Ferndale Collieries

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Allgemeines

Firmenname	Ferndale Collieries
Ortssitz	Ferndale (Wales)
Art des Unternehmens	Kohlebergwerk
Anmerkungen	Auf dem Gelände der Bauernhöfe Rhondda Fechan und Dyffryn Sarfwch. Bestand aus acht Förder- und drei Wetterschächten: Nr. 1 (Blaenllechau), 5, 2 und 4 (diese in Ferndale; von Süd nach Nord), Schacht 3 (in Bodringallt), zuzüglich die (unbenummerten) unteren, mittleren und oberen Wetterschächte. die Schächte 6, 7 und 8 (als eine Einheit betrieben) waren in Tylorstown, zusammen mit Schacht 9 bei Blaenllechau, der 1906/07 niedergebracht wurde. Die Schachtanlage war im Eigentum von "D. Davis & Sons Ltd.", Cardiff. Die Kraftzentrale war bei den Schächten 8 und 9; Größe: 170' x 100' (= 51,85 x 30,50 m), mit zwei 84' (= 52.50 m) hohen Kühltürmen; Baukosten der Zentrale: 150.000 Pfund, geplant von W. H. Patchell aus Westminster
Quellenangaben	http://www.flickr.com; http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/Rhondda/English/Rhondda_020.htm [Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]
Hinweise	Abbildungen aus: http://www.anglesey.info/ferndale-collieries.htm

Unternehmensgeschichte

Zeit	Ereignis
1857	David Davies erwirbt die Bergrechte auf 500 acres Land in Blaenllechau und beginnt mit den Abteufarbeiten
1858	Schacht 8 "Cynllwyn Du" in Tylorstown wird abgeteuft.
1859	Der Schacht 1 wird niedergebracht (auch 1861/62 genannt)
1862	Schacht 1 erreicht die Vier-Fuß-Sohle in einer Tiefe von 278 yards (= 254 m). - Er wird später auf 400 yards (= 366 m) vertieft.
1864	Der Schacht 3, "Bodringallt", wird abgeteuft
08.11.1867	Die offene Flamme einer Grubenlampe führt zu einer Grubenexplosion mit 178 Toten
10.06.1869	Grubenexplosion mit mit 53 Toten
1870	Der Schacht 2 wird abgeteuft
1876	Der Schacht 4 wird abgeteuft
1876	Die Schächte 6 und 7, "Pendrys No. 1", bzw. "Pendrys No. 2", beide in Tylorstown werden abgeteuft.
1888	Frederick Lewis Davis (*1863) wird Leiter des Unternehmens
1889	Der Schacht 5 wird abgeteuft
01.05.1890	Herausgabe des Verzeichnisses der Gesellschaft mit einem Kapital von 450.000 Pfund in 45.000 gewöhnlichen Aktien zu je 10 Pfund. Das Direktorium besteht aus Fred. L. Davis, F. Edwards (um 1908: Sir Francis Edwards, Bart., M.P.), Charles Hull, London; W. W. Joseph, Swansea; Benjamin Lewis, Cardiff; Jules Vasse, Paris und H. L. Warner, London. - Das gewöhnliche Kapital beträgt noch 1908 450.000 Pfund, aber die Gesellschaft hat seither 100.000 Pfund in 6 Prozent in kumulatioven Vorzugsaktine von je 10 Pfund herausgegeben, so daß das gesamte Aktienkapital um 1908 550.000 Pfund beträgt. Mit der ersten Ausgabe des Kapitals von 225.000 Pfund werden auch 5prozentige Schuldverschreibungen heausgegeben, die seither alle eingelöst wurden.
1890	Der Kohlenausstoß liegt unter 1.100.000 tons
1894	Für die Erwerbung des Besitztums in Tylorstown im Jahre 1894 werden Schuldverschreibungen von zusammen 223.000 Pfund herausgegegeben. - Davon werden bis 1908 148.000 Pfund abgezahlt, es verbleiben 75.000 Pfund.
1896	David Davies (oder Davis?), Cardiff, erwirbt die Schächte 8 und 9 in Tylorstown von Alfred Tylor nach der Verschmelzung im Vorjahr
01.01.1896	Eine Explosion auf der Sechs-Fuß-Sohle tötet 57 Bergleute
13.02.1908	Bei einem Unfall auf den Gleisen der Kohlewäsche von Schacht 5 kommt Thomas Chester ums Leben. Er wird von einem Waggon überrollt.
1908	Der Kohlenausstoß liegt annähernd bei 1.750.000 tons im Jahr
1927	Übernahme durch die "Welsh Associated Collieries"
1935	Die "Welsh Associated Collieries" werden ein Teil der "Powell Dyffryn Associated Collieries"
1936	Schließung der Schächte 2, 3, 4, 7 und 8
1959	Schließung von Schacht 1 und 5

