Although there are plenty of examples of pre-industrial sites in the RCT area, most of the settlements here owe their existence to industrialisation. As a result of the decline of most industries in the UK, much of RCT now lies impoverished, forgotten and derelict. I intend to document several abandoned sites that stand as reminders of Rhondda Cynon Taf's industrial past.
This Grade 2 listed building is all that remains of the Glamorgan Colliery, once the Rhondda's most profitable pit. It was also the epicentre of the infamous Tonypandy Riots of 1910.
Although it is mostly empty and decaying, it does, rather interestingly, still contain and old bow-trussed travelling crane which is still intact and bearing the name ‘J Booth & Bros Ltd, Engineers Rodney nr Leeds’.
I visited this site in May 2018 and you can find my report of the building here: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/tonypandy-powerhouse-may-2018.113143/
[A photo inside the Powerhouse, showing the crane]
Although the tin works on this site date back to the late 18th century, the buildings that remain were built in the 1830s, when the site was rebuilt by William Crawshay.
Nowadays the site is mostly in ruins and more modern brick walls, along with the occasional piece of fencing, indicates an ongoing war between the owners and people trying to gain access to the entirety of the site. The part of the Tin Works complex that I managed to photograph can be accessed via an old tunnel at the back of the site. I visited the site in June 2018.
I don't really know anything of the history of these derelict factory units in Treorchy, a small former mining town in the Rhondda Valley. Much the same as the Tin Works in Treforest, bricked up entrances and bent sheet metal indicates and ongoing battle over access to the inside of the buildings. I visited this site in July 2018.
Site One: Tonypandy Powerhouse
This Grade 2 listed building is all that remains of the Glamorgan Colliery, once the Rhondda's most profitable pit. It was also the epicentre of the infamous Tonypandy Riots of 1910.
Although it is mostly empty and decaying, it does, rather interestingly, still contain and old bow-trussed travelling crane which is still intact and bearing the name ‘J Booth & Bros Ltd, Engineers Rodney nr Leeds’.
I visited this site in May 2018 and you can find my report of the building here: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/tonypandy-powerhouse-may-2018.113143/
[A photo inside the Powerhouse, showing the crane]
Site Two: Treforest Tin Works
Although the tin works on this site date back to the late 18th century, the buildings that remain were built in the 1830s, when the site was rebuilt by William Crawshay.
Nowadays the site is mostly in ruins and more modern brick walls, along with the occasional piece of fencing, indicates an ongoing war between the owners and people trying to gain access to the entirety of the site. The part of the Tin Works complex that I managed to photograph can be accessed via an old tunnel at the back of the site. I visited the site in June 2018.
Site Three: EMI Factories, Treorchy
I don't really know anything of the history of these derelict factory units in Treorchy, a small former mining town in the Rhondda Valley. Much the same as the Tin Works in Treforest, bricked up entrances and bent sheet metal indicates and ongoing battle over access to the inside of the buildings. I visited this site in July 2018.
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