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Bedwellty Pits, Tredegar.
Sunk in 1850 by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Co. Ltd.
An explosion at No.1 pit on the 16th of June 1865, claimed the lives of 27 miners, six of them being young boys under the age of 16. The death toll would have been very much higher if it wasn't for the fact that the explosion happened on the night shift when there were fewer men underground. The manager was charged with manslaughter through gross neglect, however he was acquitted at the Assize Court because it was not proved that the ventilation at the pit was bad or that he had sanctioned the use of unlocked safety lamps.
Other explosions at this pit in 1879 and 1880 killed five and six miners respectively.
Because the workings at Bedwellty pits had extended over one and half miles from the shafts into the " Yard" and "Big" seams, it became uneconomic to work this coal from the Bedwellty pits. Consequently in 1897 the company sunk the Mclaren Colliery at Abertysswg to work this coal.
By 1908, there were 1,177 men employed at Bedwellty pits.
In 1918 the workforce numbered 1,075
From a list 1923, the mine produce Steam Coal and Ironstone from the Yard, Upper and Lower Rhas Las and the Elled seams. At this time there were 429 men employed.
The coal reserves were gradually exhausted, so much so that there were only 92 men employed in 1938
Bedwellty No. 2 closed in 1939 and No. 1 in 1941.