WARNINGS
- Mining - "You are entering a former mining valley. Please be aware there may be hazards in the area". This is a former active mining region and so care must be taken as many of the artifacts of this areas past are still present. There are many signs around the area warning as such, though many of these are so old as to now be blank.
- The Coal Authority Secured Site - These are small areas fenced off for various reasons and should not be entered for any reason.
- Clay Pigeon Shooting - Sundays 10:30am to 13:00 pm. At the lower end of the valley near the Graig Ddu brickworks clay pigeon shoots regularly take place and so that cache should be avoided at these times.
History
The South Wales Valleys and specifically Cwn Nant Ddu are said to posses some of the most beautiful place names in Wales, for example: Cwmffrwdoer= valley of the cold, fast flowing stream, Pentrepiod = the village of the magpies, Pontnewynydd = the bridge of the starving man, whilst LLanerch in Welsh means clearing. This was also once a very industrialised area, home to multiple collieries and pits, working numerous coal seams, as well as a brickworks and many miles of sprawling tracks of the GWR railway starting from Branches Fork at the bottom of the valley by the Bridgend pub and working up. Not much is left of the once booming industry, except a few derelict buildings, piles of rubble and fenced off pit heads and other areas too dangerous to enter.
Map of Pits and Collieries, South Western Division Map - Credit: The Coalmining History Resource Centre - http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/images/gcmg_map23.gif
This cache is placed below the disused Blaenserchan and Llanerch washery. Blaenserchan Colliery's first shaft was sunk in 1890 by Partidge & Jones Ltd. As at this stage the colliery had only one shaft, known as the upshaft. Blaenserchan continued with a single shaft, and after 6 years employed 436 men, but it would soon have to expand. The upshaft would eventually reach a depth of 362 yards almost a decade later in 1899, before a second, downshaft was sunk in 1913 and opened 2 years later. The new shaft allowed the mine to not only expand production, but also allowed the mine to control the air in the pits, whereas it was previously controlled by the Llanerch site. Pithead baths were added in 1934. The remains of the baths are visible on the road around the head of the valley, beyond the LLanerch site. All that is left now is a large slab of concrete and a few piles of rubble. The former shafts are located at the end of the road leading from Llanerch colliery along the head of the valley, above the washery on the opposite side to the Llanerch pits.
The washery is one of the few visible remnants of the mining past of the valley. The washery was built around 1925, but was later also used by Blaenserchan colliery. Initially coal was taken down a series of zig tracks on the pit side of the valley and emptied onto a short conveyor that took it to the washery. Here it was processed and filled into trucks underneath the washery before being taken down the valley, under the bridge at Gypsy Lane and then to Branches Fork, near the Bridgend pub.
Around 1947, one of the colliery tips from the Llanerch site slipped into the valley between the washery and brickworks. This led to coal being taken up the steep hill to Llanerch colliery on the opposite side of the valley before being taken via Pentwyn to Talywain and on to Pontypool.
Around 1962, the washery finally stopped operating. Coal was taken to "Target End" - the head of the valley, where the trains reversed before continuing to the pit head baths and along the valley side (where the road is still visible), passed the Llanerch pit head and on to Talywain. The locos were all saddle tanks called Islwyn, Illtyd, Llewellyn and Ebbw except an ex GWR pannier tank which was numbered 7754.
Eventually in April 1970 coal winding stopped at Blaenserchan when it began being taken underground, though Tirpentwys Colliery and up to Hafodyrynys washery. But again changes were on the way in 1977 when Blaenserchan's coal went underground to Cwmtillery Colliery for washing at Roseheyworth Colliery in Abertillery. This arrangement only lasted for 8 years before a different arrangement was again settled upon, this time with coal being routed the the Six Bells colliery before eventually being wound at Marine Colliery, Ebbw Vale.
The colliery itself technically closed in 1985 when it was merged with Six Bells, with work continuing underground. The pit ceased altogether in 1987, with demolition of the site beginning at the end of the year. Though the mining is gone, the effects are still present, such as the nearby stream, stained a bright rust orange that is almost surreal to see.
Credit: http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/forum/read.php?14,35704,38346 & http://jessjessxx.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/blaenserchan-book.pdf
The cache itself is placed just down the valley below the abandoned washery. The washery itself is fenced off and the warning signs forbidding entry should be obeyed. If heading from the Llanerch site, the easiest access is gained by following the road to the head of the valley and then dropping down, though take care over the rough and uneven ground. There is also a path leading from the Blaenserchan pit heads, but this is much steeper and looser under foot. There are paths that continue down the valley to the Graig Ddu brickworks but these can be narrow, overgrown, have steep drops, and sometimes vanish all together. The cache itself is a small plastic cliplock box inside a cammo bag
A Special thanks to Chrisyd19 for the cache, won at the fabulous event organised by herself and pineconecollie in Abergavenny