-bica, going past Cwmdows, Twyn Gwyn and Bush Collieries before finishing up at the Kendon Collieries. There appears to have been two routes beyond Bush Colliery, before and after the building of the TVER.

The Kendon Tramroad

The Kendon Tramroad

The Kendon Tramroad

The Kendon Tramroad

Kendon Tramroad from Newbridge to Bush Farm

The Kendon Tramroad to Twyn Gwyn Colliery - ST 2032 9664 to ST 2040 9695

The Kendon Tramroad loops round Newbridge to reach Cwmdows and Twyn Gwyn Collieries.

The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad
The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad
The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad

Kendon Tramroad from Tywn Gwyn to Bush Farm - ST 2040 9695 to ST 2082 9727

The Kendon Tramroad passes Cwmdows Farm and follows Park Road until it reaches the loading bank for Bush Colliery.

The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad
The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad	The Kendon Tramroad

Kendon Tramroad from Bush Farm to Kendon

Old and new routes to Kendon. The building of the Taff Vale Extension Railway in 1859 cut through the tramroad to the original Kendon Colleries so a new route along Commercial Road was laid which was able to serve the later collieries in the area.

The original Kendon Tramroad, c1800 - 1860

The old route from Bush Farm to Crumlin has mostly disappeared but the route can be traced here and there along footpaths and lanes.

Woodview-Terrace-culvert-2107

Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad
Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad
Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Culvert or drainage level
Culvert or drainage level	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad
Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad
Original Kendon Tramroad	Original Kendon Tramroad

The later Kendon Tramroad, 1860 - 1900

The new route followed Park Road and Commercal Road to the Kendon Viaduct and is a footpath from there to the main Kendon road.

Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad
Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad
Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad
Kendon Tramroad quarry	Kendon Tramroad quarry	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad
Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad	Later Kendon Tramroad

Crumlin

Crumlin Town - ST 212984

A small fragment of the GWR station footbridge, built into the side of the chemist's shop, can be seen in the town centre. In 2020 half of a winding wheel had been erected by the entrance to Crumlin Navigation Colliery

Crumlin Station footbridge	Crumlin Station footbridge	Crumlin winding wheel	Cork and Bandon Rly notice
Lower HL Station House	High Level Station House	High Level Station House	Crumlin river bridge datestone

Crumlin Viaduct - ST 2147 9864

Not a lot left these days, the Eastern parapet of Crumlin Viaduct is a good viewing platform but the Western parapet is hidden in the undergrowth at ST 2120 9854.

Kennard's Foundry advert	Crumlin Viaduct, c1890	Model of Crumlin Viaduct
Crumlin Viaduct, Swffryd parapet	Crumlin Viaduct, Swffryd parapet	The upper Viaduct Foundry
Crumlin Junction, Swffryd	Crumlin Junction, Swffryd, 1964

Kendon Viaduct - ST 2103 9842

Here the Western parapet is the good viewing platform and the Eastern parapet can be seen across the valley at ST 2113 9850.

Kendon Viaduct Eastern parapet	Kendon Viaduct Eastern parapet	Kendon Viaduct Eastern parapet
Kendon Viaduct Western parapet	Kendon Viaduct approach	Kendon Viaduct approach

Crumlin Navigation Colliery

Navigation Colliery - ST 2115 9875

Crumlin Navigation Colliery was built between 1907 and 1911. The Navigation Colliery complex is a grade 2 listed building, having been used for various businesses since closure, but is unused, fire damaged and decaying rapidly. All the buildings remain in 2019, including the engine houses and a chimney, but for how much longer? However, help may be at hand - read on....
The Oxford House Industrial History Society had a conducted tour around the Navigation Colliery site at Crumlin in May 2015 as work to conserve the site and turn it into something useful finally gets under way. Many thanks to Glofa Navigation Trust for entertaining us and doing the business.

Aberbeeg South (also known as 'Budds') to the North of Navigation was the house coal pit and opened in 1924. The site has been cleared, a brick wall next to Navigation and a large flat concrete area near the tips at ST 213993 remain. Both collieries closed in 1967.

