Black Barn was / is a funny mine as it seems by all accounts that it lacked in quantity the very reason for starting a coal mine, i.e. coal. This was is part probably due to the fact that they were mining in an area that was considered to be effectively coaled out over 30 years ago. Technically, Black Barn worked the
Mynyddislwyn seam which was in two leaves - upper and lower. The upper was completely gone so it is assumed they were trying to win the lower seam.
The ownership history and operation of the mine is varied -
Worked under a British Coal licence granted to Jones and Hillard until the 30th April 1995. This licence was replaced by a Coal Authority licence that was granted on the 17th August 1995 but the mine hardly worked any coal after that time.
The licence was assigned to GPN Mining (now Thomas & Croft Mining Ltd) in August 2000 and has only worked coal intermittently since then.
The licensee is still Thomas & Croft Mining Ltd but the Thomas is Gareth Thomas of Metal Innovations Ltd who has been using the mine as a test bed for his mining machines. I've seen a couple of his smaller machines down there.
Metal Innovations seemed to use the mine as a testing ground for their new age mining machines. Googling their name brings up some interesting items including irate investors who invested in the company. It is known that potential investors were brought to Black Barn to see the mining machines in action. Metal Innovations seemed to abandon the site some time in 2009 / 2010 when they moved the majority of their equipment to another mine near Seven Sisters which was eventually consumed by a massive opencasting operation. Black Barn has simply been left to the elements since then.
External shots from February 2013 when I went wandering to get a definitive list of what was / was not open around the South Wales valleys. Didn't think it would take four months to get back there !
1. View of the abandoned above ground site
2. Backfilled northern adit
3. Southern adit
4. Inside northern adit
5. Conveyor, top of the dip, northern adit
6. Looking back up
7. Conveyor disappears into a watery end
8. Crosscut to southern adit
9. Crosscut from southern adit
10. Down the southern dip
11. Wiring
12. Junction
13. Flooded crosscut dip to northern adit
14. Health & Safety
15. The end of the line
16. Comms
17. In and out
18. The only trace of coal encountered
19. View from inside the southern adit
20. Mobile conveyor dumped inside southern adit
Thanks for looking.
Mynyddislwyn seam which was in two leaves - upper and lower. The upper was completely gone so it is assumed they were trying to win the lower seam.
The ownership history and operation of the mine is varied -
Worked under a British Coal licence granted to Jones and Hillard until the 30th April 1995. This licence was replaced by a Coal Authority licence that was granted on the 17th August 1995 but the mine hardly worked any coal after that time.
The licence was assigned to GPN Mining (now Thomas & Croft Mining Ltd) in August 2000 and has only worked coal intermittently since then.
The licensee is still Thomas & Croft Mining Ltd but the Thomas is Gareth Thomas of Metal Innovations Ltd who has been using the mine as a test bed for his mining machines. I've seen a couple of his smaller machines down there.
Metal Innovations seemed to use the mine as a testing ground for their new age mining machines. Googling their name brings up some interesting items including irate investors who invested in the company. It is known that potential investors were brought to Black Barn to see the mining machines in action. Metal Innovations seemed to abandon the site some time in 2009 / 2010 when they moved the majority of their equipment to another mine near Seven Sisters which was eventually consumed by a massive opencasting operation. Black Barn has simply been left to the elements since then.
External shots from February 2013 when I went wandering to get a definitive list of what was / was not open around the South Wales valleys. Didn't think it would take four months to get back there !
1. View of the abandoned above ground site
2. Backfilled northern adit
3. Southern adit
4. Inside northern adit
5. Conveyor, top of the dip, northern adit
6. Looking back up
7. Conveyor disappears into a watery end
8. Crosscut to southern adit
9. Crosscut from southern adit
10. Down the southern dip
11. Wiring
12. Junction
13. Flooded crosscut dip to northern adit
14. Health & Safety
15. The end of the line
16. Comms
17. In and out
18. The only trace of coal encountered
19. View from inside the southern adit
20. Mobile conveyor dumped inside southern adit
Thanks for looking.
