Cwm, Blaenau Gwent
Encyclopedia
Cwm is a former coal mining
village
three miles south of Ebbw Vale
in the county borough
of Blaenau Gwent
, Wales
, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire
, United Kingdom
.
word for valley
and the name Merddog is believed to be a corruption of the name of the old farm that used to be here, Troed y Rhiw y Myrdd Fach, which translated means 'the foot of the myriad little hills'. But with the development of the village and coal industry the name was just simply shortened to Cwm. Locally the village to its inhabitants and neighbouring areas is sometimes referred to as The Cwm.
etc, and terraced housing typical of the South Wales Valleys
, being constructed in a very straight, linear
pattern to house the community that worked in the local collieries.
Steel, Iron and Coal Company Ltd. The downcast shaft being 418 yards (382.2 m) deep and the up-cast 414 yards (378.6 m) yards. The first coal was produced in 1893.
From the Inspector of Mines list 1896, there were 833 men employed producing from the Old coal, Three quarters, Big and Elled seams. In 1913 there were 2,407 men employed. From a report of 1923, there were 944 men working at Marine No. 1, producing from the Old Coal seam and there were 1,097 employed at No. 2 working the Elled, Big Vein and Three Quarters seams.
On 1 March 1927 an underground gas and coal dust explosion killed 52 men. The death toll would have been many more if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of the manager Mr. Edward Gay, who on his arrival at the mine, ordered the ventilation fan to be slowed down so that it wouldn't fan the flames of any fires burning below. It turn out that his actions saved the lives of the men still alive in the district where the explosion occurred. At this time there were 1400 men employed at the colliery but fortunately when the explosion occurred only the night shift were working underground.
By 1935 the ownership of the colliery change hands to Partridge, Jones & John Paton Ltd. who worked the colliery until Nationalisation in 1947, when there were 1,540 men employed.
During the 1970s it became integrated with Six Bells Colliery
with all the coal being handled at the Marine. In 1982 £2.5 million was spent on a new skip winding system, also a new coal handling plant was installed on the surface. Marine was the last deep mine to work in the Ebbw valleys, it closed in March 1989.
rail network with a station in the middle of Cwm and a halt at Marine Colliery to transport the coal it produced. However the station was closed to passengers in 1962 and Marine halt shut when the colliery was demolished in 1989. With the reinstatement of passenger trains on the Ebbw Valley Railway in 2008, there are plans to rebuild Cwm railway station
but there has been no commitment or timescale given to a satation in Cwm and it remains a future aspiration.
In 2002 work began on the much needed and overdue Cwm bypass, that have seriously reduced traffic travelling through the village thus easing the congestion and pollution they created.
There are also regurly bus services to Ebbw Vale, Abertillery
, and Newport
.
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
three miles south of Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
in the county borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
of Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Etymology
The name Cwm is thought to have derived from the farm on the present day nature reserve (Silent Valley), Cwm Merddog. Cwm is the WelshWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
word for valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
and the name Merddog is believed to be a corruption of the name of the old farm that used to be here, Troed y Rhiw y Myrdd Fach, which translated means 'the foot of the myriad little hills'. But with the development of the village and coal industry the name was just simply shortened to Cwm. Locally the village to its inhabitants and neighbouring areas is sometimes referred to as The Cwm.
History
Originally a rather insignificant spot in the Ebbw Valley, with only a few scattered farms and a water mill until the end of the nineteenth century with the sinking of the Marine Colliery in 1889. Cwm developed as a village at the turn of the twentieth century, with the building of numerous churches, chapels, public houses, working man's clubs, a miners' instituteMiners' institute
Miners' institutes, sometimes known as Workingmen's institute, Mine Workers' institute, or Miners' Welfare Hall are large institutional buildings that were typically built during the height of the industrial period as a meeting and educational venue...
etc, and terraced housing typical of the South Wales Valleys
South Wales Valleys
The South Wales Valleys are a number of industrialised valleys in South Wales, stretching from eastern Carmarthenshire in the west to western Monmouthshire in the east and from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the lower-lying, pastoral country of the Vale of Glamorgan and the coastal plain...
, being constructed in a very straight, linear
Linear
In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
pattern to house the community that worked in the local collieries.
