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Britannia colliery, Pengam.
The Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Co. Ltd. began sinking here in 1910 and the first coal was produced in 1912.
Britannia's claim to fame was that it was the first all electric
colliery in the country. A newspaper of the day stated that it was
'conspicuous by it's lack of a smoke stack'. Both winding engines
had two dc electric motors, each of 1600hp giving a total of 3200hp
per winder.
The dc was provided by Ilinger motor/generator sets, which had a
32ton fly wheel. The motors driving the generators were only 1600hp
and the inertia of the flywheels stored enough energy to
accommodate the 3200hp winder motors. There were three Ilinger sets
in total, one for each winder and one spare. The equipment was
manufactured and installed by Siemens of Germany. However, the
German engineers were still installing the third Ilgner set when
the First World War broke out. They were sent to a POW camp and
installation work stopped. After the war, the installation was
completed by English Electric and was thus a 'bastard' set,
having English Electric motors and Siemens generators. .
Shaft No's1 (downcast) and 2 (upcast) were 615 yards and 714 yards deep respectively, each with a diameter of 21 feet.
By 1918 there were 1,520 men employed.
From a report 1923, there were 1,780 employed, producing from the Red Vein, Big Vein and Rhas Las seams.
Over 1700 men were employed in the 1920's and a School of Mines open here in 1930.
In 1945 there was 806 men employed.
Although coal production ceased in 1983 the School of Mines continued and Britannia's shafts were used by Oakdale for ventilation.
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A view looking North towards Aberbargoed, taken after closure.