Worked underground on the coal faces in Cwm/Beddau for just under 20 years until it closed in 1986, Then worked away before working for 4 years in the Cwm Coke Works in the 1980/90s. Later moved to the Maindy Level , up in Gelli, Rhondda for a number of years. Really enjoyed watching this video of the the old place, but it is now a death trap in many places , so will be glad when it is finally gone, before someone is seriously hurt up there. Great video though, thank you.

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for commenting 😁

A word of warning. In plants like this, beware of relying on handrails made out of tubular steel. I worked for many years in the steel industry and saw many accidents where the hand rail had rusted from inside and was unstable, yet appeared in good condition. The customer's specs invariably banned these and insisted on handrails constructed from structural section such as angle iron. I spotted a couple of rails constructed out of RSAs, but most were from tube. Accidents waiting to happen!

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Will have to watch out for that!

My dad worked there and actually died on the site in 1990. I've never been there so it's interesting to see what it's like via such videos.

10:38 that is a coal crushing mill, probably a hammer mill. Looks 50 years old perhaps. This would crush the incoming raw coal to standard size for later processing.

Worked there for yrs moving the excess coke up to the field....loading wagons to take coke out to customers and filling the breeze plant and bunkers on the weekends when no external transport was running.....happy days.....very dirty ....but happy 😊

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers for sharing

My grandfather used to work there, he’s nearly 80 now and he always tells me stories about it.

From slate mining to coal and coke to now fuck all industry.

I visited this about 8 times in 2022/2023. A lot of fun. Took a telescopic ladder and managed to access the stairs to the top of the main hopper tower. Saw security a few times, had to hide for an hour once.

my dad worked in the cwm for 6 years he’s 60 now and my bamp worked there 35years they always talk to me about what it was like

Another great piece of industrial heritage and history soon to be lost forever. Well done guys for documenting another interesting site, great filming and narration. 👌

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot Steve 😁

Good view of the furnaces themselves from halfway through the video.

great video mate.

Great video guys, I enjoyed this exploration a lot. The entire site looks really interesting. Great you managed to explore before demolition starts. Great narration too 😉😊

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the kind words guys!

This was like my playground once when I was younger (2003 ish), so much to look at, so much to climb and venture with so much surrounding

You naughty lads, but what fun! Great video

Found a comment you left on a Steve Duncan urban exploration of Las Vegas and it’s great to see that you’ve taken up the mantle on your side of the pond and are respecting but also documenting human history

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it. Steve Duncan and those Undercity films remain a huge inspiration

I used to visit this works in the late 80s in my truck, our company had the contract with the NCB for scrap purchasing (it was owned by the NCB/BC until BC was sold off). It was a dirty smelly place and none of our drivers used to want to go there to collect our containers! Sad to see it in this state as I remember it working in full swing, it is an important part of Wales's industrial heritage.

Toujours un véritable plaisir🎬🍀😉🤘

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Merci beaucoup!

Such an interesting video and so pleased you filmed the site before it was demolished - you are doing an amazing job of documenting some wonderful buildings and places that will soon be lost in the mists of time 👏🏻😁

@cyriuxx5750

Жыл бұрын

Has it been demolished yet?

@MelanieJolie

Жыл бұрын

@@cyriuxx5750 From what I can Google, it’s still not completely demolished

@cyriuxx5750

Жыл бұрын

@@MelanieJolie Thanks.

No coke, no new steel. No new steel, no heavy industry and no growth. This is why the UK has been in a depression for over a century. Coal production in the UK began its decline in 1913.

10.38, this is the Hammer Mill, all the mixed coal and breeze was sent through here to mix and pulverise it together before going up to the service bunker.

In Teesside, there used to be a very very similar site - you can find it by searching Dorman Long Tower. The concrete tower is almost exactly the same, however, this would have been heated up in separate ovens to heat up the nearby (now demolished) Blast Furnace.

I walked down that conveyer absolutely lethal but huge fun

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Big kudos indeed 👊 I’m glad it wasn’t there so I didn’t have to convince myself

I had a look round here recently. Lots of the metalwork has been removed but it's still impressive.

@sneekeeurbex9473

2 жыл бұрын

Worth traveling from north Devon to see?

Spent all my childhood playing up them mountains.... Most my family worked there too

Hi there mate, loved the video! Went around the perimeter of the plant today and am really keen to go take some photos in there. Is there any chance I could ask you a few questions about it? Would be a massive help.

@BeyondthePoint

Жыл бұрын

Thanks 😁 drop me an email at Liam.heatherson@sky.com

Always thought it odd how the collieries were almost immediately cleared away as if by some hand of vengence whilst all the rest of the site was left to rot and cause an eyesore for many years.

Did the allow you in ?

I live close to it

Spent my childhood throwing rocks through all the windows down there....... 🙄😂

Good stuff as usual! From memory the word cwm (pronounced koom) is Welsh for valley and is the only proper word in a language in Great Britain without any vowels in it.

@BeyondthePoint

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers, it does indeed mean valley - a very imaginative name they chose 😂

@Tom-ns8vk

2 жыл бұрын

Haha but to explain why that's not the case and thus ruin the joke, w and y are vowels in Welsh. W depending on the context makes a short/long 'oo' or 'wuh', while Y makes a 'uh', 'i', or 'ee' sound But yeah Welsh names aren't the most imaginative lmao - if you translate them, they're just descriptions of the area

Didn't find any coke for us then?

Ayo when you see blue dirt here don’t touch it, that is prussian blue and got that cheeky cyanide waiting 4 u

@BeyondthePoint

Жыл бұрын

Interesting, how does that result from the industry here?

@Eggo1221

Жыл бұрын

@@BeyondthePoint apparently it’s common among ex coal gasification sites n stuff, pretty sure the term for it is blue billy or something

@Eggo1221

Жыл бұрын

@@BeyondthePoint yeee it is my guy en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_billy amazing footage btw, cameras never do it full justice but some of the best footage I’ve seen of it