The Raven level was situated on part of the Dynevor Estate (A raven
being the symbol of the Dynevor family), South of the main road through
Cwmamman, between what is now Dynevor Road and Stepney Road. It was
a small colliery which provided employment for only a few men. The coal
was transported by trams which ran on tramlines from the works, across
the road to the screens which were on the goods line to Gwaun-cae-gurwen.
When the colliery started working is not known, but a young gentleman
named Edward Melville Lawford stated in his diary for the 21st of April
1843, that he visited a colliery near the Raven Inn and entered the
slant in a tram cart to a distance of half a mile. (Information regarding
Edward Melville Lawford was found on Terry Norman's Ammanford website:
www.terrynorm.ic24.net/lawford.htm).
In 1854, the Raven Colliery was owned by John Strick.
The 9th of July 1869 edition of the Cambrian newspaper carried an advertisement
for the auction of the Raven Colliery. Applications were to be made
to E. Daniel, Mining Engineer at Swansea. By 1878, it was under the
ownership of Raven Coal Company and the manager was Mr D. Hughes. The
mine reputedly closed sometime before the end of the 19th century.
A pit which was sunk in 1907 was sited on the part of the Dynevor Estate
near the Raven Inn; now the site of an industrial park. The pit was
30 yards (Metres) deep and had two openings, each with its own cage.
Each cage was attached to a strong cable, which travelled around one
of two wheels on the wooden tower which was known as "the headgear".
As one cage was raised, the other was lowered down via the other part
of the pit. At the bottom of the pit was a drift which led to the coal
faces. The Raven colliery worked three coal seams; the "Peacock",
"Brass" and "Trigloin" veins.
The registered owners in 1908, were Consolidated Anthracite Collieries
Ltd. of Blaendare, Pontypool. The manager of the Raven Colliery at that
time was Thomas George of Ammanford and the under-manager was William
Brace of Pontypool. Only 82 men were employed at the Raven in 1908;
62 underground and 20 above ground.
The Raven Colliery by Glen Jones, 1933.
By 1913, 155 men were employed at the Raven Colliery,
which was by then owned by the Consolidated Anthracite Collieries Ltd.
The mine was still managed by Thomas George, while the commercial manager
was David Powell of Garnant.
In July of 1913, there was a dispute between the mine
owners and the colliers which resulted in the Raven Colliery being closed
for several weeks. The dispute arose after an alleged breach of rules
at the colliery. A fireman named Tom Evans was found underground with
his lamp unlocked and refused to put it out when he was told about it.
This was a very serious matter as it could have resulted in an explosion
underground if there had been gas present. The Amman Valley Chronicle
reported that the early drafting in of extra police to the area was
puzzling to many of the inhabitants; the action by the colliers had
taken the form of peaceful picketing, orderly processions and the singing
of popular hymns, interspersed with "Dai bach y sowldiwr."
By the seventh week of the dispute, the extra police who had been drafted
into the area had been withdrawn, as the colliers had agreed not to
touch property as long as no "blacklegs" were employed.
After eight weeks of closure, no officials or men were employed in the
mine at all. Only 50 men were idle as all of the others had found employment
at other collieries. After Mr Towyn Jones M.P. approached the Secretary
of State, an inspector, Dr. W. N. Atkinson, was instructed to make further
enquiries regarding the alleged breach of rules by an official. The
inquiry took place at the Raven Hotel at 9:30 pm on Monday the 29th
of October, 1913 and lasted 6 hours. Ten witnesses were called; seven
for the workmen and three for the owners. There were nine other witnesses
for the men, but these were not called.
In November, it was rumoured that the Masters Association had bought
the Raven Colliery in order to close it, as it was less expensive than
paying "strike pay" to the owners.
The manager, Tom George and his family, left Garnant to live in the
Swansea Valley at the beginning of December. The dispute finally came
to an end in the same month; December, 1913.
Due to a scarcity of timber during the Great War, in 1916
the Raven Colliery bought the trees at a local beauty spot known as
the "Garn" on Cwmffrwd Farm, Glanamman. The Garn was a popular
destination by the people of Cwmamman at that time. Pit props, however,
were essential for coal production.
The manager of the Raven Colliery in 1918 was R. J. Thomas
and William Brace still held the position of under-manager. At that
time, both officials held the same positions at the Dynevor Slant at
Garnant which like the Raven, was owned by the Consolidated Anthracite
Collieries Ltd. in 1918 there were 188 men employed at the Raven Colliery;
152 below ground and 36 above.
In 1923, there were 333 men working at the Raven Colliery;
276 underground and 57 on the surface. The colliery manager was J. Hopkins
and the under-manager was Thomas Rees. The Middle, Tyllwyd and Lower
Tyllwyd seams were being worked at that time.
The 18th of December 1924 edition of the Amman Valley
Chronicle reported that the Raven and Garnant Collieries had been sold
to a powerful syndicate and would in future be known as the Raven Anthracite
Collieries Ltd. The new company was investing a large amount of capital
with the intention of increasing output to 1,000 tons per day. There
was also to be a large increase in the workforce.
A period of idleness at the Raven Colliery in April of
1926 was caused by a shortage of trucks and a slackness in trade. At
that time, there were between 300 and 400 men employed at the Raven,
which was then owned by Henderson's Welsh Anthracite Collieries Ltd.
