Hollybush

Hollybush Old Colliery - SO 1655 0295

Hollybush 'Old' Colliery was sunk in the early 1870s and appears to have closed prior to 1900. Little remains but there are some small tips, stonework and the site of the shaft under the brambles.

Hollybush Old Colliery, 1878	Hollybush Old Colliery shaft	Hollybush Old Colliery shaft	Hollybush Old Colliery shaft
Hollybush Old Colliery stonework	Hollybush Old Colliery tips

Hollybush Station area - SO 1660 0335

The Station House (SO 1657 0334) is now a private house, offers over £150k and it's yours. The subway (SO 1659 0349) is partially filled in and once provided access to the footpath down to New Hollybush Colliery. If you didn't fancy the subway then there are steps a little further up the line. To the South of the station some brick and stone foundations exist at SO 1657 0334.

LNWR water tower, Hollybush	LNWR stonework at station	LNWR station house, Hollybush	LNWR station house, Hollybush
Subway to Hollybush Colliery	Subway to Hollybush Colliery	Subway to Hollybush Colliery	Subway to Hollybush Colliery
LNWR steps to Hollybush Colliery	Hollybush Station & Colliery

Hollybush Colliery and Coke Ovens - SO 1654 0362

The Northern bank of coke ovens is derelict in the undergrowth at SO 1650 0375. The Southern bank, SO 1654 0362, is better kept, being used for animal feed and shelter. Closer to the village at SO 1655 0353 are some stone and concrete foundations. The LNWR runs below the coke ovens under a long and substantial stone retaining wall.

Hollybush Colliery	Hollybush coke ovens	Hollybush Colliery foundations	Hollybush Colliery foundations
The southern coke ovens	The southern coke ovens	The southern coke ovens	The southern coke ovens
The southern coke ovens	The southern coke ovens
The Northern coke ovens	The Northern coke ovens	The Northern coke ovens	LNWR coke ovens retaining wall

New Hollybush Colliery - SO 1663 0368

The sites of the lower levels and odd stonework can be found beside the river over the footbridge. The tramway from the levels up to the gated ventilation level (SO 1667 0401) runs parallel and to the left of the forestry track. Just past the level, the fenced airshaft is up the bank to the right.

New Hollybush Colliery South level	New Hollybush Colliery South level	New Hollybush Colliery South level	New Hollybush Colliery South level
New Hollybush Colliery South level	New Hollybush Colliery South level	New Hollybush Colliery vent level	New Hollybush Colliery vent level
New Hollybush Colliery vent level	New Hollybush Colliery vent level	New Hollybush Colliery airshaft

Pochin Colliery

Pochin Colliery - SO 1620 0480

The Pochin Colliery of the Tredegar Iron Co worked from 1876 to 1964 but has been pretty well cleared and there's little to see now. The bridge under the LNWR at the Southern end of the site at SO 1631 0442 is an impressive piece of stonework. The lane led to Pont Gwaithyrhaearn, a pre-1700 charcoal iron furnace, lime kilns and foundry, described here :- Pont Gwaithyrhaearn.

Pochin Colliery reclamation	Pochin Colliery reclamation	Pochin Colliery reclamation	Pochin Colliery quarry
Quarry and Darren Level	Pochin Colliery LNWR bridge

Bedwellty Pits

Bedwellty Quarry and levels - SO 1533 0583

The winding and brake drum crumble away at the head of the incline, where quarrying and coalmining took place. A tramway follows the coal seam Northwards past a number of small levels to SO 1486 0635.

Bedwellty Quarry and levels	Bedwellty Quarry and levels	Bedwellty Quarry and levels	Bedwellty Quarry and levels
Quarry incline winding drum	Quarry incline winding drum	Quarry incline winding drum	Quarry incline winding drum
Quarry incline winding drum	Bedwellty Pits Quarry	Bedwellty Pits Quarry	Bedwellty Pits Quarry

Bedwellty Pits Colliery - SO 1549 0627

A Tredegar Iron Co colliery opened in 1850 and closed in 1941. Like Pochin, the site has been cleared but some tips and other bits and pieces remain. However, there are much more interesting bits to the West in them thar' hills. The remains of the aerial ropeway across the mountain can be seen from the top station at SO 1510 0520 to the bottom station at SO 1520 0560 with a number of pylon bases in between.

