Penallta Colliery was closed by British Coal on 1st November 1991. with the last shift led out by a brass band, Penallta pit was the last working deep mine in the Rhymney Valley, Welsh Coal Field.
The structures are often called Winding Wheels the Pit Head 'sheave wheels' & supports are known as the Pit Headgear.
The two pit head, winding frames, are the iconic symbol of any colliery or deep mine. The headgear, sheave wheels, & winding house, are British listed & protected monuments.
These structures in their prime years, lifted a millions of tons of anthracite coal from thousands of feet underground, to be exported all over the World.
"The remains of this abandoned mine are the two pit head winding wheels, and the winding house, the pit head shower & admin block also survived but are deralict. However one buiding has survived a 250 feet long block which has been refurbished & now used for workshops for small engineering companies.
Situated near Hengoed, in 1905 Powell Duffryn began the sinking of Penallta colliery, and had employed 291 men by 1908. The two shafts Nos.1 (downcast 2,349 feet (716 m)) and 2 (upcast 2,250 feet yards (690 m)), and at the time were the deepest in the South Wales Coalfield. The first coal was raised in 1909, with the railway served by the Cylla branch which connected it to both the Rhymney Railway from the Ystrad Mynach north junction, and the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway. By 1923 there were 2,395 men employed, producing from the Six Feet seam, and at peak production during the 1930s, there were in excess of 3,200 men employed. In 1930 it produced 975,603 tons, and in 1935 it held the European record for coal winding.
In 1947, the mine was nationalised as part of the governments post-World War II regeneration scheme, and became owned by the National Coal Board. Investment was made, and in the late 1940s a Meco-Moore Cutter Loader was installed, one of the first power loaders to be used in British mines, and as a result the Minister of Fuel and Power Hugh Gaitskell made a visit in December 1949. In 1954 produced 500,000 tonnes of coal. During 1960 the shafts were extended to reach 800 yards as part of a scheme, which also included electrification of the shaft winding engines.
But access to coal was becoming more difficult, and by the 1970s only 700 men were producing 210,000 tons yearly from the Lower Nine Feet and Seven Feet seams - The colliery survived the 1984-1985 miners strike, and made impressive gains in production after the return to work. It was closed by British Coal on November 1, 1991 with the last shift led out by a brass band, the last deep mine working in the Rhymney Valley." Text Source: (
visit link) & (
visit link)