Place:Aberbargoed, Monmouthshire, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

Aberbargoed was a parish in Monmouthshire, Wales until the local government changes of 1974 and 1996.

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Aberbargoed (Welsh: Aberbargod) is now a small town in the Welsh County Borough of Caerphilly, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Wales.

Coal mining operations in Bargoed Colliery started in 1897 when the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company started to sink the shaft. In 1901, the "Ras Las" nine-foot seam was discovered at a depth of 625 yards. The north and south shafts were completed. In November 1903, the first four trams of coal were raised.

By 1910, the pit was employing 1,943 miners and was the largest coal mine in the Rhymney Valley. On 10 December 1908, it broke the world record for production when a ten-hour shift produced 3,562 tons of coal. It further broke its own record on 23 April 1909 when 4,020 tons were raised in a ten-hour shift.

Bargoed Colliery closed on 4 June 1977. By this time, only 360 men were employed there.

The population of Pont Aberbargoed was 351 in the census of 1851. Aberbargoed reached a peak of 5,157 in 1961, and had dropped to 3,882 according to the 1991 Census. In 1921 Bargoed had a population of 17,901, but only 9,184 in 1991.

The coal-mining waste tip that lay between Bargoed and Aberbargoed once towered to a height of 400 feet in the 1970s. The local school had a "Plant a tree in '73" campaign in an attempt to make it more pleasurable on the eye. The tip has now been levelled and the area has been reclaimed with walkways. The colliery has gone and is now home to an Ambulance Station and other small industries.

There are also developments with a new retail outlet in the area where the tip once stood.

The large tip at Bedwellty is still there, but has been grassed over and now looks much like the surrounding countryside.

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