Produkte

Produkt	ab	Bem.	bis	Bem.	Kommentar
Steinkohle	1857	Beginn	1859	Ende

Betriebene Dampfmaschinen

Bezeichnung	Bauzeit	Hersteller
Dampfmaschinen		Gebr. Sulzer AG

Maschinelle Ausstattung

Zeit	Objekt	Anz.	Betriebsteil	Hersteller	Kennwert	Wert	[...]	Beschreibung	Verwendung
1908	Dampfkessel	4	Kraftzentrale	The Stirling Boiler Co.	Heizfläche je	578	qm	Wasserrohrkessel, je 6.209 sq.ft. Heizfläche, Dampfleistung je 30.000 lbs/h (= 13,59 t/h), Druck: 180 psi

Allgemeines

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	Vorstand der Gesellschaft
TEXT	Mr. Frederick Lewis Davis has been at the head of the concern since 1888, and Chairman and Managing Director of the Company since its formation in 1890. Mr. Davis was born in 1863, educated at Amersham Hall and Cambridge, taking the degrees of B.A. and LL.B. He subsequently read for the Bar, and was called at the Inner Temple in 1886. Following his call to the Bar, he devoted himself to acquiring a practical knowledge of coal mining, spending two years at the Ferndale Collieries. In 1885 he contested the Rhondda Division of Glamorganshire, challenging in this constituency of miners the miners' own leader, and polling 3000 votes against his successful opponent. In 1903 the Welsh coalowners and the leaders of the miners agreed on the abolition of the Sliding Scale which had controlled the wages in the coal field since 1875, and its replacement by a Board of Conciliation, consisting of two Presidents and a number of representatives of the employers and the employed. At the unanimous request of the Coalowners, Mr. Davis agreed to act as their President on the Board, a position which he has since held with brilliant success and the appreciation of both sides. Amongst other offices Mr. Davis has acted as High Sheriff of the County of Glamorgan, is a Member of the Royal Commission now sitting on Accidents in Mines, and is a Director of the Barry Railway Company and of the Vale of Glamorgan Railway Company. Chairman of the Coalowners' Representatives on the Conciliation Board, whose decisions control the well-being of three counties ; head of one of the greatest of our Colliery undertakings, and Director of two of our leading railway and dock undertakings, with the advantages gained from his early training developed and broadened by twenty years of experience in the control of men, the movements of commerce, and the handling of finance, Mr. Frederick Lewis Davis stands to-day in the first rank of the country's " captains of industry." Mr. Miles Leonard Davis is also a grandson of David Davis Blaengwawr, the founder of Ferndale. Mr. M. L. Davis was trained as an engineer, and has done practical work both in mining and in civil engineering, his experience in the latter capacity including four and a half years on the construction of the Barry Railway and Docks. Monsieur Jules Vasse for years represented " Ferndale " as Continental Agent. He retired from active business some years ago, but still brings to the Company's service the benefit of his long experience, and takes the keenest interest in its success. Mr. H. L. Warner was connected with the property some years before its conversion into a limited company. He devotes himself with conspicuous thoroughness and ability to his work as a Director of the Company, and has the advantage of a close and detailed knowledge of every section of the undertaking. Mr. J. Bell White was called to the Bar in 1893 (Inner Temple and South Wales Circuit), and although not now practising, retains his connection with the legal profession as Editor of the Law Magazine and Review, the oldest quarterly journal of jurisprudence, and is much interested in international law (Member of Council International Law Association). A sailor by profession, he has served both in the Royal Navy and merchant service (Commander in the Reserve and a Younger Brother of the Trinity House). He still takes a keen interest in nautical matters, and is an Associate of the Institution of Naval Architects, a Member of Council Navy Records Society, and a life member (and sometime Corresponding Member of Council) of the Royal United Service Institution. He has for a number of years taken practical and active participation in mining, both in this country and abroad (Associate Member South Wales Institute of Engineers), and has recently acquired an interest in the china clay trade, being Chairman of the North Cornwall China Clay Company (1908). His wife is a daughter of the late David Davis, of Maes-y-fiynon.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	Bergwerke
