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land remediation and reclamation, followed by land restoration of the entire Tower
Colliery site. The land reclamation works includes: removal of structures; removal of residual contamination; re-profiling of colliery spoil tips; removal of coal workings and mine entries; and provision of surface drainage. The project will create a sloping landform to reproduce semi-natural habitats on the site, and hence prepare the area ground for future mixed-use development.
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extraction of the residual 6 million tonnes of anthracite. In August 2010, the company filed a planning application for the extraction by open cast mining of coal to a depth of 165 metres (541 ft), on a 200 acres (81 ha) section of the former coal washery site. Coal would then be
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In 1941, a new shaft was sunk to a depth of 160 metres. From 1943 until closure, this shaft was used as the main "return" ventilation shaft and for the transport of men. In 1958 Tower No. 3 was driven to meet the No. 4 colliery workings, and was used as the main "intake" airway, conveying coal to the
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partnership between Tower
Colliery Ltd and Hargreaves Services plc was formed. The partnership company received planning permission that year to allow opencast coal extraction on what were termed the surface workings of the former colliery site, on the pre-condition that the site would be subject to
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the privatisation
Minister worked up some proposals but they got into the press before they were fully thought through or cleared with the PM, so the whole idea was lost. It was not until I was in the Cabinet myself that I was able to help one group of miners do just that, at Tower Colliery. They
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But none of these prospects seemed economic, so the board recommended that work be concentrated on coal to the north of the existing workings, which had been left to protect the safety of the existing shafts. Accepted by the workforce and shareholders in an open vote, this decision effectively
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202:(Tower Employees Buy-Out), with each pledging £8,000 from their redundancy payouts to buy back Tower. Against stiff central government resistance to the possibility of reopening the mine as a coal production unit, a price of £2 million was eventually agreed.
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The shareholders are still debating the future of the site, which they eventually wish to have developed to leave a legacy for the area which provides employment. Eventually there are plans to develop the site, with combinations of housing, industrial estate,
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Although the mine remained financially viable and continued to provide employment to the workers, by the time of the buyout the only seam worked at Tower was the Seven Feet/Five Feet, a combined seam of several leaves which offered 1.3m of
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Having mined out the northern coal extracts, the colliery was last worked on 18 January 2008 and the official closure of the colliery occurred on 25 January. The colliery was, until its closure, one of the largest employers in the
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Up to 14 coal seams had been worked at Tower
Colliery during its history, and the neighbouring mines within the lease area of Tower, which was 14.8 km in circumference to create an area of 221.3
280:. The actual boundaries of the lease were defined either by faults or seam splits in the local geostructure, or excess water to the northwest in the Bute seam. The seams produced good quality
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to close the majority of the UK's deep mines on economic grounds, nominally including Tower. But from 30 June 1986, with new underground roads having been driven, all coal from
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British Coal closed Tower
Colliery on 22 April 1994, on the grounds that it would be uneconomic in current market conditions to continue production.
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claimed was uneconomic for themselves, as I was suspicious about some of the pits the Coal Board wished to close. I wanted a magnanimous aftermath.
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was also raised at Tower, the two mines effectively working as one coalfield system. Mardy closed as an access shaft on 21 December 1990.
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As the worked seam reduced in capacity, the management team considered three possibilities to extend the length of mine production:
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304:'s "nine feet" workings, the four faces worked in the western section of the lease were considered uneconomic by British Coal.
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Open new developments in the Nine Feet seam, 100 m above the existing seam; the Four Feet seam, a further 30 m above
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inflated for each worker. On 3 January 1995 the
Colliery re-opened under the ownership of the workforce buy out company
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The management announced at closure that one of the possibilities of creating additional short term value was through
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was raised on
Hirwaun common as a symbol of unity between workers of Tower Colliery during a march to commemorate the
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demonstrated that free of Coal Board control it was possible, at least in their case, to run the pit for longer.
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from 1805, until in 1864 the first drift named Tower was started, named after the nearby
Crawshay's Tower, a
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121:, freight services operated several times a day along this stretch of line, directly owned by the colliery.
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217:, the renowned Welsh mining engineer, was a key advisor to the buy-out team and became (unpaid) Chairman.
