Aberpergwm and Pwllfaron Collieries

Aberpergwm and Pwllfaron Collieries were orignially two separate Collieries situated near Glyn-neath in the Vale of Neath.

Aberpergwm Colliery was the name given to a number of slant mines in the Glyn-neath area. Many of which had been worked since the early 1800s. In 1906, the Modern Aberpergwm slant was opened by the Aberpergwm Colliery Company. The latter became a limited liability company in 1911 but was soon made a subsidary of Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Ltd. After Nationalisation in 1947, Aberpergwm Colliery was place in the National Coal Board's South Western Division, No. 9 (Neath) Area, No. 1 Group.

Pwllfaron Colliery was an anthracite slant mine which had been opened c. 1866. By 1910, Pwllfaron was owned by the Aberpergwm Colliery Company. The Colliery was working independantly from Aberpergwm Colliery in 1917 and 1921 but by 1932, only Aberpergwm was listed in trade directories. On Nationalisation, Pwllfaron is again listed seperately and is put into a different NCB Area, South Western Division, No. 1 (Swansea) Area. After this date it seems to have merged completely with Aberpergwm.

During the 1950s the National Coal Board re-organised the Neath Area mines. New anthracite slant mines were opened at Cwmgwach and Pentreclwdau and a new central washery was built at Aberpergwm. In 1985, Aberpergwm Colliery was finally closed by the N.C.B.

Source: Ray Lawrence, The South Wales Coalfield Directory, Vol. 2 (1998 edn), pp. 49-50, 428

From the guide to the Aberpergwm and Pwllfaron Collieries, 1908, (Swansea University)