forum.ferndale-wales.co.uk

No. 9 collieries, from Jubilee Hotel, Tylorstown. Fascinating stuff, I wish I'd been there to take my own photos.

I was interested in the photo you posted Mochyn of Nos. 8 & 9 collieries Tylorstown as I lived barely 100 yards away up Penrhys road which starts at the Jubilee Hotel and continues up to Penrhys Mountain and then down the other side with different numbering to Ystrad.

I worked in Number 9 colliery first as measuring boy and later as a collier. I left the mines back in 1952 and was then called up to do my National Service in the Royal Artilliery as a Radar Operator. After my army service I did a number of different jobs before deciding to emigrate in 1971 when I went to New Zealand for 15 years before re-locating to Perth, Western Australia in 1986.

I have never regretted working in the pits as I think it was a great educating experience and taught one the value of a day's hard work which stands you in good stead throughout your life.

Of course our societies have changed dramatically since those days and so have the types of work available these days a lot of which weren't even thought about back in the 50s. Technology has moved forward at an astonishing rate, so much so that the people of the 50s would be mesmerised by it all. But having said that I'm not so sure if we have made Progress in many areas as we seem to have just as many if not more problems in the world today that we didn't have back then.

Best wishes to everyone back in the Rhondda from a very warm Down Under.

Thanks for the reply and I'm glad you liked the photo. Did you spot the other new one I posted too:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=250

I don't have so many postcards from Tylorstown sadly (many more of Ferndale) but I'll see if I can dig any more out to post. These old pit scenes are becoming harder to get, I don't see anywhere near as many on sale these days. Perhaps people have started to realize their historical value.

Thankyou Mochyn for posting the photo. I have only seen the one.

Any photos of Wales in general and the Rhondda in particular are interesting to any ex pats living abroad I should think. Of course any of Tylorstown /Ferndale makes me sit up and take notice even more. As the old saying goes "You can't take the valleys out of the boy" and that's certainly true in my case.

In the photo it shows the incline leading up to the tip which was reckoned to be 1 mile long. My father and I have walked that incline with sacks to gather coal from the tip itself and carry that sack of coal back home to Penrhys road. I doubt if any of today's kids would volunteer for such a task.

Times have certainly changed since those photos were taken and not always for the better I'm afraid. I doubt whether many houses in the valleys these day would be burning coal as a means of heating the house and who could have predicted that 50/60 years ago when those photos were probably taken.

Thank you once again Mochyn, Keep em coming boyo as they are truly appreciated.

Best wishes from a very warm Down Under at 39C degrees. Iechyd da
Cymro1.

Cymro1 wrote:Thankyou Mochyn for posting the photo. I have only seen the one.

I added the link to my last post. Here you are, click this: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=250

As I said though, I do have more to post and I'll do so as soon as I can. Still working for a living unfortunately which gets in the way of the stuff I'd like to be doing. Oh well, shouldn't complain.

mochyn wrote:No. 9 collieries, from Jubilee Hotel, Tylorstown. Fascinating stuff, I wish I'd been there to take my own photos.

Dear Mochyn,

Do you have anymore photos showing the three steaming stone chimney stacks, with what looks like to me,
tin skirts. I'm trying to imagine what the skirts are used for?

Dear Mochyn,

Do you have anymore photos showing the three steaming stone chimney stacks, with what looks like to me,
tin skirts. I'm trying to imagine what the skirts are used for?

I do actually. Head to a group on Facebook called “Tylorstown And Pontygwaith Archives” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/436723999764391/), I've posted all my photos of Tylorstown in there, including some of those chimneys. What's more, you'll find a lot of knowledgeable people there who can probably tell you exactly what they were.

Here they are:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

I think that's all I have.

mochyn wrote:No. 9 collieries, from Jubilee Hotel, Tylorstown. Fascinating stuff, I wish I'd been there to take my own photos.

Might anyone be able to suggest a date this could have been taken? Unfortunately the card wasn't posted so there's no clue there.