| Cilfynydd | |
| The history of Cilfynydd as a village doesn't extend beyond the last quarter of the nineteenth century. As the 1875 Ordnance Survey map shows, Cilfynydd was a hamlet consisting of some cottages built along the Glamorgan Canal surrounded by a few scattered farms. These properties, according to the 1881 census, housed about 100 people. This all changed when the Albion Steam Coal Company began sinking colliery shafts in 1884. Cilfynydd was to experience an explosive population growth. By 1891 the population had increased fivefold. The following decade witnessed an even greater rate of increase. According to the 1901 census the population totalled approximately 3,500 people. Cilfynydd had undergone a transformation. The 1900 Ordnance Survey map is very different to the one drawn a quarter of a century earlier. It shows nine terraces of houses, eight of them running in parallel lines roughly north to south along the hillside. Houses are also built along the road that ran from Merthyr to Cardiff. It also shows four chapels, three public houses, a school, a church, a post office, a workman's hall and Albion Colliery. The majority of Cilfynydd's housing and public buildings were built between 1884 and 1910. |
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| OS map 1875 | OS map 1900 |
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| Albion Colliery | |
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Men walking to work at Albion Colliery at 6.30 in the morning |
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| Sinking of the Albion Colliery began in 1884 on the site of Ynyscaedudwg Farm. It was owned by the Albion Steam Coal Company and opened in August 1887. Production at the colliery quickly flourished and it's average weekly output soon reached 12,000 tons. This was the largest tonnage for a single shaft coal-winding colliery in the whole of South Wales. By 1893, 1,500 men and boys were employed at the Albion. The colliery's early years were relatively free of serious incidents but disaster struck on the afternoon of Saturday June 23rd 1894.
On that fateful afternoon the night shift was at work removing dust and repairing the roadways. At 3.50 p.m. two loud reports were heard above ground in quick succession. These were followed immediately by a charge of dust and smoke from the downcast shaft and then from the upcast shaft. The effects of the explosion were appalling. It caused the deaths of 290 men and boys, the worst mining disaster in South Wales to that date and only to be surpassed by the explosion at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd in 1913. Few miners were brought out alive and the majority of them subsequently died of their injuries. Victims' bodies were taken to the hayloft of the pit's stables that acted as a temporary morgue and harrowing scenes of relatives looking for their family members by lantern light followed. Many of the bodies were badly mutilated and at least three of them taken from the hayloft had to be returned after being mistakenly identified. Another source of confusion was that nobody knew the number of men below ground when the explosion occurred. An inquest was held at Pontypridd the following month. It immediately became apparent that there was a difference of opinion as to the cause and location of the explosion between the inspectors and professional witnesses on the one hand and the colliery owners on the other. Having heard the evidence the jury members concluded that an explosion of gas was accelerated by coal dust but they failed to reach agreement on other issues. The Government appointed a barrister Mr J Roskill to scrutinise the evidence. His report was presented to the Home Secretary in September 1894. Mr Roskill was of the opinion that the explosion was caused by the blasting of timbers which ignited an accumulation of gas and that in turn ignited the coal dust. The likelihood of this happening had increased because of dangerous and sloppy working practices at the colliery. These included the blasting of timbers during shifts, inadequate watering of the mine to lay dust and new Saturday shift patterns that meant there was no interval for clearing dust between shifts. Although the report recommended prosecuting the Albion Coal Company and various individuals, in the event proceedings were taken only against Phillip Jones, the manager and William Anstes, the chargeman, and fines of £10 and £2 imposed. The colliery was reopened within two weeks of the explosion and it wasn't long before the miners lost in the disaster were replaced. The workforce grew to 1,735 by 1896, increasing to 2,589 by 1908. The following years saw a constant decline in the numbers of men employed at the pit and in 1928, the Albion Steam Coal Company went into liquidation. The Powell Dyffryn Steam Coal Company purchased its assets and it remained their property until the formation of the National Coal Board in 1947 at which time the workforce was just under 1000. By the time the colliery closed in 1966 the numbers had almost halved. After Albion Colliery had ceased to provide work for Cilfynydd's inhabitants the tips still towered menacingly over the village threatening a disaster similar to Aberfan. A two-phased scheme to reduce the steep gradient of the colliery spoil began in 1974 and was completed two years later. |
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| Cilfynydd Schools and Chapels | |
A significant month in Cilfynydd's history was August 1887. As well as the first coal being raised at the Albion Colliery, the month also saw the opening of Cilfynydd's first school. The village grew so quickly from the mid 1880s that a school was opened in the vestry of Moriah Welsh Congregational Chapel in Ann Street. Ninety-four pupils were admitted on August 15th and a further thirteen were enrolled before the weekend. The headmaster and only teacher was 24 year old Richard Williams of Tonyrefail. He was to remain the school's headmaster until 1928. Moriah Chapel Vestry was a small building and educating over a hundred children in such a confined space proved difficult. The school's numbers continued to increase and consequently the younger children were moved to Bethel Calvinistic Methodist Chapel. |