TEXT	Of the five Ferndale groups of Collieries, that which embraces the Nos. 8 and 9 Pits may be described. These pits are sunk to the 9-feet seam, a depth of 512 feet. In reaching this depth they intersect the 2-feet-9-in., the 4-feet, and the 6-feet seams, the bulk of the output now coming from the 4-feet and 6-feet. The ventilation is by an electrically driven Sirocco fan. Duplicate motors have been erected, driving by ropes on to each end of the fan shaft, each capable of producing the 300,000 cubic feet of air per minute required for full ventilation of these collieries. This arrangement of keeping one set as a standby has proved of great value, avoiding the risks of delay and the serious resultant loss of any interference with the ventilation. A carefully designed system of watering the roadways and freeing the atmosphere underground of coal dust is in operation, consisting of pipes running throughout, with jets fitted at intervals of about 40 yards. The extent of this installation can be gauged from the fact that the pipes laid for this purpose throughout all the Ferndale Pits cover a distance of 33 miles. Electric incandescent lamps light the bottom of the pit, and in the underground roads and workings " Henry Davies " safety lamps are used, the patentee being an Engineer in the employ of the Company. The seams are worked on the Longwall system. As the coal is loaded at the face, the trams are taken by horses or small compressed-air haulage engines to the main roads. Over the main roads the trams are hauled to the pit bottom by means of electrically driven haulage engines of 200 horse-power. These convey the trams in some cases over a mile in distance at a uniform rate of 6 miles per hour. As the trams reach the pit bottom, they are loaded into the cages and raised to the surface, the time allowed for removing the empty trams, substituting the laden trams, and raising the cage 512 yards to the surface being 45 seconds.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	elektrische Fördermaschine
TEXT	The winding plant of the No. 9 Pit is electric, and is the first electric winding machinery of any size to be operated in the South Wales Coalfield. It was supplied by the Lahmeyer Electrical Co., and is worked on what is known as the Ilgner System, consisting of a 16-feet parallel drum coupled to two direct current motors mounted on either side, each giving a maximum output of 1,250 horse-power. The necessary continuous current for driving the winder motors is obtained through a large Ilgner Motor Generator, consisting of a three-phase 2,200 volt motor (750 horse-power) driven direct from the power station supply. A continuous current generator is fitted of sufficient capacity to supply the winding motors with current corresponding to their maximum output, and also a large cast steel flywheel, weighing approximately 30 tons, coupled on the same shaft. The object of the flywheel is to supply the necessary power to the continuous current Generator in excess of that supplied by the three-phase motor in order to generate sufficient power for the winder-motors during the early part of the wind, when the load is very heavy. The flywheel, when running at its full speed of 500 revolutions per minute, contains enormous energy, which it gives out when required for short periods. This has the effect of equalizing the load taken from the power station. The size of the flywheel is 13 feet diameter, and 3 feet wide on rim. The pit is fitted with a balance rope, and the electric winder is capable of raising 1,800 tons in a nine-hour shift from the depth of 512 yards.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	Förderung
TEXT	As the cage reaches the surface the loaded trams run on to a travelling chain, which automatically conveys them to the screening house. There each tram in turn is passed into a tippler, which, slowly revolving, transfers the coal on to the bars of an iron screen. This screen consists of iron bars l in. apart, sloped at an angle which allows the large coal to gravitate to the bottom, the small falling between the bars. At the bottom of the screen the large coal reaches a travelling belt. As this moves, carrying the coal a distance of 60 feet, the latter runs the gauntlet of a number of men who extract anything in the shape of dirt or foreign matter. At the end of this journey the coal, cleaned and free of small, is deposited into a railway wagon, into which the delivery end of the travelling belt is lowered, so as to prevent breakage. As each wagon receives its complement of 10 tons of coal, it is marshalled into one of the colliery sidings, ready for transference to the docks at Cardiff, Penarth, or Barry, on its way to consumers in one or other parts of the world. The whole process from the time the loaded tram reaches the main road, until the coal lies in the railway wagon, is operated electrically. Electric fans and pumps keep the underground workings free of foul air and of water. Electric haulage engines draw the trams through the underground roads. An electric winder carries them at the rate of a mile a minute to the surface, where electrically operated creepers, tipplers, and cleaning belts complete the conversion of the natural deposit into the marketable product.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	Betriebsleiter
TEXT	Mr. David Hannah has spent his life in the Welsh mining district. His first training as a Mining Engineer was secured at the Powell Duffryn Collieries. After spending seven years with that Company, he received an appointment under the Ocean Coal Co., later acting as Surveyor for the whole of the Ocean Mines. From that post he was appointed Under Manager of the Ocean Eastern Collieries, which he resigned in 1889 to take up the position of Assistant to Mr. David Evans, the General Manager of the Ferndale Collieries. On the death of his chief about a year later, Mr. Hannah was entrusted with the general management of the whole of the Collieries. The success with which, over the long intervening period, he has worked for the important interests entrusted to him is evidenced in the comparative immunity from accidents, and disputes with the men, and the great development of the undertaking which have since 1890 been special features in the conduct of D. Davis & Sons. In colliery disasters in the coalfield Mr. Hannah is always amongst the first to lend aid and to risk his life in efforts at rescue. He takes an active interest in the well-being of the thousands of men working in the Ferndale Collieries, and in those dependent on them. Mr. Hannah's chief assistant in the management of the Collieries is Mr. F. Llewellin Jacob, who has had nearly twenty years' experience in the South Wales Coalfield.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	Wagenreparaturwerkstätte
