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Report - - CWM Cokeworks, October 2015 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - CWM Cokeworks, October 2015

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Jonesey

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
CWM Cokeworks

The Visit

Having never been exploring alone or with no other members for that matter I found myself headed for CWM with ironically 3 non members and feeling somewhat out of my depth. We parked up, crammed a body builder and rugby player through a gap not designed for men of their stature and cracked on.

Was a really good explore as the site seams to go and on with various outbuildings, many many ladders and gorgeous rust everywhere !

Tad Of Welsh Industrial History (mostly pinched from Wevskys blog)
CWM Cokeworks established in 1957 by the National Coal Board to produce coke from coal mined at CWM Colliery. The coke was used in iron foundries, metal smelting furnaces, sugar beet refineries, brickworks, and heating boilers. Coke works were once commonplace, and were frequently attached to collieries or steelworks, but few are now operational in Britain.

Cwm Coke's origins lie with the Great Western Railway and it's insatiable hunger for coal. The GWR sunk pits at the Cwm site in 1909 as well as in other areas of the Rhondda, but Cwm didn't become known for it's coke until 1958 when the coking ovens and associated plant for producing coke and refining the by-products of the coking process were installed. During this time the existing colliery site saw a £9 million investment, by the 1970's the two pits 'Margaret' and 'Mildred' and the coking plant were the workplace of 1,500 men this combined effort produced 515,000 tons of coke per annum. The colliery continued production of coal right up until privatisation of the National Coal Board in 1986.

After closing in 2002 there have been plans for an 800 home redevelopment however the southern tower is a grade 2 listed building so maybe not so soon I hope :)

On With The Photos

Our first view of the site

towers approach (1 of 1).jpg


looking down the highest conveyor
converyor (1 of 1).jpg


Views from the top
halfway iew (1 of 1).jpg
the very top (1 of 1).jpg


The lower floors

flooded tunnel (1 of 1).jpg
underneath floor (1 of 1).jpg

Back outside

long wide reflections (1 of 1).jpg
group (1 of 1).jpg


I think these silos were still filled with tar or some goey black stuff anyway
tar towers (1 of 1).jpg
tar towers ollie (1 of 1).jpg


Nipped up one of the tar pot / silo / tower for this snap
vignette version 2 (1 of 1).jpg


Then we bumped into a birdwatcher who showed us the easy way out with directions to the local pub :)

Cheers for looking guys
 

Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Then we bumped into a birdwatcher who showed us the easy way out with directions to the local pub :)

The birdwatcher excuse is one I have used myself to get out of sticky situations. I sometimes carry a copy of the RSPB Field Guide to British Birds in my pocket to make the excuse more convincing. Helps if you know your birds and prepared to waffle on the topic, and know what rare species are in the area. Just say "I saw it fly this way". I guess for this site the target bird could be a Peregrine Falcon.

(it just happens that I really am a birdwatcher - remember last year when a very rare to the UK Rose-coloured Starling (normally lives in India) turned up in the middle of Bristol. Myself and a few others did a fair bit of trespassing that day to get the photo)
 
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