Historical bi-lingual plaque titled: "Merthyr Vale Colliery (formerly Taff Colliery) 1869 – 1989.". Mounted at the feet of a Coal Miner statue. A memorial to the mining heritage of the People & Community of Merthyr Vale & Aberfan, South Wales.
The Mining Memorial was unveiled on 16th December 2015 at the site of Merthyr Vale Colliery that used to stand here.
The carved statue of a Coal Miner, is shown leaning on his shovel & looks wistfully towards the River Taff.
The memorial also features a sheave wheel that once stood atop the headgear of the deep mine, pit shaft, of Merthyr Vale Colliery, winding the Men & Coal from underground to daylight for 120 years.
The plaque text reads:
"Merthyr Vale Colliery (formerly Taff Colliery) 1869 – 1989
Sunk by John Nixon from 1869 in Owain’s Riverside Meadow (Ynysowen) on the bank of the Afon Taff the first commercial coal was brought to the surface in 1875.
The colliery finally closed on 25th August 1989 following a long and proud existence punctuated by one of the darkest days in the history of coal mining.
The corners of our memories may be eroded and softened by time but they live on in the local communities first established to house the coal miners of the colliery and their families."
The Plaque text is shown above, but one line reads:
"one of the darkest days in the history of coal mining."
This is a discreet reference to the Aberfan Disaster that occurred in 1966.
(It was the waste tip from Merthyr Vale colliery, that slid down the mountain on Friday 21st October 1966 in the village of Aberfan, killing 144 people, 116 of which were children.)
The saddest day in the history of the People of Wales.
News Report on unveiling of Coal Miner Carving:
"His Worship the Mayor Councillor David Isaac unveiled a plaque at the foot of a new memorial to the Merthyr Vale Colliery that was at the heart of the community for over 100 years.
The memorial is located in the centre of the new roundabout at Bells Hill and incorporates a half pit wheel from the old colliery which has been moved from the grounds of Ysgol Rhyd y Grug and a life sized sculpture of a miner looking reflectively towards the river.
The Mayor, Cllr Isaac said: ‘This tribute to the mining heritage of the site is a fitting commemoration of the industry and people that drove the development of this community and will, I am sure, be a great focal point for many years to come." Text Source: (
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