TEXT	A number of the leading Welsh Colliery Companies repair their wagons in their own shops, but D. Davis & Sons have gone a step further, and in addition to doing their repairs they build their railway wagons. For this purpose a fine works has been erected at Ferndale, equipped with the best machinery, run by electrical power drawn from the Company's central power station. The main building of the wagon works is 240 feet by 65 feet, with a height of 22 feet. Railway lines run the whole length of the building. The machinery includes electric hammers, drills, planes, and saws, for dealing with the timber, iron, and steel used in wagon construction. The shop is capable of turning out ten new wagons per week, in addition to doing the repairing work of the Company. In an adjoining building the wagons are painted. A further extension is now completing, in which the steel trams used underground will also be built. This department is in charge of Mr. J. S. Rose.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	elektrische Zentrale
TEXT	Always advancing, the Directors and officials of D. Davis & Sons, Limited, have during the past three years practically re-powered the whole of their collieries. The general scheme on which this has been carried out consists of a power station at the south-eastern end of the property, producing electrical power equivalent to 7,500 horse power. From the central station the power is distributed by overhead cables to the various pits, where at sub-stations it is reduced to a suitable voltage for the various motors. From this main source the energy is drawn to work pumps, fans surface and underground haulage, winding engines, and screens. Already the steam engine has been largely replaced by the electric motor, and in a few years nearly all the mechanical work of the Ferndale Collieries will be done by electricity. The main power station is a brick building constructed on a steel frame, which sustains the whole weight of the roof and upper floors. The interior, with walls of glazed white bricks and windows in the roof and sides, is splendidly lighted. A travelling electric crane, with a lifting power of 30 tons, is fitted overhead, to cover the whole length of the building. The necessary steam is provided by 4 water-tube boilers made by the Stirling Boiler Co., each having 6,209 sq. ft. of heating surface. Each boiler is provided with underfeed mechanical stokers and a steam superheater of the McPhail type, and is capable of evaporating 30,000 Ibs. of water per hour at a pressure of 180 Ibs. per square inch. The generating plant consists of 3 cross compound horizontal engines, made by Messrs. Sulzer Bros., each of which is capable of giving 2,500 brake-horse-power at normal load. The generators are of the fly-wheel type, manufactured by the Lahmeyer Electrical Co. The energy is 2,200 volts, 3-phase at 25 cycles. The electric current is taken from the generators to the main switchboard, which is situated at the south end of the building. The operating platform is occupied by a series of desks, from which the main generators are controlled, and switch pillars controlling the feeders. These desks and pillars merely carry switch handles and low-tension instruments. The actual switches themselves are enclosed on a lower storey. This has the advantage of giving ample room for the disposition of the high-tension gear in a chamber which need only be visited for the purposes of inspection, and leaves the switchboard operators free to attend to their duties on a platform which is safer even than a switchboard of an ordinary low-tension station. - The whole of the electrical equipment has been carried out by Mr. William Henry Patchell, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.E.E., in conjunction with Mr. David Hannah and the other officials of the Company. Mr. Patchell, who is also a mechanical engineer of the highest standing, is a leading authority on electricity, having sat on Government Commissions on the Use of Electricity in Mines and on British Electrical Standards, and acted as Vice -President of the Institution of British Electrical Engineers. He has had thirty years' practical experience, during which he has carried out in London, in the provinces, and abroad, some of the largest electrical schemes in the world, one of which represented over a million of capital, and included 200 miles of mains. In 1906 Mr. Patchell started in practice as a Consulting Engineer, and is now in charge of a number of electrical equipments, particularly in mines.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]

