The History of Wales

 

On 1st November 1991 Penallta Colliery near Hengoed was closed. It had been the last deep mine working in the Rhymney Valley.

The mine was sunk in 1905 by Powell Duffryn and by 1908, employed 291 workers. At the peak of production during the 1930s, there were in excess of 3,200 employed at the mine and in 1935 it held the European record for coal wound in a 24-hour period. The mine was nationalised in 1947 but by the 1970s, coal was becoming increasingly more difficult to access and the colliery's workforce had reduced to 700.

In 1996 it was decided to redevelop the site of the former colliery by building Penallta Country Park. The park includes a bridle path, cycle tracks, a wetlands area with boardwalks, peaceful woodland trails, lakes and open grassland. It also features 'Sultan' a 200 metre long figurative earth sculpture of a pit pony. The artwork was created by Mike Petts using 60,000 tons of coal shale waste, covered with living grass and named by local people after one of the last pit ponies from the area, which was still living at the time.