THE OGMORE VALLEY

LOCAL HISTORY & HERITAGE SOCIETY

Tel: 01656 842 258

EMAIL: ovlhs@ovlhs.co.uk

Timeline 1901 – 2000

From the prosperous days of the beginning of the 20th C. to the decline and eventual closure of the coal industry leading to high unemployment.

 

11th May 1901

The foundation stone of Nantymoel Workmen`s Hall was laid.

1902

Additional steam boilers and plant installed at Wyndham Colliery to provide steam power to new underground haulages and a surface haulage near No. l Pit. This haulage is reputedly was an ex ship’s capstan; it was used to draw journeys of trams to No. l Pit bottom with the haulage rope passing down No. l Pit shaft and into the six feet workings.

1902

The Tynewydd (No. 2 Rhondda Rider Seam) Colliery was abandoned.

1902

At Aber Colliery, experiments were made with “Gillot” and “Jeffrey” coal cutting machines in the No.3 Rhondda seam. This would be the first Coal Cutting machine used in the South Wales Coalfields. It is believed that they were unsuccessful due to the seam geological conditions

1902

Wyndham School for Boys and Girls opened.

1902

English Congregational Chapel, Ogmore Vale opened

1903

Soar Chapel. Nantymoel opened.

10th January 1905

Tynewydd Colliery was abandoned. [No. 3 Rhondda].

1905

High Street, Ogmore Vale branch of the nantymoel Co-operative Society was opened at No. 57A.

10th Nov 1905

At 09:30am an explosion in the Crossing Shop, Ogmore Vale killing 5 people. Mrs Smith her 2 children and the lodger. Mr Smith had been drying his gunpowder in the oven, which was believed to be the cause.

1906

Cory Brothers Co. Ltd. Purchased all of the North’s Navigation Collieries interest in the Ogmore Valley for £34,665. (Aber, Cwm Fuwch and Wyndham Collieries). Mr D. Richards appointed the new Manager under Cory Brothers and remains until 1940.

1907

Nantymoel Police Station opened.

1907

Penllwyngwent Colliery opened by driving the “A” Drift from the surface through the old Aber Colliery workings in the No. 3. Rhondda seam. The coal was brought to the surface along the “A” Drift by an endless rope haulage 1100 yards long powered by a 275 h.p. electrical haulage situated at the surface; it was reputedly the longest endless rope haulage in South Wales collieries.

1908

The “8 Hour Act” comes into force reducing the working shift to a maximum of 8 hours. The sgift`sproir to this act was 9 1/2 hours.

22nd Sep 1908

Ogmore Vale Workmen`s Hall and Institute stone laying ceremony

1908

Ogmore Valley Children’s Choir sung at the Crystal Palace, London.

1908

The Hippodrome, Ogmore Vale,  was opened. Now the site of the Old Age Welfare Hall.

25th Aug 1909

Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries commenced the sinking of the second Rhondda Main Colliery. Three shafts, named Catherine, Margaret and Mary after the daughters of the owner. The 2nd Rhondda Main Colliery was abandoned in 1924 and finally closed in 1929.

15th Aug 1910

Two sinkers, William Richards, aged 44 years and Daniel John aged 38 years were killed at Rhondda Main Colliery.

Sep 1910

Ogmore Vale Higher Elementary School was opened for 250 mixed pupils, [later the Ogmore Secondary School and the Ogmore Grammar School].

1910

Aber Infants School opened for 250 children.

1910

The Co-perative Society opened the Main Branch at 90 High Street, Ogmore Vale.

Jun 1911

Ogmore Vale Workman’s Hall and Institute opened.

1911

Aber Girls School opened for 300 girls.

1912

National Coal Mining Strike for “National Minimum Wage”. Lasted for 6 weeks. Soup Kitchens required in the valley to feed the children.

1912

Aber Boys School opened for 380 boys.

1912

Olympia Cinema opened.

1912

Cory Brothers Co. Ltd. approved the spending of an estimated £18,000 to open the Cwm Fuwch Colliery drifts in the No. 2 Rhondda seam at the head of the Cwm y Fuwch Valley. The scheme involved the construction of a tramway to take the coal down to the screens and sidings at Aber Colliery surface. The Cwm Fuwch Colliery was abandoned in 1929.

1912

The Co operative Society opened a Bakery at Waun Fach, Nantymoel.

1912

Electric Hand Safety Lamps introduced to replace the Oil Flame Safety Lamps.

1913

Fronwen Mixed and Infants School opened for 260 children.

1913

The new “Tynewydd Boys School” built at Caedu, Ogmore Vale.

17th Nov 1913

The foundation stone at St. John’s Church, Ogmore Vale was laid.

4th Aug 1914

The “Great War for Civilization” broke out.