Bedwellty Pits Colliery site, 2011	Bedwellty Pits Colliery site, 2011	Bedwellty Pits Colliery site, 2011	Bedwellty Pits Colliery site, 2019
Bedwellty Pits Colliery tips	LNWR bridge over quarry incline	Site of LNWR halt, Bedwellty Pits
Aerial ropeway bottom station	Aerial ropeway bottom station	Aerial ropeway bottom station	Aerial ropeway bottom station
Aerial ropeway middle station	Aerial ropeway middle-top station	Aerial ropeway top station	Aerial ropeway top station

Troedrhiwgwair

Troedrhiwgwair woods - SO 1596 0630

The first three levels in the woods opened before 1879 and probably even closed by then, certainly very little activity since, leaving the tips and level sites. They can be found at SO 1597 0607 (SW), SO 1616 0617 (SE) and SO 1607 0639 (NE). The fourth level at SO 1596 0630 (NW) is the well-known and well-preserved gated level and tips in the woods which was probably the alternative exit from Troedrhiwgwair Colliery. Another level was below the school at SO 1599 0660, open in the 1920s and '30s. The sites of the levels remain but close your eyes and imagine....

SE level tip, Troedrhiwgwair	NE level tip, Troedrhiwgwair	NW level, Troedrhiwgwair	NW level, Troedrhiwgwair
NW level, Troedrhiwgwair	NW level, Troedrhiwgwair	NW level, Troedrhiwgwair	NW level tips, Troedrhiwgwair

Troedrhiwgwair Colliery - SO 1570 0703

This Tredegar Iron and Coal Co colliery was opened in 1900, closing in 1929 and abandoned in 1930, Situated in one of the old quarries above the village, it was connectedby a shallow incline to an exchange bank at Peacehaven (SO 1548 0730), the end of a long siding from Tredegar Gas Works and the LNWR. The course of the tramway, exchange bank, top of the level and some brickwork from the haulage engine are reminders of its existence.

Troedrhiwgwair Colliery, 1920	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery	Foundations below Colliery	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery tramway	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery tramway
Tramway to Colliery tipping dock	The colliery loading bank	Colliery tipping dock

Troedrhiwgwair Village

A small level (SO 1593 0659) was behind the school, open in the 1920s and '30s. Just the site of the level remains but close your eyes and imagine.... The Fountain Inn at SO 1584 0655 is disused and rapidly becoming derelict, pity you can't get a pint there now, it's hot work wandering around here.

Troedrhiwgwair School	Troedrhiwgwair School	Troedrhiwgwair School	Fountain Inn, Troedrhiwgwair
Troedrhiwgwair buttress	Troedrhiwgwair buttress

Tredegar

The railway to the Gasworks, the Ironworks tips and Troedrhiwgwair Colliery

Tredegar gasworks, 1901	Tredegar gasworks, 1920	Tredegar ironworks tips, 1901	Tredegar ironworks tips, 1920
Tredegar gasworks	Tredegar gasworks	Tredegar gasworks	Tredegar gasworks
Vale Terrace in the 1930s	Vale Terrace in 2019	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline	Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline
Troedrhiwgwair Colliery branchline

Mountain Pit, Tredegar - SO 1364 0898

Mountain Pit or Tredegar No 7 pit was open from c1840 to 1894 and claimed to have been the deepest balance pit in the world at 638 ft. The shaft was used as a pumping shaft after coal-winding ceased. Between 1948 and the 1960s, the site was a greyhound race track known as the 'Jesmond Dene Stadium'. The site is now scrapyard for cars and vans. The tramway ran down an incline to the Tredegar Tramroad from Trefil.

Mountain Pit and tramway, 1899		The site of Mountain Pit	The site of Mountain Pit
Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway
Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit incline and tramway
Mountain Pit incline and tramway	Mountain Pit exchange sidings	Mountain Pit exchange sidings

No 1 Level and John Davies Level, Tredegar - SO 1344 0900

According to the Coal Authority maps, this is No 1 Level, Tredegar with the site of John Davies Level sitting below the tips.