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At the end of the dispute I tried to get the government to offer the miners the right to work a pit the
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in the mine to protest against its closure, accompanied by the late
Glyndwr 'Glyn' Roberts (Senior) of
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Work another nine faces in the existing workings, in coal classed only as mineral potential
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With their bid accepted, the miners marched back to the pit on 2 January 1995, with a
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412:"Web hosting and e*commerce solutions from BT Webworld - We get business online"
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in a mined section of 1.65m. Working directly under the shaft of the former
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located so close to the surface, it was known by locals to be possible to
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plant built in the mid-1980s, after extraction through the hillside on a
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museum or tourism resort being debated with several potential partners.
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1983–1985, wrote of the period of pit closures and Tower
Colliery:
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in 1831, and highlight the plight of their own pit. In 1994, the
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Machinery from Tower was used to boost production at the nearby
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surface and transporting materials into the mine working areas.
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in 1985 but reopened by a private concern in the mid 1990s.
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Address the water problem in the Bute seam, to the northwest
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Coal Dram stands outside the Tower Colliery's sales office
34:: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep-
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BBC News: Miner-owned pit faces closure 27 January 2006
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to the colliery. While passenger services terminate in
448:"Community spirit shone through infight to save Mardy"
516:"The past had its battles too – John Redwood's Diary"
634:"Opencast plan for Tower Colliery site in Hirwaun"
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720:Buildings and structures in Rhondda Cynon Taf
673:Photographs of miners taken at Tower Colliery
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322:accepted the end of Tower as a deep mine.
16:Historic Welsh coal mine active until 2008
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133:, the Conservative government authorised
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611:. Energybuild Holdings. Archived from
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46:. It was located near the villages of
658:Breaking new ground at Tower Colliery
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730:Co-operatives in the United Kingdom
588:"Coal mine closes with celebration"
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268:moves coal from the Tower towards
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446:Dave Edwards (23 December 2010).
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535:. Tower Colliery. Archived from
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284:, which was washed onsite at a
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228:in 1995, and also Director of
94:built in 1848 and named after
1:
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226:Secretary of State for Wales
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636:. BBC Wales. 18 August 2010
476:"Tower - The Last Colliery"
178:Colliery buy-out by workers
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735:Underground mines in Wales
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725:Collieries in South Wales
131:1984-5 UK miners' strike
115:Aberdare railway station
663:What is the Tower Fund?
609:"Energybuild Home Page"
211:Goitre Tower Anthracite
54:, north of the town of
590:. BBC News. 2008-01-25
372:Tower Regeneration Ltd
365:Aberthaw Power Station
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234:Number 10 Policy Unit
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113:continued north from
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144:In October 1993 the
125:British Coal closure
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390:industrial heritage
348:National Coal Board
340:Aberpergwm Colliery
302:Glyncorrwg Colliery
44:South Wales Valleys
533:"Tower Statistics"
354:Tower regeneration
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82:coal from Hirwaun
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486:on 4 January 2010
230:Margaret Thatcher
196:Tyrone O'Sullivan
194:Branch Secretary
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428:. coflein.gov.uk
426:"Mardy Colliery"
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360:open cast mining
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86:. This activity
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60:Cynon Valley
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383:Future plan
282:coking coal
714:Categories
684:51°43′37″N
619:2007-12-07
594:2008-01-25
573:2009-03-13
543:2009-03-13
490:2009-03-13
454:2010-12-23
432:2010-12-23
396:References
367:by train.
344:drift mine
298:anthracite
254:Operations
246:John Moore
242:Coal Board
129:After the
80:drift mine
687:3°33′18″W
640:18 August
480:BBC Wales
220:In 2014,
163:staged a
161:Ann Clwyd
88:increased
62:of South
36:coal mine
370:In 2012
278:hectares
270:Aberdare
266:Class 66
169:Penywaun
146:red flag
119:Aberdare
107:Aberdare
56:Aberdare
207:balloon
70:History
58:in the
48:Hirwaun
38:in the
272:, 2006
224:, the
165:sit-in
84:common
52:Rhigos
92:folly
74:With
64:Wales
32:Welsh
642:2010
374:, a
200:TEBO
105:The
76:coal
50:and
263:EWS
232:'s
192:NUM
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