Nantgarw Colliery - once the deepest coal mine in South Wales 2 September 2007 Parc Nantgarw Nantgarw Colliery under construction May/June 1951 Anyone visiting Amgueddfa Cymru's Collections Centre at Parc Nantgarw, north of Cardiff, might not realise that this was once the site of one of the most famous collieries in south Wales. All that now remains are two small concrete pyramids marking the sites of the shafts and a commemorative winding wheel.The deepest mine in south WalesNantgarw Colliery was one of the flagships of the National Coal Board. It was the nearest deep mine to Cardiff, and a reminder to travellers that they had entered the south Wales coalfield.Opened in 1911, it boasted two large shafts and, at a depth of 782.73m (856 yards), was the deepest mine in south Wales. However, despite appearing as a fine example of a clean and efficient modern coal industry, the colliery was abandoned in 1927 due to lack of manpower, poor industrial relations and, above all, being located above very complex underground geology.The war yearsThe mine re-opened in 1937 after a major reorganization, but work was suspended when war broke out in 1939. A later project to re-open the colliery was approved by the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1946. It was the first major scheme to be operated by the new NCB in the south-west district.A new state-of-the-art colliery Nantgarw in 1974 In order to construct a model colliery at Nantgarw, all traces of the original were demolished and new surface buildings were designed with state-of-the-art facilities. Appliances were installed to reduce smoke and fumes, and all waste was placed underground keeping the surface clear of unsightly spoil heaps. The entire underground network was designed to minimise the risk of accidents. Great care was taken to minimise any dust produced both underground and on the surface, in order to protect the workforce from contracting illnesses such as pneumoconiosis.Not enough miners to mineDuring the 1940s there was a marked decline in the number of men willing to consider a coal mining career, even in the traditional mining strongholds such as the Rhondda.The Nantgarw Colliery posed a specific manpower problem, with the working population choosing employment elsewhere. The workforce had to be recruited from new entrants or from closed collieries outside the area. By 12 March 1954 the total cost of the project had increased to £5.25 million. Labour relations were also a cause for concern. During 1958 alone there were 65 stoppages, go-slows and walk-outs in the collieryDeclining fortunesNantgarw survived the mass pit closures of the 1960s and, in 1975, merged with Windsor Colliery (near Abertridwr). By 1979, the combined Nantgarw / Windsor Colliery employed around 650 men, producing over 4,000 tons of coal per week. During 1979–80 they made a profit of just over £0.5 million. Despite development difficulties, the pit's future looked reasonably secure.However, by the early 1980s the colliery's fortunes were again hit by low manpower and poor geological conditions. The colliery lost £7 million in 1981, and in 1982 output declined steeply as a major coal seam became unworkable. A year later, an overtime ban led directly to the twelve-month strike of 1984-5. Within eighteen months of the strike ending, the mass pit closures took place in south Wales. This time, Nantgarw Colliery was included. Nearly 80 years of coal mining history at Nantgarw ended.