Tredegar No 1 level, 1899	Tredegar No 1 level	Tredegar No 1 level	Tredegar No 1 level
Tredegar No 1 level	Tredegar No 1 level	Tredegar No 1 level	'John Davies Level'

Bryn Bach Pit or No 1 Pit, Tredegar - SO 1345 0980

Bryn Bach Pit, Tredegar, was one of Tredegar Iron Co's balance pits from c1869 to 1879, originally sunk in 1818 as 'Edward James Pit'. It was connected to the Tredegar Tramroad from Trefil by a tramway or tramroad that double-backed on itself. The course of the tramway is now the main link to Bryn Bach Country Park from Tredegar town.

Brynbach Pit tramway	Brynbach Patches in 1926
Brynbach Pit tramway	Brynbach Pit tramway	Brynbach Pit tramway

The Tredegar Tramroad to Trefil quarries

The Tredegar Tramroad to Trefil quarries as it passes through Tredegar town.
For more info and photos, go to the 'Tramroads and Railways to Trefil Quarries' page, click here :- The Tredegar Tramroad

Brynbach Pit tramway	The Yard gates at Church Street	The site of Briggs Pit
Tredegar Tramroad in Stockton Way	Tredegar Tramroad in Stockton Way	Tredegar Tramroad in Sycamore Avenue

Around Tredegar Town

'Rhyd Hall' pub sign	Ty Trist Colliery 1899 tips tramway	St James reservoir, Peacehaven
Bridge Street abutments	Bridge Street abutments	Tredegar Ironworks 1902 stores	Tredegar Ironworks 1902 stores
Mount Pleasant brickworks	Mount Pleasant, Tredegar	'GWB Water Stop Tap'	Scotch Peter's Reservoir
Scotch Peter's Reservoir	Scotch Peter's Reservoir	Scotch Peter's Reservoir	Scotch Peter's Reservoir
'S 1818' Ironworks boundary stone	Cast iron post in Tredegar	NCB Tredegar gates	NCB Tredegar gates
NCB workshops site	NCB workshops site	Tredegar Ironworks Shop Row	Tredegar Ironworks Shop Row
Tredegar Ironworks Shop Row	St Georges Church, Tredegar	Ironworks Central Surgery	Yard Level, Tredegar

Tredegar Ironworks locomotives

Tredegar Ironworks built a number of locomotives for use in the ironworks and on the Sirhowy Tramroad. They were tramroad locomotives but a couple are believed to have been converted for use on standard gauge railways. The two narrow gauge locos were built for the Tredegar to Trefil Tramroad.

Date Built	Type	Gauge	Name
1832	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	St David
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Tredegar
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Jane
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Lord Rodney
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Lady Sale
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2"	Prince Albert
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Fanny
1832 to 1848	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Laura
1853	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Bedwellty
1854	0-6-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Charlotte
-	0-4-0	4' 2" to 4' 4"	Dispatch
-	-	2' 10" to 3' 0"	-
-	-	2' 10" to 3' 0"	-

Sirhowy

Sirhowy Ironworks - SO 1429 1014

Sirhowy Ironworks were first established in 1778 by Thomas Atkinson and from 1803 to 1818 it supplied nearby Tredegar Ironworks with pig iron. In 1818 it was taken over by the Harfords of Ebbw Vale Ironworks and supplied them with pig iron. In 1844 the Ebbw Vale Company was taken over by Abraham Darby when there were five furnaces. By 1877 the amount of iron cast was more than could be contained in the cast houses and they were partly demolished. However the amount of wrought iron required had fallen dramatically with the rise of steelmaking so ironmaking ceased at Sirhowy in 1883. It continued to produce coke for Ebbw Vale until the last of the company's collieries finally closed in 1905. The principal remains of the site include three masonry charging platform arches, the base of a furnace, waterwheel supply tunnel and other earthworks.

Sirhowy Ironworks in c1844	The site of Sirhowy Ironworks	Railway line to Coke Ovens	The charging arches
The charging arches	The charging arches	The first charging arch	Behind the first charging arch
The second charging arch	Between the charging arches	Behind the second charging arch	The third charging arch
Behind the third charging arch	The late 19th century furnace	The base of the blast furnace	Waterwheel arch near the furnaces
Above the charging arches	Above the charging arches	Above the charging arches	Above the charging arches
Sirhowy Ironworks	Sirhowy Ironworks	Sirhowy Ironworks	Sirhowy Ironworks
Sirhowy Ironworks	Sirhowy Ironworks	Below the Coke Ovens	The tramroad to the Coke Ovens