Crumlin Navigation Colliery, 1938

Colliery wages slip, 1938

Exit from downcast shaft

Power house and engine house

Fan House and Drift

Fan house drift	Fan house drift	Inside the fan house	Inside the fan house
Inside the fan house	Inside the fan house	Inside the fan house	Inside the fan house
Fan house and engine house	Fan house drift	Fan house with offices above	Office block
Eastern ventilation fan	Fan house chambers	Fan house chambers	Western ventilation fan
Fan house chambers	Fan house notice	Power house and ducting	Power house
Baths boiler room	Baths and canteen in pink !	Canteen toilet block	Canteen and baths
Cable tensioner	Emergency shelter	Magazine	Magazine
Workshops and engine house	Workshops at pithead	Upcast engine house	Upcast headgear and shaft
Chimney stack worms-eye view	Downcast shaft	Navigation Colliery from Swffryd	Navigation Colliery from Swffryd
Navigation Colliery from Trinant	Navigation Colliery from Trinant	Crumlin Navigation Colliery	Crumlin Navigation Colliery
Crumlin Navigation Colliery	Crumlin Navigation Colliery	Crumlin Navigation Colliery	Crumlin Navigation Colliery
Crumlin Navigation Colliery	Crumlin Navigation Colliery

The collapse of the river culvert

The River Ebbw runs through a culvert running the whole length of the colliery site. One day, inevitably, it collapsed.....

River Ebbw culvert collapse

River Ebbw culvert collapse

River Ebbw culvert collapse

River Ebbw culvert collapse

Aberbeeg South Colliery - ST 2115 9915

Aberbeeg South Colliery

Aberbeeg South Colliery

Kendon

Kendon Colliery, first site - ST 2020 9877

The first Kendon Colliery was working by 1809 and is shown on maps from 1813. By 1899 the OS maps show it as 'disused'. It's owners included Thomas Protheroe, Edmund Jones and latterly the Morgan Brothers.

Kendon Colliery, second site - ST 2038 9883

The Davies Bros opened the second site of Kendon Colliery by 1894. It had a chequered history, working occasionally until final abandonment in 1941.

Kendon in 1880	Kendon in 1901	Kendon in 1920	Kendon in 1962
Old Kendon Colliery	Old Kendon Colliery	Old Kendon Colliery	Old Kendon Colliery
Old Kendon Colliery tips	Old Kendon Colliery tips	Kendon Colliery to let c1920	Level at ST 2027 9875, Kendon

Millbrook Colliery - ST 2016 9880

The Millbrook Colliery Co worked on the site of the old Kendon Colliery with at least two levels to the north from c1900 to c1947.

Rosemont Colliery - ST 2058 9883

Rosemont Colliery worked a number of levels further down the valley, from before 1918 to c1938.

Rosemont level - ST 2048 9883

Rosemont level was a modern working of the previous Rosemont No 2 level in the 1960s.

Millbrook Colliery tips

Millbrook Colliery Tramway

Rosemont Colliery, Kendon

Rosemont Colliery, Kendon

Crumlin brickworks, Kendon

Crumlin brickworks at Kendon appears on OS maps between 1916 and 1938. The only brick I've seen is imprinted 'Davies Bros Crumlin', the owners of Kendon Colliery.

'Davies Bros Crumlin'

Mynyddislwyn

The Collieries of Mynyddislwyn

Cae'r Llwyn Colliery - ST 1838 9416

Cae'r Llwyn Colliery was opened c1880 and finally closed c1925, having been abandoned in 1890 and 1904. Its owners included the Pengam Colliery Co and the Mynyddislwyn Colliery Co and finally J P Morgan & Co Ltd. The site of the top level is running with water, with its spoil tips below, but the rest has been reclaimed. The drilling rig or whatever may be connected to another re-opening (or not !) as its only yards from the level.

Cae'r Llwyn Colliery, 1876	Cae'r Llwyn Colliery, 1899	Cae'r Llwyn Colliery, possible tramway
Cae'r Llwyn Colliery crane	Cae'r Llwyn Colliery crane	Cae'r Llwyn Colliery collapsed level.

Pant-y-Resk Colliery - ST 2035 9565

Pant-y-resk Colliery and levels

Pant-y-resk Colliery tips

Pant-y-resk Colliery tips

Shaft below Pant-yr-esk Colliery

Pennar Tramway

The 'Pennar Branch' or 'Pennar Tramway', ran from below Church Farm down to Pentwynmawr, originally connecting somehow with the canal at Newbridge. It served a number of levels and collieries en route and appears to have closed, along with most of the levels, between 1901 and 1920.

Islwyn Colliery - ST 1892 9526

Islwyn Colliery, also known at various times as Penrhiwffranc, Churchlands, Church Farm and New Pennar Colliery, dates from before 1818 and was the original terminus of the Pennar Tramway. There were over 24 levels and air shafts in the 'Islwyn Colliery' area, which were in use on and off right up to the 1980s.