The industrial legacy of David Davies 29 July 2007 David Davies (1818-1890) This image shows him in a rare moment of repose. Private collection (Lord Davies) The completed Talerddig cutting, the deepest in the world at that time. Private Collection (Lord Davies) No.1 dock in 1913, when Barry docks exported 11m tons of coal. What appears to be a solid level surface in the right foreground of this scene in is fact water — thick with coal dust. David Davies of Llandinam The gifts and bequests of Gwendoline and Margaret Davies completely transformed the range and quality of Wales's national art collection. The sisters were the granddaughters of David Davies of Llandinam, one of the great entrepreneurs of 19th–century Wales. Gwendoline and Margaret Davies were the granddaughters of David Davies of Llandinam, one of the great entrepreneurs of 19th–century Wales. David Davies started in life as a tenant farmer and sawyer. He made his fortune during the industrialisation of Victorian Wales. He built much of the railway system in mid-Wales, became a pioneer of the coal industry in the Rhondda valley and was the driving force behind the construction of Barry dock in south Wales. Railways Starting with the construction of the Newtown & Llanidloes Railway in 1859, he became involved in the construction of a number of railways in mid-Wales, the Vale of Clwyd and Pembrokeshire. His greatest achievement as a railway engineer was the great Talerddig cutting on the Newtown & Machynlleth Railway, completed in 1862 and the deepest in the world at that time. Not all the ventures in which Davies was involved succeeded — the grandly named Manchester & Milford Railway reached neither destination! Coal – 'Davies yr Ocean' 1864 marked a decisive turning point in David Davies's career when he took out a pioneering mineral lease in the south Wales valleys. It took two years before the first pits were in full production. Five more collieries were opened by 1886. In the following year they were vested in a new public limited company, the Ocean Coal Co. Ltd. At the time of Davies's death in 1890, it was the largest and most profitable coal company in south Wales. From pit to port The crowning achievement of David Davies's career was the construction of the dock at Barry, south Wales. Davies and a number of fellow Rhondda colliery owners came together to solve congestion both on the Taff Vale Railway and at Cardiff's Bute docks. They promoted the construction of a railway from the coalfield to a new dock facility at Barry, then a tiny hamlet. Despite fierce opposition from the Bute faction, the dock opened in 1889. The application of wealth David Davies was a passionate supporter of Calvinistic Methodism — a strict non-conformist faith unique to Wales and distinct from Wesleyan Methodism. Like all of Gwendoline and Margaret's family he was a life-long Sabbatarian and teetotaller. It instilled in him a profound sense of philanthropy and public service. He gave generously to religious and educational causes. Having received a very basic schooling himself, the provision of university education in Wales was a cause close to his heart. He was a staunch supporter of the first college at Aberystwyth, opened in 1872. He served as Liberal MP for Cardigan Boroughs during 1874-86 and was elected to the first Montgomeryshire County Council upon its creation in 1889. After David Davies David Davies died in 1890 and was succeeded by his son Edward, who found the stresses of running the business empire so overwhelming that he died just eight years later. He in turn was succeeded by Gwendoline and Margaret's brother David, later 1st Lord Davies, who had to contend with the depression of the inter-war years. The post-war nationalisation of the coal, dock and railway industries saw the family lose control of their vast undertaking. Today, all the Ocean pits have closed, as has much of the railway system created by David Davies, and Barry dock sees little activity.
The Gregynog Press 29 July 2007 The Davies Sisters of Gregynog The frontispiece to The stealing of the mare (1930), the work of Robert Maynard. One of the outstanding aspects of the Davies sisters' involvement in the arts was the creation of the Gregynog Press. This was the only component of the arts and crafts scheme planned for Gregynog Hall to be implemented, beginning production in 1922. The first book, Poems by George Herbert, was published a year later, the last being published in 1940. The Gregynog Press, like other private presses of the time, produced high quality books in limited editions. Such books were usually superbly printed on handmade paper, using hand presses or small letterpress machinery. Many of the greatest wood engravers of the twentieth century were commissioned to produce illustrations for these books. The sisters already possessed books from some of the finest private press productions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as those from