Around Sirhowy

The Sirhowy Tramroad	The Sirhowy Tramroad bridge	'1797' Sirhowy keystone	'Sirhowy Works 1818'
The tramroad to the Coke Ovens	The tramroad to the Coke Ovens	Sirhowy Ironworks Truck Shop	'Glan-yr-afon', Sirhowy
The leat to the waterwheel	The leat to the waterwheel	The weir on the River Sirhowy	Sirhowy branch of the Rassau Railroad
The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct	The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct	The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct	The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct
The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct	The MTAR Blaen-y-Cwm Viaduct
Shon Seffreys Reservoir	Shon Seffreys Reservoir	Shon Seffreys Reservoir spillway

Pont Gwaithyrhaearn

Pont Gwaithyrhaearn Furnace - SO 1649 0434
Pont-gwaith Level - SO 1635 0422

Pont Gwaithyrhaearn means 'The Bridge Iron Works' but there are scant remains of this pre-1700 charcoal iron furnace, lime kilns and foundry. The site was measured when derelict in 1831 and it was 3 metres (10 feet) across the base. It is believed to have fallen into dis-use circa 1760. It's worth bearing in mind that this is not the same as Pont-y-gwaith Ironworks, of the well-known drawing, which is in the Taff Vale near Abercynon. Pont-gwaith Level was operational from pre1843 to 1896 and little remains of that either.

'An Outline of the History of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn' by Eiddil Gwent (1798 - 1878) written in 1868

"Pont Gwaith yr Haearn is a kind of small and insignificant village on the banks of the River Sirhowy about three and a half miles below Tredegar. It got this name from the furnace that once smelted iron there many long years ago - and the name will probably stay for as long as the river Sirhowy washes the foot of Manmoel's cliffs and woe betide the man who would attempt to change this name which has adorned the old furnace so long, at the hands of Lady Hall, Llanover (Gwenynen Gwent), for her Ladyship is the owner of the place and her zeal and enthusiasm for keeping up the old Welsh names of places in Wales [is very great].

It was half a century ago, namely in the year 1818, that I first paid a visit to Pont Gwaith yr Haearn. At that time there was little cause for even the most meticulous of antiquarians to doubt for a minute in his mind the existence of the old furnace of Pontgwaithyrhaearn, for the black heaps of cinders that surrounded the place were sufficient proof of the existence and antiquity of this old furnace. And although the black heaps of cinders that surrounded it were covered over with grass, and the old furnace itself almost completely covered by nettles - like one ignored by the finger of tradition and disregarded by history - yet it still demands its rightful place as equal, if not older, in age than any of the ancient furnaces of Wales:- such as the Pont y Gwaith furnace, in the parish of Merthyr, Pontyrhun furnace, Cwmywernlas furnace, Melin y Cwrt and the old Caerphilly furnace.

During the fifty years that I have spent in this place, namely Tredegar, I have doubtless been some tens of times to Pontgwaithyrhaearn, every time quizzing the inhabitants in relation to relations to Pont Gwaith yr Haearn; but it would have been as well to ask the man in the moon as to ask them, for the answer was "We know nothing." But small wonder, for they were all incomers and the old natives of the place had all passed on - without leaving behind them as much as a single tradition, but for the place name, namely Pont Gwaith yr Haearn. About 37 years ago [1825], I measured the old furnace, and I found that it measured about 40 feet in circumference and its diameter was about 10 feet and 3 inches. But recently I paid a visit to the old furnace, and to my disappointment it was no more than 30 feet in circumference and 10ft in diameter. It is probable that this can be attributed to the decay of time during the 37 years that have passed - for it is now level with the ground, aye, some 3 feet or more lower now than when I first saw it.

But having thus loitered around the old furnace, I must now lead the reader to the facts which prove, undeniably, the existence of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn.
"A wado hyn aed a hi A gwaded i'r haul godi."
“Whoever would deny this, let him go And deny that the sun rises.”

About 37 years ago I went to a place called Llanhilleth [Llaniddel in the original] to ply my craft and who should I meet there but Mr. Rees Davies, the son of the Mr. Rees Davies who built the Tredegar furnaces, from No.1 to No.5. Mr Davies had been in France for some years keeping an ironworks. But after the start of the Revolution in France, he returned to Wales an eminently respectable gentleman of wealth - and he started up at the Llanhilleth foundry. One day, I met Mr Davies and he told me that he had, at last, extracted the history of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn to the last detail.

