Windsor Colliery was a coal mine in the village of

Abertridwr, Caerphilly Abertridwr (; Welsh: ''the mouth of the three waters'') is a village in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, situated about north-west of Caerphilly town. The "three waters" or "three streams" are Nant Cwm-parc, Nant Cwmceffyl and Nant Ilan, which ...

. Opened in 1895, it amalgamated with the

Nantgarw Colliery Nantgarw Colliery was a coal mine and later developed Coking coal works, located in the village on Nantgarw, Mid Glamorgan, Wales located just north of Cardiff. Opened in 1910, it closed in 1986. The site is now redeveloped as the industrial estat ...

in 1974, and closed in 1986. Ty'n y Parc (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for "house on the park")

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

now occupies the site.

Development

The sinking of two shafts of the Windsor Colliery commenced in 1895 by the Windsor Colliery Co. Ltd, to a depth of around 2,018 feet. The first coal was raised in 1902, with the workings connected underground to the

Universal Colliery Universal Colliery was a coal mine located in Senghenydd in the Aber Valley, roughly four miles north-west of the town of Caerphilly. It was in the county borough of Caerphilly, traditionally in the county of Glamorgan, Wales. Started in 1891, it ...

Senghenydd Senghenydd ( cy, Senghennydd, ) is a former mining town in the community of Aber Valley in South Wales, approximately four miles northwest of the town of Caerphilly. Historically within the county of Glamorgan, it is now situated in the count ...

for

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a m ...

purposes. The mine was serviced by the Senghenydd

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

of the

Rhymney Railway The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limite ...

Accident

On 1 June 1902, a platform collapsed in the mine, tipping nine men into 25 feet of water, which had gathered in the

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

. Three managed to escape

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

by clinging onto floating debris, but the other six lost their lives.

Operations

The colliery suffered from the 1920s economic downturn, as manpower slipped from 2,550 men in 1925 (the same year as maximum output of 2,550 tons of coal) to 860 ten years later. As a result, the colliery was taken over in the early 1930s by

Powell Duffryn Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders * Governor Powell ...

Steam Coal Company. Ownership passed to the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

in 1946. During 1976, it became linked underground to the

, and both collieries were worked as one unit, with coal winding and processing via Nantgarw. The majority of the Windsor work force transferred to Nantgarw on the last shift before the miners' summer holidays in 1976, but coal was still being raised in Windsor until the Christmas holiday. Production was later concentrated at Nantgarw, with Windsor kept open for ventilation,

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...

extraction and an emergency way out.

Closure

The whole Nantgarw/Windsor unit closed 6 November 1986.

References

{{coord, 51.6004, -3.2736, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Collieries in South Wales Buildings and structures in Caerphilly County Borough Underground mines in Wales