ZEIT	1908
THEMA	kaufmännische Leitung
TEXT	The marketing of the coal is in the hands of the Joint Commercial Managers, Mr. E. Digby Holdaway, and Mr. John Davies. Mr. Edward Digby Holdaway commenced his business career and joined the service of D. Davis and Sons at their Cardiff office in 1866. Steadily moving upward, in 1883 he became Cashier to the Company. This post he held until 1895, when on the retirement of Mr. Benjamin Lewis, he was appointed to his present position. His confrere, Mr. John Davies, commenced his long connection with the Welsh coal trade in 1864, when he entered the shipping offices at Cardiff of the Dunraven Collieries, then owned by Mr. Thomas Joseph. Mr. Davies' connection with these collieries lasted for a quarter of a century. In 1890 Mr. Davies commenced business as a coal exporter. This he continued until 1895, when, on the invitation of the Directors of D. Davis & Sons, he accepted the position of Joint Commercial Manager of their Company. To find a regular outlet for the immense production of the Ferndale Collieries, to secure the best prices, and to adjust any difficulties arising with customers, demand exceptional energy, foresight, and tact. These qualities, in combination with an absolute straightforwardness and integrity in all their dealings, have been the cause of the respect and esteem in which Mr. Holdaway and Mr. John Davies are held on the Cardiff Exchange, and by all interested in the purchase and shipment of "Ferndale." Amongst other officials at the Cardiff offices are Mr. J. Y. Strawson, the Cashier, Mr. E. C. Herman, who has charge of the Shipping and Traffic Department, and Mr. Eustace Richards and Mr. J. L. Williams, the Accountants to the Company. The London Manager is Mr. Robert Smith. Mr. Smith (died ca. 1908) was appointed Continental Agent of the Company in 1899, with headquarters in Paris. In 1903, whilst still retaining the Continental Agency, he was made Manager of the London Office ; and in both positions has proved himself of the greatest value in extension of markets and the development of the commercial side of the Company's business.
QUELLE	[Davies: The South Wales coal annual for 1908]