Aberbargoed

Aberbargoed ( _cy. Aberbargod) 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 manmade colliery waste tip in Europe, although this has now been reclaimed and turned into a country park, and now is being developed into a new retail outlet. There are also new road systems being developed that will improve the flow of traffic.

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.

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 13,901, dropping to 9,184 by 1991.

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.

Notable people

The well-known jazz pianist and composer Geoff Eales was born in Aberbargoed.

References

cite book |last=Heolddu Comprehensive School|title=Bargoed Bygones |year=1994 |publisher=Heolddu Comprehensive School

External Links

* [http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/thecouncil/democracy/councillors/aberbargoed.htm Aberbargoed Electoral Ward Web Page]
* [http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=79&pid=979 NHS Wales's Aberbargoed Hospital Web Page]
* [http://www.jncc.gov.uk/protectedsites/sacselection/SAC.asp?EUCode=UK0030071 Web Page of Aberbargoed Grasslands Conservation Area]
* [http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk Welsh Coal Mines - all the pits, all the histories]