Crumlin Colliery

Today has been worse than yesterday with rain and thunderstorms. Not a lot to do outside when it's like this; certainly a walk with the sons dogs wasn't going to be enjoyable or sensible.

Last week, I saw a blip of Crumlin Colliery as part of The Derelict Thursday challenge hosted by An Avid Lensman and decided that I fancied having a go at it for this week.

After some shopping, I dropped the wife off to do her swimming and agreed to pick her up a couple of hours later. We have friends coming around this evening and have absolutely no inclination to go out.

The Blip Photo shows Crumlin Colliery. Derelict since 1967. A brief history:-

Two shafts were sunk into the Black Vein seam at Crumlin, commencing in 1907 and reached completion in 1911. In 1935 the Colliery employed 86 men on the surface and 358 men underground working the Meadow Vein, Black Vein, Elled, Big Vein and the Three-Quarter. Two years later the Black Vein Straight North District hit an underground lake and the water eventually made its way half way up the shafts and following emergency pumping operations the pit bottom was permanently raised by 39 metres.

Following Nationalisation in 1947 Crumlin Navigation employed 79 men on the surface and 336 underground and by the 1960's succumbed to the widespread pit closures and closed its gates in September 1967. The collieries' buildings were considered to be of "outstanding industrial architecture." and are protected as listed buildings by the Secretary of State for Wales. Maximum output at Crumlin occurred in 1954 with 145,129 tons of coal produced.

These are probably the best preserved colliery buildings in Wales and possibly the UK. They were built to exhibition standard in 1911 of red brick with yellow pilasters.

On site there are two winder houses, fan hous, chimney and workshops