Albion Colliery

Albion Colliery was a coal mine in South Wales Valleys, located in the village of Cilfynydd, one mile north of Pontypridd.

The Colliery was located along the well known A470 road , a long distance road from Cardiff to Llandudno. The site is now home to Pontypridd High School, whose students commemorated the 120th anniversary of the disaster by participating in a project, recreating the events in the form of a film.

The Albion Steam Coal Co. began sinking in 1884 at Ynyscaedudwg Farm. Its two shafts opened in August 1887; 19 feet in diameter, they were sunk 33 yards apart to a depth of 646 yards. Production at the colliery quickly flourished and its average weekly output soon reached 12,000 tonnes. This was the largest tonnage for a single shaft colliery in the whole of South Wales.

The colliery brought immigration from England, Scotland and Ireland for the work opportunities available.

Coal mines in South Wales was the number one employer with collieries like the Albion Colliery dominating the landscapes. The miners worked extremely hard for not much money at all as the majority of the profit went to the landowners and the shareholders. There was little regard to the poor working conditions or the safety of workers. Pit ponies were seen as far more valuable. If human life was lost, it could easily be replaced. Explosions and accidents were only a small part of the problem, many more people were affected by the working conditions and the exhausting jobs that they had to carry out. Long term physical damage of the bones and muscles were evident due to the heavy loads and cramped conditions. Miners also suffered with lung diseases from the amount of dust they were inhaling and the coal had to be cut by hand with a pick axe. Trade unions were difficult to join as the miners usually had to sign an agreement not to join them and if anyone did join a union, they would be sacked and blacklisted by all surrounding coal mines. The miners lived in poverty and could not afford to risk it.

Tragedy struck the colliery with three fatal mining accidents in ten years:

Albion was the scene of the second worst disaster in the South Wales Coalfield, after the later disaster at the Universal Colliery at Senghenydd in 1913.

...
Wikipedia