CYNHEIDRE: Memorial to colliery’s 37 lost miners to be unveiled next month

The names of the 37 men who died working at Cynheidre Colliery are to be permanently remembered at the site of the old pit, with a new memorial being unveiled next month.

The memorial will be unveiled at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway on Sunday 23 August, with a morning ceremony followed by a free public open day from midday.

The volunteer-run heritage railway occupies part of the former colliery site in the Gwendraeth Valley in Carmarthenshire. It sits a few miles north of Llanelli, and the charity has been developing the site since 1999. The railway marked its post-pandemic reopening with a trio of former Pacer trains. The units came to Cynheidre from Transport for Wales after three decades in service.

As well as the 37 named men, the memorial honours the many miners whose lives were cut short by illness after years working underground.

Relatives of the men named on the memorial are being asked to get in touch with the railway before the unveiling, so arrangements can be made for them to attend the ceremony.

Alongside it, the railway will officially open its new heritage woodland, telling the story of the pit and the generations who worked there through new information boards.

At its heart are the miners’ own voices. Around 20 former Cynheidre workers have been interviewed about their lives at the colliery, and the recordings will form a permanent part of the site.

Visitors will hear those memories, in the men’s own words, as they walk the woodland.

The project was backed by an £85,000 grant from the Welsh Government and the Heritage Lottery through the Woodland Investment Grant.

Mark Thomas, chair of the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway, said: “We are incredibly proud to finally be unveiling this permanent memorial.”

“Cynheidre has a proud mining history and, as a charity located on part of the former colliery site, we feel a real responsibility to make sure that history and the stories of the people who worked here are preserved for future generations,” he said.

He added: “We hope that as many people as possible will join us from 12pm on Sunday 23rd August to see the memorial, explore the woodland and help us mark what will be a very special day for Cynheidre.”

Sunk by the National Coal Board in the 1950s as one of west Wales’s anthracite “super pits”, Cynheidre employed more than a thousand men at its height before mining there ended in 1989.

Its darkest day came on 6 April 1971, when six miners were killed and dozens more hurt as gas and fine coal burst into the workings, in what has been described as the worst outburst of its kind in Britain.

The open day runs from 12pm to 4pm, with free entry and free train rides until 3pm, and the memorial, woodland and café all open to visitors.

Relatives wishing to attend the morning unveiling can contact Maria Val Loureda on 07860 188295 or email llanellirailway@gmail.com, with further details of the day to be announced in the coming weeks.