the Kelmscott and Ashendene presses. Staff One of the specially bound copies of the Loyal Address to King George V on the formal opening of the National Museum of Wales on the 21 April 1927. At its peak, the Press employed seventeen staff. Most of the general workforce in the composing room and the bindery was Welsh and local to Gregynog. The artistic staff came mainly from England and Scotland. The Gregynog Press Board had three aims in the production of fine books: to print books in the Welsh language, to publish some of the best examples of Anglo-Welsh literature and to publish translations of Welsh works. From the 1930s the subject matter was more varied. Of the forty-two books, eight were in Welsh, while a further eleven had a Welsh connection. It is this attention to Welsh material that was one of the distinguishing features of the Press. Loyal Address of the King The fables of Esope (1932). Agnes Miller Parker's wood engravings for this book, and XXI Welsh gypsy folk-tales (1933), established her as one of the greatest wood engravers of the twentieth century. One of the more handsome productions was for Amgueddfa Cymru, and undertaken at a few weeks notice. This was the printing of the Loyal Address read at the formal opening of the Museum on 21st April 1927 by King George V, accompanied by Queen Mary. A number of copies were bound in blue levant morocco, decorated in gilt. Printing Illustrated page of Psalm XC from Psalmau Dafydd (1929) The first 'Press' book, Poems by George Herbert, was printed on an Albion hand press. Most of the printing at Gregynog was done on the less labour-intensive Victoria, although William McCance, the second controller of the Press, used the Albion to print his first book, John Milton's Comus, in 1931. The first four books were restricted to a single typeface (Kennerley), but soon it became possible to use a range of types. A Gregynog type was made, but it was only used for one book (Eros and Psyche, 1935). The paper used at Gregynog was handmade. From 1927 to aid the process of printing this was done on dampened paper, a widely used technique. The outstanding quality of the printing of the letterpress and the wood engravings was largely due to Herbert Hodgson, printer from 1927 until 1936. Wood Engravings Illustration from The story of the red-deer (1935/6), a children's book, which was the only book produced at Gregynog where the illustrations were printed in colour. Some of the finest books ever illustrated with wood engravings were printed in Britain between the two world wars. The Press played a major part in this era. In the 1930s, the Gregynog Press saw one of the most outstanding periods of book illustration in Britain, with the sensuous engravings of Blair Hughes-Stanton and the intricate ones of Agnes Miller Parker. A small number of external artists were commissioned to prepare engravings, one of the best known of whom was David Jones; his two engravings were printed in Llyfr y Pregeth-wr, the Book of Ecclesiastes. Bindings Illustrated capital from The stealing of the mare (1930) The Gregynog Press was unique amongst private presses in that the binding of the books was seen as being as important as the printing. Up to 1935 each title was bound in buckram cloth or marbled paper, with one in vellum, but a small number of 'specials', were bound in full leather, of varying colours and designs. Almost all the specials were bound by Fisher, who is recognised as one of the greatest bookbinders of the twentieth century. His versatility is shown at its best in the implementation of the designs prepared by McCance and Hughes-Stanton, notably for The Fables of Esope, The Revelation of Saint John the Divine and The Lamentations of Jeremiah. Other 'specials' were designed by the artistic staff including Maynard and Hughes-Stanton. Images: Gwasg Gregynog/Gregynog Press
When Welsh ships sailed the seas 6 July 2007 Painting of the Breconian The Breconian The Breconian was built in 1906; she was registered in Aberystwyth and was sailed by Welshmen across the oceans of the world for thirty years. Her portrait, one of the industrial paintings of ships in Amgueddfa Cymru's collection, reveals a fascinating insight into days gone by. Ship Paintings The industrial collections house some 250 ship paintings. Few of these could be described as fine art, but they do provide an invaluable archive of Welsh maritime history. Most of these paintings are the work of Mediterranean 'pierhead painters' who, for a small sum, would produce simple colourful pictures of a vessel for the owner, captain or crew members. Originally, they were painted in pairs, one painting of the vessel on a calm sea and the other in a storm. What these paintings lack in artistic quality is made up for by their technical accuracy. These paintings became objects of pride and sentiment, as much to the ship's owner as to the captain's wife. A ship with a new design The painting of the Breconian is an