Hopkinstown

Just after midnight we had a phoncall from the son living in Guildford that his partner had given birth to our latest grandson, Jack.  We're delighted and will travel to see them all this week.

Whilst Mrs BB met up with an old work colleague I took a drive to take a photo of something typically Welsh and found Hopkinstown Colliery a mile or so outside Pontypridd, South Wales (UK). The traffic was terrifically busy and I was lucky to get a break in the traffic of a few seconds to grab a photo of it with my signature birds flying over.

The colliery opened in 1851, and after a couple of name changes and liquidation ended up being called Great Western Colliery Co. Ltd (1878). On 11 April 1893, 63 miners were killed in an underground fire. The death toll would have been much more  but for the efforts of Thomas Prosser who braved smoke to open air doors to let out noxious fumes.

In 1918, there were 3162 men working in the colliery. The last coal was raised in June 1983. The pit head winding shaft is left as a momento to the past.

A photo sent to us just after baby Jack was born is the extra.