IRON
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COAL
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COAL
A heavy cast iron and wooden frame erected over the shaft supported a large grooved wheel to facilitate the movement of the winding chain, each end of which a cage was attached, at the bottom of each cage was a water tank which could be quickly emptied and refilled.
The tank was filled at the surface until its weight was sufficient to raise the cage from the bottom, which had been emptied of water and loaded with coal or men. The braking system was controlled by a lever, which applied pressure to a flywheel.
As described by a mining engineer at Cwm Bargoed pit 1862.
“The water-balance pit, used where there was an abundant supply of water, was peculiar to South Wales. An example of it, used at the Cwm Bargoed pit of the Dowlais Iron Company, where 300 tons of coal were raised up a shaft 154 yards deep from the Upper Four Feet seam in a twelve hour day, was described by the mines inspector for South Wales Thomas Evans. The tram containing about 20 cwt. of coal is placed on the top of an empty water bucket at the shaft bottom; and the empty tram on the bucket at the top; this bucket upon being filled with water descends, raising the full tram of coal and the empty bucket from the bottom. A valve is placed at the bottom of each bucket, and, immediately on its arrival at the shaft bottom, the valve is lifted and the water let off. Beneath each bucket was a chain to aid the balance. The speed of working depended on the rate at which the bucket could be filled with water: at Cwm Bargoed the buckets held about 2 tons of water and each complete winding operation took about 1 minute 20 seconds. The water might, as at Cwm Bargoed, be pumped to the surface to be used again, or might, where there was free drainage, be allowed to flow away,
16 January 1869
Fatal Accident in the Cwmbargoed Pits On the 9th instant, a fatal accident occurred in the Cwmbargoed (Penydarren) Pit, resulting in the death of a workman named Thomas Evans. Deceased was a collier, aged 28, and on the day in question was at work in his stall when a mass of rubbish and coal fell upon him from the roof, and so severely crushed him that death ensued before he could be released from the debris. An inquest has been held at the Talbot Inn, and a verdict of “Accidental Death” returned.
Relationships of the various coal mines in the CwmBargoed area