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| Cilfynydd's early growth not only witnessed the establishment of a school but also the building of several places of worship. By 1891, six Nonconformist chapels and St Luke's Church had been built. As well as ministering to the spiritual needs of Cilfynydd's inhabitants, a great deal of the village's social life revolved around the churches and chapels. Choirs were associated with each chapel and were frequently competing in eisteddfodau. Literature, essays, poetry and recitation competitions were also features of the eisteddfod. Every chapel performed oratorios and children's operas annually. Although music was predominant in the lives of many people, it's remarkable that the village of Cilfynydd produced three musicians that appeared on some of the world's most famous stages. Sir Geraint Evans, Stuart Burrows and Gareth Wood were all born at Cilfynydd. |
Primitive Methodist Church |
| Gareth Wood Composer and Double Bass Player | |
Beulah English Baptist Church |
Born in Mary Street on June 7th 1950, Gareth Wood displayed his musical talent from an early age. He was just twelve when he performed in Rhondda clubs as a guitarist with the pop band The Planets. He attended Pontypridd Grammar School and began playing the double bass and writing music for the school orchestra. He went on to the Royal Academy of Music and later became a member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Gareth Wood has enjoyed an illustrious career as a composer and as one of the top resident musicians with the renowned orchestra. |
| Other chapels began as branches of established Pontypridd chapels. Moriah Welsh Congregational Chapel started out as a branch of Seion Chapel, Pontypridd that in 1887 assisted members who lived in Cilfynydd to build a vestry where they might hold their own services. Rehoboth was built as a branch of Tabernacle Chapel, Pontypridd.The vestry was built in 1888 and the main body of the chapel opened in 1889. Beulah Baptist Chapel and St Luke's Church are the only places of worship that remain open in Cilfynydd today. The majority of the other chapels have been demolished.
As with the village's church and chapels, Cilfynydd Workingman's Hall served as an important meeting place and social centre. It was built at the end of the 19th century with subscriptions from the community's miners. It contained reading rooms and a library and was maintained by the miners themselves. An annual subscription was also made by the council that meant that all of Cilfynydd's residents had access to the reading rooms. Public houses were also social centres. Three had been built along the main road adding to the long established Cilfynydd Inn. |
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| Cilfynydd Transport | |
| Cilfynydd Inn was built in the early 19th century. It was conveniently located alongside canal and road communications allowing coaching or canal horses to be stabled for the night. The Glamorganshire Canal, opened in 1794, linked Merthyr to Cardiff and skirted the village on its western side. It continued to the Bodwenarth Quarries where barges were loaded with stone. However the coming of the railways meant that the canal's days were numbered. The section between Abercynon and Cilfynydd was closed in 1915 and between Cilfynydd and Cardiff in 1942. The canal's path could be followed until it was swept away by the building of the A470 in the early 1970's. The Taff Vale Railway linking Merthyr with Cardiff opened in 1841. Cilfynydd was isolated from the railway because the line ran on the opposite side of the Taff Valley. When the Albion Colliery was sunk, it was necessary that the village developed rail links to transport coal and people. A branch line was therefore constructed which left the main line just north of Coedpenmaen, crossed the River Taff over an iron viaduct and the ran alongside the Glamorganshire Canal to the Albion Colliery.
Right: The Glamorgan Canal used for pleasure |
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The viaduct was built in 1885 and still stands today. Cilfynydd station was built and passenger traffic began in June 1900. A little over thirty years later the line was closed to passenger traffic on September 12th 1932 and the station subsequently demolished. The tramway service had a similar lifespan to Cilfynydd's passenger railway. It began on March 6th 1905 and ran from Cilfynydd through Pontypridd to Treforest. It continued for 25 years and was replaced on September 18th 1930 by trolleybuses. Left: Berw Bridge near Cilfynydd |
| Cilfynydd Cyclone 1913 | |
| On October 27th 1913, Cilfynydd was to witness another destructive event. A cyclone swept through the village causing considerable damage and killing one of its inhabitants. In Richard Street, nearly all the shop fronts were blown in and the goods on sale scattered in the street. The corrugated iron roof of the Co-operation Stores was blown clean away and two roofs on houses in Park Place were stripped. Right: Damage to shops in Richard Street |
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The wooden buildings of the Fire Station near the Albion Colliery were blown into the canal and the waiting station at the tramway terminus was raised to the ground. Both overhead tramway wires and telephone communications wires were broken. Windows were smashed at the Police Station and several places of worship were severely damaged. Indeed, members of Moriah Chapel had to pay £130 to repair the building. Considerable damage was also evident in Treharris and Abercynon. Left: Damage to houses in Park Place |