unsigned storm-scene portrait. The steamship was built for John Mathias & Sons of Aberystwyth. She was unusual in that she had been built with a new, narrower deck, the turret-deck, superimposed upon the vessel's hull, extending from stem to stern. This new design made the vessel more profitable to operate. The design was so successful that 429 turret-deckers were built between 1892 and1911. The company that owned the Breconian began back in 1869 when John Mathias, an ambitious Aberystwyth greengrocer, decided to venture into shipowning, buying the schooner Miss Evans. In 1883 he moved from sail to steam, forming the Glanrheidol Steamship Company Limited. By the time that the Breconian joined the Mathias fleet, the business had been grandly renamed the Cambrian Steam Navigation Company Limited, with the seven ships of the line being named, rather unusually, after public schools. This led to seamen at Cardiff giving the company the nickname of 'the College line'. The Breconian, named after Christ College, Brecon, was the only vessel named after a Welsh school; the others being Etonian, Harrovian, Rugbeian and so on. Coal out, grain home Like most tramp steamers of the period, the Breconian would have sailed chiefly in the so-called 'coal out, grain home' trades, taking coal from south Wales across the world and returning with a cargo of cereals. She was manned mainly by Welshmen; in 1911, her master was Captain David Jones of Aberystwyth and 20 of her 28 strong crew came from Welsh coastal towns and villages. In 1917, The Breconian was sold to the Tyneside Line Limited of Newcastle and in 1926 she was sold on to a Genoese shipowner, Giovanni Bozzo, who renamed her Lorenzo Bozzo after his son. Six years later she was broken up. Today, only the painting remains to remind us of just one aspect of the flourishing Welsh maritime enterprise and the capable Welsh seamen who sailed the world's oceans.
Distinguished photographer's industrial prints 6 July 2007 A Walter Nurnberg photograph of the Rogerstone Aluminium Works, Gwent A Walter Nurnberg photograph of the Rogerstone Aluminium Works, Gwent A Walter Nurnberg photograph of the Rogerstone Aluminium Works, Gwent Amgueddfa Cymru holds in its photographic archives a number of prints taken by the distinguished industrial photographer Walter Nurnberg OBE. The images show interior views of the Rogerstone Aluminium Works in Gwent taken in 1968. From Banking to Photography Walter Nurnberg was born in Berlin on 18 April 1907. He followed his father into banking and became a member of the stock exchange, but found the work rather tedious. He became interested in photography while visiting the Reimann College of Art in Berlin, and in 1931 and enrolled for classes in the college. Whilst studying, Nurnberg was greatly influenced by the works of Albert Renger-Pratsch and Selmar Lerski. In the 1920s they had revolutionised photography with an imaginative approach to the dramatic presentation of mundane objects. Nurnburg was also influenced by the new ideas of the 'Neue Sachlichkeit' (New Objectivity) school of thinking and by the work of the Bauhaus design institute at Dessau. Both emphasised an analytical approach to the photography of objects, revealing precision, realism and form. <23>From Berlin to London During 1934 Nurnberg travelled to London and set up as a successful advertising and commercial photographer. Nurnberg enlisted in the army pioneer corps during World War Two, serving until 1944. He became a naturalised British subject three years later. After leaving the army he set up an industrial photographic business. He described himself as 'one of those mad photographers who would hang upside-down on the end of cranes to achieve dynamic angle perspectives.' Later on in life Nurnberg lectured at the Polytechnic of Central London and at Harrow and Ealing College. In 1968 he became head of the Guildford School of Photography at West Surrey College of Art and Design. He also wrote two text books on photographic lighting techniques. Dramatic lighting Nurnburg preferred to use tungsten lighting, because he could see exactly the effect he wanted using lamps with sharp, clear light. He would even stop production lines if necessary and install extra power cables, to get his unique photographs. His photographs clearly show the effective use of lighting. They create a dramatic effect reminiscent of American films of the 1940s. The pictures are strong and dynamic, full of the power of the industrial world. On his retirement in 1974 Nurnburg was awarded an O.B.E. for his services to photography and industry. He received many other awards for his achievements in photography. As well as Amgueddfa Cymru, collections of his photographs can be found at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford, The Royal Photographic Society and the Faculty of Engineering and Science at the Polytechnic of Central London. Walter Nurnberg died at the age of 84 in 1991.
