Welsh Coal & Slate Industries — A Deeper Study (Years 5–6)

Coal and slate — two industries, two landscapes

1. 1 The South Wales Coalfield The most important coal-producing region in the world in the late 19th century. The Rhondda alone produced 9 million tons of coal per year at its peak. Cardiff was the world's largest coal-exporting port.
2. 2 North Wales slate The slate quarries of Gwynedd — Penrhyn (Bethesda), Dinorwig (Llanberis), and Ffestiniog — produced much of the world's roofing slate in the 19th century. The landscape of Snowdonia was transformed by these quarries.
3. 3 Working conditions Coalminers worked in darkness, damp, and danger. Lung disease (pneumoconiosis/silicosis) from coal and rock dust was epidemic. Explosions were common — the Senghenydd colliery disaster (1913) killed 439 men and boys.
4. 4 The labour movement Welsh miners and quarrymen were at the forefront of the British labour movement. The Tonypandy riots (1910-11), the Penrhyn Quarry Lock-Out (1900-03 — the longest industrial dispute in UK history), the 1984-85 Miners' Strike.
5. 5 Deindustrialisation Coal pits closed from the 1960s onwards — accelerated by the Thatcher government's pit closure programme after the 1984-85 strike. The last Welsh deep mine (Tower Colliery) closed 2008.
6. 6 UNESCO World Heritage The Blaenavon Industrial Landscape (including Big Pit National Coal Museum) and the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales (Gwynedd quarries) are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.