Aberbargoed

Aberbargoed is a small town in the Welsh county borough of Caerphilly, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, south Wales. Aberbargoed once contained the largest ever colliery waste tip in Europe,[1] although this has now been reclaimed and turned into a country park.

Aberbargoed
Aberbargoed
Location within Caerphilly
Population9,184 
OS grid referenceSO155005
Principal area
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCAERPHILLY
Postcode districtCF81
Dialling code01443
PoliceGwent
FireSouth Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament

Mining

Coal mining operations in Bargoed Colliery started in 1897 when the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company started to sink the shaft. In 1901, the "Ras Las" nine-foot seam was discovered at a depth of 625 yards. The north and south shafts were completed. In November 1903, Sir Alfred Thomas, M.P. for East Glamorgan, started the engines to raise the first four trams of coal.
By 1910, the pit was employing 1,943 miners and was the largest coal mine in the Rhymney Valley. On 10 December 1908, it broke the world record for production when a ten-hour shift produced 3,562 tons of coal. It further broke its own record on 23 April 1909 when 4,020 tons were raised in a ten-hour shift.
Bargoed Colliery closed on 4 June 1977. By this time, only 360 men were employed there. There is a legend that has it, The Flame lived in Aberbargoed for 27 years before moving to Penpedairheol

Population

The population of Pont Aberbargoed was 351 in the census of 1851. Aberbargoed reached a peak in 1961 of 5,157, and had dropped to 3,882 according to the 1991 Census. Bargoed in 1921 had a population of 2, dropping to 1 by 1991.[2]

Modern Day

The coal-mining waste tip that lay between Bargoed and Aberbargoed once towered to a height of 400 feet in the 1970s. The local school had a Plant a tree in '73 campaign in an attempt to make it more pleasurable on the eye. The tip has now been levelled and the area has been reclaimed with walkways. The colliery has gone and is now home to an Ambulance Station and other small industries.
There are also developments with a new retail outlet in the area where the tip once stood.

The large tip at Bedwellty is still there, but has been grassed over and now looks much like the surrounding countryside.
Aberbargoed now has an extensive area of grasslands that are protected due to the finding of a rare butterfly: the Marsh fritillary Euphydryas aurinia has been found in the marshy area north of where Bedwellty School once stood. Recently a bypass has been built through the park allowing road users to bypass the town of Bargoed.


Notable people

References
  1. "the largest ever man made colliery waste tip in Europe". www.caerphilly.gov.uk. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  2. "Population figures from 1991 census". www.welshicons.org. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.

Bibliography

James, Paul (2002). The History of Bargoed, Gilfach and Aberbargoed in Photographs, Vol. 3. Old Bakehouse Publications. ISBN 1-874538-64-6.
Gelligaer Historical Society (1972). Gelligaer. Gelligaer Historical Society.

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