Coal Industry
The main employment of the village was the coal industry as there were several small collieries and drift mines located on the mountain side as well as the main colliery located on the valley floor.Marine Colliery
The sinking of this colliery began in 1889 by the Ebbw ValeEbbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
Steel, Iron and Coal Company Ltd. The downcast shaft being 418 yards (382.2 m) deep and the up-cast 414 yards (378.6 m) yards. The first coal was produced in 1893.
From the Inspector of Mines list 1896, there were 833 men employed producing from the Old coal, Three quarters, Big and Elled seams. In 1913 there were 2,407 men employed. From a report of 1923, there were 944 men working at Marine No. 1, producing from the Old Coal seam and there were 1,097 employed at No. 2 working the Elled, Big Vein and Three Quarters seams.
On 1 March 1927 an underground gas and coal dust explosion killed 52 men. The death toll would have been many more if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of the manager Mr. Edward Gay, who on his arrival at the mine, ordered the ventilation fan to be slowed down so that it wouldn't fan the flames of any fires burning below. It turn out that his actions saved the lives of the men still alive in the district where the explosion occurred. At this time there were 1400 men employed at the colliery but fortunately when the explosion occurred only the night shift were working underground.
By 1935 the ownership of the colliery change hands to Partridge, Jones & John Paton Ltd. who worked the colliery until Nationalisation in 1947, when there were 1,540 men employed.
During the 1970s it became integrated with Six Bells Colliery
Six Bells Colliery
Six Bells Colliery was a coal mine located near Aberbeeg, Monmouthshire, South Wales.-Sinking:The colliery was originally opened as Arael Griffin on the site of an earlier balance shaft which had been sunk in 1863 by Thomas Phillips Price at Hafod Van. In 1892 John Lancaster and Co. began sinking...
with all the coal being handled at the Marine. In 1982 £2.5 million was spent on a new skip winding system, also a new coal handling plant was installed on the surface. Marine was the last deep mine to work in the Ebbw valleys, it closed in March 1989.
Transport
The village and the colliery were connected to the GWRGWR
GWR is an acronym that can stand for:* Great Western Railway , the name of several different railway operators* The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway — a heritage railway that has taken the initials of the former Great Western Railway Company* Great Whipsnade Railway* GWR Group, former...
rail network with a station in the middle of Cwm and a halt at Marine Colliery to transport the coal it produced. However the station was closed to passengers in 1962 and Marine halt shut when the colliery was demolished in 1989. With the reinstatement of passenger trains on the Ebbw Valley Railway in 2008, there are plans to rebuild Cwm railway station
Cwm railway station
Cwm railway station was originally opened by the Monmouthshire Railway on 19 April 1852; the Monmouthshire Railway was later absorbed by the Great Western Railway, and so the station passed to British Railways, which closed it on 30 April 1962....
but there has been no commitment or timescale given to a satation in Cwm and it remains a future aspiration.
In 2002 work began on the much needed and overdue Cwm bypass, that have seriously reduced traffic travelling through the village thus easing the congestion and pollution they created.
There are also regurly bus services to Ebbw Vale, Abertillery
Abertillery
Abertillery is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent in South Wales, north-west of Newport, originally on the Great Western Railway. Its population rose steeply during the period of mining development in South Wales, being 10,846 in the 1891 census and 21,945 ten years later...
, and Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
.
Education
Cwm originally had a secondary school called Dyffryn located at the bottom of the village. Dyffryn's catchment area included Waunlwyd and Swffryd. However due to falling pupil numbers Dyffryn Secondary Modern School closed and now all pupils from Cwm go to Ebbw Comprehensive School. Cwm's original primary school was located by the parish hall called Cwmyrderch, but this has also been closed and now the village primary school is located at the top of the settlement by the football field, simply named Cwm Primary School.Notable people
- Victor SpinettiVictor SpinettiVictor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...
, actor, born and raised above the fish shop. - Mark WilliamsMark Williams (snooker player)Mark James Williams, MBE is a Welsh professional snooker player who has been World Champion twice, in 2000 and 2003. Often noted for his single-ball potting, he has earned the nickname, The Welsh Potting Machine...
, snooker player, practiced in Cwm Miners' Institute.
External links
- http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/SO1805
- http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/Photo.htm
- http://www.gwentwildlife.org/reserves/SilentValleySoFar.htm
- http://www.bioeddie.co.uk/ebbw-vale/coalind.htm
- http://www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/ebbwvalleyrailway/map/Cwm.htm