"From whom, Sir?" I answered. "From Mrs Thomas - an old lady who is bed-ridden through great age - who lives in the house next door to the foundry. This lady is the mam-gu [“grand-mother”] of Mr. John Thomas, formerly of Pontymeistr [now Pontymister] but now residing in France. And Mr Thomas told me, when I was in France, that it was his family who founded Pont Gwaith yr Haearn - and here are all his words shown to be true by his mam-gu - "Go in turn to Mrs Thomas, and she will surely give you the same details to you as I got - for her memory is quite good considering that she is 85 years of age." - A long life indeed, is it not, dear Reader?

This news caused me great restlessness in my mind - and restless I was until I worked my way around to holding some small conversation with this venerable old lady. Let the reader carefully peruse the conversation that took place between us, for I have nothing but what she told me as any foundation for the existence and antiquity of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn - and I hope that that is sufficient for any sane and sensible man when he considers out of whose mouth it came."

The Conversation

Having paid my respects to the old lady, I said to her -
"It's likely, Mrs. Thomas, that you remember the furnace at Pont Gwaith yr Haearn working."
"Yes I can, my boy - it was there that my father was working when I was born - and after that my husband's relations worked there."
"Where did they obtain coal, Mrs. Thomas?"
"It was not coal that they used at that time, but charcoal; the government was against burning coal at that time, because, they said, it poisoned the air."
"What did they have making blast for the fire at that time, Mrs. Thomas?"
"Oh, bellows."
"Did your family live in Pont Gwaith yr Haearn?"
"No, but they lodged there, going home every Saturday night to Twyn yr Odyn, Merthyr; and when Monday morning came they returned from there as the crow flies to Pont Gwaith yr Haearn."
"Do you know, Mrs. Thomas, where they obtained iron-ore to make iron?"
"Somewhere in the neighbourhood of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn they got it, but I don't know where."
"Were the masters Welshmen or Englishmen?"
"They said they were Welshmen, but they were Welshmen from France; two gentlemen without equal they were as well, they are very well remembered."
"It is a fact, Mrs. Thomas, that a nation of Welshmen has been settled in France for 1200 years, we call them Llydawiaid - Bretons."
"Well, there they are."
"Well, what became of these gentlemen?"
"Well, they returned to the soil of their native land, namely France, but despite that we received letters from them for several years, because my family - that is the Thomases of Twyn yr Odyn, Merthyr - were greatly respected by them - and it was their son that enticed John, my grandson, from Pont y Meistr to France to keep an ironworks - and that is where he is to this day."
"How old were you at that time?"
"Well, I could have been between ten or twelve years of age."
"How old are you now?"
"Well, I am now eighty five."
It is obvious that were this old lady alive today [1862] she would be 128 years old. Well, that is the substance of the conversation that passed between myself and the aged lady relating to Pont Gwaith yr Haearn, and had I not chronicled it at the time, doubtless the history of Pont Gwaith yr Haearn would have been completely lost, probably forever. It is only fair to inform the Reader at this point that, if called upon, the writer is able to refer him to grandchildren, great-grandchildren and descendants of this old lady and that without travelling more than ten miles.

The natural conclusion in the light of the above statements is that the Bretons came over to Wales to their fellow countrymen, during the time of the heated war between England, France and Spain during the reign of George II, and that, after the peace that was made in 1748 during the same reign (within two or three years) they returned to Brittany in France. And another natural conclusion is that they built the Pont Gwaith yr Haearn furnace about the year 1738 or 1739. In the time of King James, all the furnaces of this Kingdon stood at some 300 in number; and in the 40 years of the reign of George II they were reduced to 59, and Pont Gwaith yr Haearn was one of them.

'R hen ffwrnes gadarnwych ail huan oleuwych,
Amliwiaist yr entrych yn fynych gan fwg;
Er lles - trwy hanesion o lawr dy falurion,
Cawd dyfnion ddirgelion i'r golwg.

"O, sturdy old furnace, like the bright, excellent sun,
You have often coloured the heights of heaven with smoke;
For common good - by means of histories from the floor of your ruins,
Deep secrets have been brought to light."

Acknowledgments, sources and further reading.

Thanks for addition information to :- T Eric Davies, Mark Lloyd, Geoff Palfreyand Karl Plumley