1915

Mr D. Ferguson takes over as Manager of the Penllwyngwent Colliery until he retires in 1940.

1914

Aber Colliery [No. 3. Rhondda seam] finally abandoned but the coal from Cwm Fuwch Colliery continued to be screened and loaded at Aber Colliery screens and sidings.

Jan 1915

Detachment of the Red Cross Society was formed in Nantymoel under the Chairmanship of Mrs. J. I. D. Nicholl of Merthyr Mawr.

23rd Mar 1915

New church “All Saints” was dedicated at Blackmill.

27th Mar

Severe blizzards disrupted the valley for some days.

Apr 1915

The Ogmore Vale Red White and Blue Concert Troupe advertised in the Glamorgan Gazette:- FREE Concerts to wounded soldiers at local hospitals. “Write to D. J. Evans, Ogmore Vale”.

31st Jul 1917

Corporal James Llewellyn Davies of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers died of wounds at PiIkem, Belgium. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for most conspicuous bravery during an attack on the German front line.

20th Oct 1917

The Victoria Cross was presented to the widow and eldest son of James Lewellyn DAVIES VC by H.M. King George V at Buckingham Palace.

30th Jun 1918

Fire at the Rhondda Main Colliery.

August Bank Holiday, 1918

Miss Ada Louisa TILSBURY, a maid in the Corbett Arms Hotel, was burned to death on the premises when her clothes were blown into the open flue in the bar.

11th Nov 1918

At 11am hostilities in The Great War ceased and the Armistice was signed at Versailles.

1919

Sankey Commission introduces major changes to the coal industry. Maximum 7 hourworking shift, pay increaded by 2/- per shift.

16th Apr 1919

Ogmore Vale Rugby Football Club lost the New Zealand Army team 12pts to 7pts.

26th Apr 1919

Ogmore Vale Rugby Football Club beat the touring Australian Services team by 6pts to 3pts.

1920

Cwm Llo Drift mine driven to the North of Cwm Fuwch Collieryto try and find the Rhondda No. 3 Seam. .

1920`s

First Coal Conveyors (Shaker Conveyors) installed in the Penllwyngwent Colliery, first conveyors in South Wales Coalfield. Actual date as yet unknown.

1921

General Strike at collieries throughout the South Wales Coalfield asthe mines were returned to formr owners who wanted to return hours and wages to per “Sankey Commission” rates. Lasted for 13 Weeks and unsuccessful for the miners hours and pay return to pre 1919 Sankey Commission rates.

1922

Cory Brothers Co. Ltd. Constructed the electric generating plant at Ogmore Vale at a cost of £750, 000. It eventually supplied electric light and power to 13 collieries in the Rhondda, Neath and Ogmore Valleys together with three Urban District Councils.

1923

The Swimming Baths in Ogmore Vale were built; the Contractor was Mr. Bartlett.

8th Nov 1924

Rhondda Main Colliery was abandoned; it had worked the No. 2. Rhondda seam and had been equipped with modern and up to date machinery. One underground haulage engine was reputed to have been at the 1923 Great Exhibition. The colliery was bought by Cory Brothers Co. Ltd., probably on a “lock-out” basis.

1924

An abattoir was opened by the Co-operative Society at Court Colman, Nantymoel in the buildings of the former Electric Generating Plant.

Sep 1924

The “Planker Arms” was shut down.

1925

Bi-annual Welsh Baptists Celebration held in Ogmore Vale.

1925

Nantymoel Boys Club (“The Mem”) opened.

1926

General Strike at collieries throughout the South Wales coalfield. Lasted 7 months from May 1st 1926 through to Noember 30th 1926.

24th Aug 1926

Brynmor John, 12. Hill Street, Ogmore Vale was electrocuted at the Ogmore Vale Electrical Plant. 1st ever “Corporate Manslaughter” charges brought against Cory Brothers Ltd.

1927

Official opening of Nantymoel Boys Club (“The Mem”).

16th Nov 1928

Tornado hits the valley. The pylons carrying the electrical transmission lines over the Bwlch to Tydraw Colliery in the Rhondda Fawr Valley were “doubled-up”.

1928

Co-operative Society Dairy produced pasteurised milk; the first in the area.

1928

Production of coal at Cwm Fuwch Colliery ceased.

1929

Cwm Fuwch Colliery was abandoned.

1929

New Boys School built at Nantymoel which has always been known as the Park School.

1929

Nantymoel Social Club opened.

1930

The large barn opposite the Aber Houses was condemed by O & G UDC and ordered to be demolished.

1930-31

Ogmore & Garw District Council erect Street Name Signs for all streets under their control.

1932

Nantymoel Industrial Co operative Society opened store in Derwen Road, Bridgend.

