Oakdale Colliery Closure. Last Coal

Oakdale colliery filled it's last coal wagons on the 26th August 1989 - This is the final journey down the Pennar/Halls road branch down through pentwynmawr, abercarn, cwmcarn & risca

[@Jph1602]

Wow!!! As a young lad we used to go to the “coolers” to get goldfish for my dads pond. We came up from cefn forest, up the 100 steps and walk down that line. Absolutely amazing.

[@DaiElsan]

Brings back lots of memories. A life long friend of mine still lives at Rhiw Saint David. 2nd house along from the Oakdale Colliery Entrance.

[@maryhughes3044]

Very emotional &a nostalgic worked in offices there for 18 years, wonderful camaraderie .

[@RelicHuntersWales]

I remember as a kid going down the colliery. My dad would take me down there when he was in work. Crazy to think some of my earliest memories are of sitting in the Winding Room :-(

[@davidcase1286]

My great grandfather worked in that mine and my grandfather was born in Oakdale.

[@geoffadams5537]

Way back early 80s in new Zealand.on the west coast greymouth.over from Christchurch on the train.took trip up local branch line to the coal mine at the end of the line.the train consisted of three carriages a rake of coal wagons a bogie brake van haul up a steep incline. The loco was a DSC bo bo type.rather much like the old Clayton Class 17. If you have ever been to this part of the world you will know just how rugged the west coast is.just so spectacular.i rode in the brake van legs dangling over the side as we inched our way to the summit.and right on cue it rained. It absolutely pissed down. None the less a trip worth taking. Sadly like most of the coal mines on the west coast all gone including the one I was lucky to visit.and the rails were lifted soon after.

[@jackharrison6771]

Great Vid thanks for posting. Like your other on Crumlin Viaduct, it left a lump. Having been a Signalman I have a great affinity with those Coal Communities. I still have my badge from 1984 - NUR, NUM, ASLEF.

[@gow03333]

I was born in Newbridge, we would often play behind halls road and cross the railway running behind the red lion to get to the farm ,now built on by the by pass Pulled the track up only for parts to be reinstated. Ebbw to Cardiff

[@jeremyrichards8327]

I like the Richard Burton style commentary.

[@gregoryjameson8479]

Used to walk the section between Penar Junction and woodfieldside as a short cut between the Rock and Fountain, Blackwood and the White Heart while out drinking in the 1970s !

[@mickd6942]

Lived next to the wath branch of the woodhead route so loaded HAA's is a sound i will always remember, never been to wales but i enjoy watching your videos.

[@StaffsTransport]

sad but beautiful, thanks for posting

[@IKS-Exploration]

amazing thanks for sharing

[@jonnyswalk_7]

Fantastic Documentary

[@djtrainspotter]

Great vids and indeed, most sad. RIP the real world.

[@jackharrison6771]

Good for you Class-37 As it calls through the valleys- "We will NOT go quietly into the night".

[@GSGreen]

More than the last wagons, end of a way of life more like

[@alanpartridge2140]

And the start of a new way of life involving drugs and the dole. Whole generations have known life without proper work

[@alistairkewish651]

Shaft sunk in 1908, closed in 1998, once the largest pit in Gwent, your short film ( owner unspecified) captures the final moments. Track enthusiasts will have noted the flat bottom rail and all mod cons. Looked more like a main line rather than a connecting branch line.I wonder if that same trackwork has by now been lifted and used elsewhere? Time for a bit of research, I think.Cheers,Alistair

[@idwal47]

1989

[@AntFlynn]

Most of that route is now a road

[@johnturner527]

Done my training there.1962.

[@nigelcarter9503]

So sad

[@longyx321]

Coal trucks were full so must have been p.enty in the pit

[@MattMaxson]

There at 21(ish) sec...what are the blasts and smoke popping?

[@SWValleys]

They were detonators.. the railways versions of a firework celebration :)