On the 29th of March 1926, with the exception of Tirydail, every colliery
in the Ammanford area had a day off. The Amman Valley Chronicle reported
that it was customary at that time of year.
Another dispute; this time over the price list, resulted
in 14 days notice being given to many of the workforce in February 1927.
A settlement was reached at a meeting held between the owners and workmen
on the 7th of June 1926. An article in the Amman Valley Chronicle that
week, explained that the Raven Colliery had been operating under "uneconomic
conditions" and this led the management to experiment. The company
commenced renovation operations which could not be accomplished while
the whole colliery was working. Apart from a handful of men, the entire
workforce was laid off. By July of the same year, operations at the
Raven Colliery had restared and workmen including colliers and repairers
were being re-employed weekly, though not in large numbers. A very large
and up to date screening plant, adequate new sidings, surface machinery
and coal cutting machines had been installed during the period of renovation.
At some point, the ownership of the Raven Colliery was
taken over by Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries Ltd.
In 1934, there were 329 men working at the colliery; 265
underground and 64 on the surface.
In 1935, the pit struck a fault, but a hard heading was
successfully driven through it to reach the coal. On the 16th of April,
1936, the Amman Valley Chronicle reported that the Raven Colliery had
been idle for almost a year, but following a meeting of the Workmen's
Committee and Captain M. H. Llewelyn (the general manager of the Amalgamated
Anthracite Collieries Ltd.) and his agent Mr C. J. Davies, it had been
decided to engage a number of men after the (Easter) holidays
to continue prospecting the Big Vein. It was expected that the number
of workmen would increase as the undertaking made progress. About 300
workmen were employed at the Raven before it became idle in 1935.
The Raven was the last pit to close down in Garnant.
How the Raven colliery worked.
An article written in 1933 by Glenville Jones (which he donated to
the Amman Valley Historical Society), gives us an insight into how the
Raven Colliery worked at that time.
There were two steam powered winding engines employed at the pit bank;
one for raising the coal up the pit and the another for winding the
coal up the underground drift. The coal is pulled up the drift in "Tubs"
and the steam engine was capable of pulling up to 15 of these at a time;
with each tub carrying approximately 30cwt (1,524 kg) of coal. The full
tubs would be brought to the surface in the cage, one at a time, while
the descending cage would carry an empty tub down to the bottom of the
pit. There were also small engines underground. These were called "crabs"
and were used to pull the tubs from one part of the mine to another.
When the full tub was removed from the cage at the top of the pit,
it was drawn up a slope by a hook called a "creeper"; a man
then pushed the tub of coal to the washeries and screens. These were
opened in 1927; 20 years after the pit was sank. The coal would then
be washed, crushed, sized and screened before being tipped into 12 ton
trucks and taken to seaports to be exported. The different grades produced
at the Raven Colliery were:
Large Duff,
Cobbles,
French Nuts,
Peas,
Beans (or Peanuts),
Store Nuts,
Grains.
The tubs would contain coal mixed with a certain amount of shale and
other rubbish which was taken to the Mclaine Tippler. A tippler was
a device which revolved, turning and pitching the load onto a screen
or sieve, which were placed on a slant so that gravity caused the coal
to run downwards. The larger pieces fell into a truck or onto a belt
and the rubbish would be picked out before the coal was despatched.
The smaller coal and dust fell through the meshes onto a finer screen,
which slanted in the opposite direction to the first screen. The nuts
would then fall into a wagon, whilst the dust fell onto yet another
screen and was caught in another wagon. The screens were jerked to and
fro by devices known as "Eccentrics." Six hundred tram loads
of rubbish was taken away and dumped each week.
Coal screening image created by Glen Jones 1933.
A compositon from 1933 states that each year, 350 men were employed
at the Raven Colliery and 67,200 tons were sent from the Colliery to
the following ports:
80% to Swansea.
13% to Llanelli.
5% to Port Talbot.
2% to Cardiff.
From these ports, the coal would be exported to Canada, France, Italy,
Spain, Sweden, the U.S.A., the Chanel Islands, Germany and Belgium as
well as to other places.
Screening plant and Stockyard at the Raven c.1933
Power at the surface of the colliery was mainly supplied by steam.
The underground engines were driven by compressed air and the pumps
were powered by electricity supplied by Swansea Power, whose 33,000
volt cables carried the power across the Betws Mountain.
Ventilation was achieved by an electric fan, which sent air to the
bottom of the pit. The old mine was kept in repair in order to help
ventilate the working mine. A fireman, examiner or deputy was required
to inspect the mine at each shift and complete a full and accurate report
regarding the following safety issues:
The presence of noxious or inflammable gases.
The state of ventilation.
The condition of the roof and sides.
The supply of timber at working places, pass-byes and sidings etc.
Other matters affecting safety and remarks.
The number of men under his charge during the shift.
The report was then signed by the undermanager and countersigned by
the manager.
Much of the information on this page was taken from
a composition written in 1933 and contributed to the Amman Valley Historical
Society by its author, Glenville Jones (His quoted source being Mr D.
J. Jones, former Deputy at the Raven). Other sources include the Amman
Valley Chronicle and a series of newspaper cuttings from an unknown
source titled "Industrial Story of Garnant - by a Retired Miner".
The author of this piece is unknown. Thanks to Anthony Jones for further
Information which was made available from the Ammanford Mining Museum.