1933

Reorganisation of Schools from Elementary to Senior and Junior Schools :- Nantymoel Boys School (Park School) became Nantymoel Senior School Nantymoel Girls School became Nantymoel Junior School. Infants Schools were not changed.

1933

The Ocean Western Colliery Baths officially opened 0n 13th April 1933. George Thomas, first baths Superintendant.

1935

Cwm Llo Drift finally abandoned. They found the seam but at only 12″ it was impractical to work so all mining in the Cwm Fuwch Valley was abandoned

1937

New Co-operative store opened at “Co op” corner, Bridgend. (Purchased by Mid Glam CC for £95,000 and demolished in 1995 to make way for the “Cross Valley Link Road”).

08 Sep 1938

Forestation of the Dimbath Valley commenced.

28th July 1938

Cardiff & Ogmore Railway closed. The tracks over Blackmill Viaduct were recovered for scrap in c.1941.

1938

Miners awarded 1 weeks holiday with pay plus payment for bank Holidays. Previously Bank Holidays were taken but without pay.

1938

The Wyndham Colliery Pit Head Baths opened. H.C. (Jack) Young, first Baths Superintendent.

3rd Sep 1939

The Second World War broke out.

7th Jan 1940

Two planes crashed within 30 mins and 400 yards above the valley. One is a Hawker Hurricane, the other a Lockheed Hudson on a secret training exercise to test the newly invented RADAR equipment. All 6 men are killed. A memorial was erected in the Berwyn Centre, Nantymoel by the Society on Jan 7th 2001.

8th Jan 1940

Wartime Food rationing commenced.

Feb 1940

Winston Baker, a deaf and dumb Baker working for the Nantymoel Co-operative Society was electrocuted and killed in Ogwy Street, Nantymoel.

1940

The old tree at Court Colman Square, Nantymoel was cut down.

1st Sep 1940

Incendiary bomb dropped on Penllwyngwent Mountain. Four High Explosive Bombs dropped approx. 400yds from Aber Arials.

5th Oct 1940

More Incendiary bomb dropped on Nantymoel Mountain, at approx 11:20pm. 3 More High Explosive Bombs dropped.

21st Jun 1941

The “Kings Head Victory Club” formed in the Kings Head Hotel, High Street, Ogmore Vale.

1941

O. & G.U.D.C. apply to the Nursery School Association of Great Britain for two “Model Nurseries”. One to be built in the Garw and the other at Ogmore. (This was built at Park Avenue, Ogmore Vale). First Superintendent was Mrs Dwynwen Thomas.

11th Dec 1941

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Officially opened Wyndham Colliery Pit Head Baths and visited the Good Companions Club in Nantymoel.

1942

Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries bought all of Cory Brothers Co. Ltd. colliery interests in the Ogmore Valley including Wyndham Colliery, Penllwyngwent Colliery and the abandoned Rhondda Main Colliery.

1943

Coal Cutters and Conveyors replace the Heading and Stall Longwall method of Coal Mining in the valley.

21st Feb 1944

Norman Lewis wins the Welsh Bantamweight Title.

8th May 1945

The War in Europe ceased.

2nd Sep 1945

Japan surrendered. Hostilities in the Far East ceased.

1945

The Ogmore Vale Electrical Generating Plant was closed and the five generators and associated plant were sold to a colliery company near Bombay, India.

1945

Thw wyndham Colliery was converted from Steam Power to Electrical Power throughout.

1945

Nursery closed as the men returned from the war and mothers could look after the children full time again.

1st Jan 1947

“Vesting Day” – the coal industry was nationalised.

13th Jan 1947

The Nursery in Park Avenue opens its doors again. Mrs Winnifred Young, Superintendent, Miss Jean Morgan, Nursery Helper, Miss Doris Thomas, Cook, Miss C. Cornelius, Cleaner in Charge. First Pupils: Lynne Thomas, Michael Hughes, Garwyn Young, Clive Jones and Ann Cowin.

1947

The Wyndham School, Nantymoel was demolished because of coal mining subsidence damage.

1948

At the Wyndham Colliery a face in the lower 9 foot seam was Mechanised using Hydraulic Pit Props. This was the first seam in South wales to be fully Mechanised and the first to use Hydraulic Pit Props.

1951

Ocean Western Colliery was converted from Steam Power to Electric Power.

1950

Full Mechanisation of all the Valley Collieries commences.

1954

First strike in it’s history by the workers of the Nantymoel Industrial Co-operative Society.

1955

The Co-operative Society Dairy in Lewistown closed.

1955

Pithead Baths installed at the Penllwyngwent Colliery.

3rd Sep 1955

Official Unveiling of Nantymoel Memorial Clock Tower. Built by Hartland Brothers with the funds from the Wyndham Medical Aid Society on their dissolution.

Oct 1956

“Llanharan Arms”, High Street, Ogmore Vale, Closed.

