Snowstorms

8 February 1873  Severe Snowstorm    On Saturday night a snowstorm began which for severity exceeded anything of its kind within the experience of any of the residents of Merthyr for many years past. The wind blew fiercely, furiously, and with a coldness which made it really a bighting blast. The snow fell in such minute particles that they found ingress through the smallest openings into dwelling houses; keyholes were comparatively big ports, whilst every little crevice admitted the sleet in such quantities that when Sunday morning came people found heaps of snow all over their houses, and in the most unexpected places. The storm continued without abatement all day Sunday, and the drift was in places six or even ten feet deep. As a matter of course, these drifts totally obstructed the roads where they occurred. The railways were kept open to traffic with difficulty, but fortunately, no local train was thoroughly snowed under. On the Ebbw Vale branch of the Merthyr and Abergavenny line, the snow drifted to a height that over-topped the back of the locomotive, and on the Brecon and Merthyr line between Pengam and Rhymney a train was buried in a deep drift..

3 January 1903  Lost in the Snow near Pontlottyn: A Woman's Narrow Escape   On Tuesday morning, as some of the Penybank residents were on their way to Pontlottyn, they saw a dark object near of the Plantation lying in the sleet and snow. Upon nearing the object, they found to their dismay, a woman lying quite be-numbed and in a semi-frozen condition. Assistance was soon at hand, and the Fochriw stretcher being available, she was conveyed to the Pontlottyn Police Station, where P. S. Gammon and his men succeeded in restoring her to consciousness. It then transpired that her name was Elizabeth Noles, a pedlar. She stated that she was on her way to Pontlottyn. On Monday, she was at Bedlinog, and was seen at Fochriw on Monday night. It is thought that she missed her way on the Pontlottyn mountain, and turned to the left, which took her to the Plantation. At the time of writing, she is at the lodging-house in Board-street.

31 December 1927   The Blizzard   Quite a fierce blizzard swept over the village on Christmas afternoon and night. Snowdrifts one for all to five feet deep in several places, and again affected the electric light, the village being in darkness. Places of worship had to abandon their services.

4 March 1933   The Blizzard   Fochriw felt the full force of the blizzard over the weekend. Road traffic was completely at a standstill. The railway company managed to run occasional trains.

8 February 1947    Roads Blocked   The severe snow-storm which took place blocked roads and held up traffic. There were snow-drifts several feet high.

15 February 1947    Village Cut Off   Severe snow-storms over the weekend caused the roads to be blocked with snow drifts, cutting off traffic to the village. The railway cutting from Fochriw to Dowlais Top has been closed to traffic for some days. Council workmen, with the assistance of unemployed men, have worked hard to make the roads passable for traffic. Every effort is being made to open the railway line for passenger traffic.

8 March 1947    Worst Blizzard For 30 Years: Nearly 200 Railway Passengers Stranded    The blizzard on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Rhymney Valley was the worst for over 30 years. More than 150 people were stranded on Bargoed Station on Wednesday night, because the train on which they were travelling up the Rhymney Valley, was unable to proceed beyond Bargoed. They managed, however, to reach their destinations on Thursday morning. The reason for the train being held was that another train had run into a snow-drift, blocking the up-line. The Tirphil train was released on Thursday morning. During the night, the stranded passengers, through the efforts of Police Inspector Griffith Thomas and his staff, were provided with refreshments that had been obtained from a local café. Arrangements were also made for