Miner-Owned Coal Pit Closes in Wales


The Tower Colliery, the last deep mine in South Wales, ceased opearations during January. The mine was saved from closure
in 1994 when miners chipped in their own money to keep it going. (Photo: Ian Homer, www.ianhomerphotography.co.uk)
The Welsh miners who invested their own money in keeping Tower Colliery going for 13 years ceased operations at the end of January because the coal had run out, The Associated Press reported. Miners with blackened faces, their families and friends carried flags and banners in a short procession marking the end of operations. One red banner, bearing the number 1831, recalled the year that the socialist red flag was first raised in Hirwaun, the nearby town. Tower Colliery, described as the last deep coal mine in south Wales, was saved from closure in 1994 when the miners chipped in £8,000 each from their severance pay and borrowed £2 million to buy the operation. About 120 of the 270 miners at Tower Colliery are expected to move to jobs at open-pit mines—the Unity mine at Cwmgwrach or the Aberpergwm mine. Coal has been mined at the Tower site, near Aberdare, since 1805. There are now just half a dozen significant underground mines in the United Kingdom.
As featured in Womp 08 Vol 1 - www.womp-int.com