3rd May 1958

The passenger train services from Nantymoel to Bridgend were ended.

1958

St. Peter’s Church, Nantymoel was demolished.

5th Jan 1959

First truck of coal tipped at Ogmore Vale Central Washery site.

12th Nov 1961

Sunday opening of pubs, first time in over 80 years in Wales.

01 Mar 1962

Start of the Smallpox outbreak.

2nd Jun 1962

Ivor Davies, a Deputy at Wyndham Colliery was awarded the Daily Herald Award for Industrial Heroism.

9th Jul 1962

The betting shop in the Corbett Arms Hotel opened.

29 Sep 1962

Official Opening of the Ogmore Valley Old Peoples Welfare Hall.

1963

Wyndham Colliery shafts were deepened to the Gellideg seam and combined with Ocean Western Colliery to form the Wyndham-Western Mine.

18th Oct 1964

Lynn Davies won the Gold Medal in the Long Jump at the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan. (26Ft 5¾ inches)

1965

Court Colman Hotel shut.

1967

Court Colman Hotel pulled down.

7th Feb 1969

Penllwyngwent Colliery closed. The men were transferred to the Wyndham Western Colliery.

1970/71

Wyndham/Western combine produce highest output for coalfield at 475,000 tons.

1971

Nantymoel Industrial Co-operative Society taken over by the Co-operative Retail Society.

1973

The Gwalia Stores (opened in 1880) was closed. Re-erected in St Fagans, Museum of Welsh Life in 1991.

22nd Nov 1973

Work starts to demolish Nantymoel Co-operative Bakery.

18th Nov 1974

Work commences to remove the coal tip behind the Nantymoel Boys Club (“The Mem”).

1976

New Ogmore Comprehensive School built at Spout Hill, Bryncethin opened officially.

1977

Nantymoel Junior School together with the Infants School were closed and moved to the Park School.

1978

The Gwalia Stores,Ogmore Vale were dismantled and taken to the Welsh Folk Museum at St. Fagans, Cardiff for re-erection.

12th Mar 1981

The Ogmore Vale Wormen`s Hall collapsed.

28th Oct 1983

Ogmore Workmens Hall & Institute demolition complete.

20th Dec 1983

The closure of Wyndham /Western Colliery was announced.

Mar 1984

The Wyndham / Western Colliery was closed.

06th Mar 1984

The start of the Miners Strike.

06th Mar 1985

The end of the Miners Strike.

1985

Glynogwr Primary school Closes.

5th Jul 1985

Wyndham Colliery Pithead Gear pulled down.

10th Jun 1986

Ogmore Vale Central Coal Washery closed.

14th Nov 1987

A new Doctor’s Surgery opened on the site of the old Workmen’s Hall in Ogmore Vale.

9th Dec 1987

Demolition work commences on Nantymoel Police Station.

2nd Jul 1988

Nantymoel Surgery renamed “Glan Rhyd”.

20th Apr 1989

The Queen and Prince Phillip visit the Valley.

21st Jan 1990

Co-operative Retail Society closed the last shop in the valley.

9th May 1990

Ogmore Vale Leisure Centre opened. Now called Ogmore Vale Life Centre.

1991

The Gwalia Stores of Commercial Street, which closed in 1973, was re-erected in St Fagan`s Museum of Welsh Life in Cardiff. First opened in 1880.

1994

Saron Chapel. Nantymoel, was demolished.

1997

The Community Cycle and Pathway was opened from Nantymoel to Brynmenin.

01 April 1999

The Ogmore Valley local History and Heritage Society formed out of Local Authority evening classes at the Berwyn Center Nantymoel.

13 Dec 1999

Ogmore Valley Training Centre was opened.

Other Timelines

Timeline 2001 – Present Day​

From the beginning of the new millennium up the the present day the Ogmore Valley has seen continued to see investment creating a better, more prosperous and healthy future. 07th Jan 2003 Unveiling and Dedication service

Timeline 1901 – 2000

From the prosperous days of the beginning of the 20th C. to the decline and eventual closure of the coal industry leading to high unemployment.   11th May 1901 The foundation stone of Nantymoel Workmen`s Hall

Timeline 1801 – 1900

From the coming of the railways and the sinking of the first coal mines to the industrialisation of the Ogmore Valley.   1805 Coal Mining on an indutsrial begins in the Ogmore Valley Mountainside Outcrops and

Timeline Pre 1800

From the end of the last ice when the Ogmore Valley was formed by glacier action to Iolo Morganwg’s Eisteddfod. 10,000 BC The end of the last Ice Age. Ogmore Valley formed by Glacier action. c.

Thank you for applying for membership of the Ogmore Valley Local History & Heritage Society. We just need your payment of £5 now which you can pay by clicking the PayPal button below.