Ton-y-moch Colliery - ST 1890 9568

Ton-y-moch Colliery consisted of about 10 levels at one time or another. The area was connected to the Pennar tramway between 1879 and 1901.

Islwyn Colliery, 1879	Islwyn Colliery, 1879	Islwyn Colliery, 1901	Islwyn Colliery, 1901
Tramway at Pentwynmawr	Islwyn Colliery tramway	Islwyn Colliery tramway	Islwyn Colliery tramway
Islwyn Colliery tramway	Ton-y-moch Colliery tramway	Ton-y-moch Colliery tramway

Pennar Ganol Colliery - ST 1995 9630

There were old levels at Pennar Ganol before 1879 with a tramway connecting them to Ton-y-Pistyll and probably the tramway down from Islwyn Colliery to Halls Road. The 'Pennar Ganol Colliery Co Ltd' re-opened the levels in 1921 but abandoned them in 1929. The Newbridge Bypass cuts right through the site today but most of the tramway can be followed.

Pennar Ganol Colliery, 1901	Pennar Ganol Colliery, c1985
Pennar Ganol Colliery, Mynyddislwyn	Pennar Ganol Colliery, Mynyddislwyn	Pennar Ganol Colliery, Mynyddislwyn

Ty-gwyn Colliery - ST 2041 9625

The colliery near Ty-gwyn is shown as an 'old level' on the 1882 map but sometime between 1920 and 1960 a new level was opened next to the old one. The CA maps show 3 levels here. Nothing appears to be known about them

Ty-gwyn Colliery, 1962

Ty-gwyn Colliery tips

Ty-gwyn Colliery level

Quarries and Farms of Mynyddislwyn

Mynyddislwyn Quarry or Cae'r Llwyn Quarry - ST 1830 9370

Mynyddislwyn Quarry or Cae'r Llwyn Quarry was already a substantial quarry at the time of the 1846 Tithe Map and continued working until the late 1960s at least, supplying stone for the Elan Valley dams and Llanwern steelworks. In 1897 a tramway was proposed to connect the quarry with Cae'r Llwyn Colliery and then down to the Crooked Bridge at Pont Gam and then up to the railway near Gelligroes. Sadly it was not built.

Mynyddislwyn Quarry, 1899	Mynyddislwyn Quarry	Mynyddislwyn Quarry tips	Mynyddislwyn Quarry
Mynyddislwyn Quarry	Mynyddislwyn Quarry tips	Mynyddislwyn Quarry	Mynyddislwyn Quarry
Mynyddislwyn Quarry	Mynyddislwyn Quarry	Mynyddislwyn Quarry

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry (II) - ST 1875 9410

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry (II) was a small quarry on the 1846 Tithe Map and continued working until the early 1900s as by the 1915 map it's described as 'Old Quarry'. It now forms part of the 'Beacons View' caravan and camping site.

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry, 1899

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry

Cae'r Llwyn Quarry

Graig Farm - ST 2003 9453

Graig Farm is a relatively new farm, believed to have been created about 1911 as Upper Sychpant Farm, becoming unoccupied by 1972.

Graig Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Graig Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Graig Farm, Mynyddislwyn
Graig Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Graig Farm, Mynyddislwyn

Pant-y-Resk Farm - ST 2035 9565

Pant-y-resk Farm

Pant-y-resk Farm barns

Barn near Ty Garw

Pendaren - ST 1892 9469

There's some ironmongery in the stream at Pendaren, could be agricultural or remains of an old level.

Pendaren, Ironmongery in the stream

Pendaren, Ironmongery in the stream

Pendaren, Ironmongery in the stream

Sychpant Farm - ST 2041 9435

Sychpant means dry valley or hollow, odd when there is a sizeable stream there. Could the stream have been dammed further up the valley in older days, or does it refer to the actual spot which is like a platform type hollow that the farm is built on? The farm was occupied from at least the early 1800s to 1953.

Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn
Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn	Sychpant Farm, Mynyddislwyn

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

'A historical tour around Mynyddislwyn Mountain' by Len Burland, Old Bakehouse Publications.
'Halls Tramroad' by Foster Frowin - A comprehensive five-part article appeared in 'Archive' magazine, Issues nos 55, 56, 59, 60 and 66 with loads of original photos and the 1840s tithe maps. Fascinating reading!!
Thanks to :- Chris Bartley, Lin Bryant, Peter Davies, Steve Davies, Andrew Gadd, Alan Murray-Rust, Rob Southall, Richard Terrell, David Williams, www.drillhalls.org.