A collier's helper, Melvin Rogers, aged 16, who was working near James when the fall occurred, said James was "holing" at the time. Two new posts had been put in position by James that morning. Rogers said that he heard no sound. The day fireman, John Jones, said that the night firemen had inspected the place. Witness said he heard the fall as he was only about 10 yards away at the time. The stone which fell, together with some coal, was 5 ft long by 2 ft wide, and seven inches at the thickest part. Berkley Angell, the night firemen, who had examined the spot early in the morning, said he had marked the place safe to work in. Mr. Trevor P. Griffiths represented the owner's insurance company.

2 March 1957 Miner Killed   A 52 year old bachelor, David John Way of Glenview, Pentwyn, received head injuries while working underground at Pentwyn Level, Fochriw, on Wednesday. He died in the ambulance on the way to Tredegar General Hospital.

Ffynnonau Duon Levels

Hyperlink to www.welshcoalmines.co.uk

No 1 (SO100 040). (Link to Google Earth)This location is opposite the ruins of the old school at Penybanc and was a reworking of the original level opened by the Dowlais Iron Company during the 1840’s.

Bernard Llewellyn advises that the initial reworking commenced during 1910/20 but the following infornation is also available.

In 1931 an application was made by Gwilym Llewellyn  to mine from the Brithdir seam (household and manufacturing coal) and an output of about 100 tons per month was recorded. During August/September 1936 only 77 tons were produced from a quota of 180 tons since not enough coal was available. This led to the opening of old workings to find more coal. Again, low output was recorded for October/December 1936 (49 tons compared with a quota of 345 tons), the reason being the opening of old workings and water problems. The level was abandoned on 31 December 1936.

However, Coal Authority records show that the level was re-opened in 1937 and continued in production until 1954, when only household coal was mined. The mine ownership changed to G & J P Llewellyn between 1948–1954 and John P Llewellyn from 1955–1969.