Историческая угольная шахта Tower: от добычи до рекультивации и будущего развития.

Historic Welsh coal mine active until 2008

Tower Colliery (Welsh: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was located near the villages of Hirwaun and Rhigos, north of the town of Aberdare in the Cynon Valley of South Wales.

Up to 14 coal seams had been worked at Tower Colliery during its history, and the neighbouring mines within the lease area of Tower, which was 14.8 km in circumference to create an area of 221.3 hectares. The seams produced good quality coking coal, which was washed onsite at a coal washing plant built in the mid 1980s, after extraction through the hillside on a conveyor belt. the four faces worked in the western section of the lease were considered uneconomic by British Coal. As the worked seam reduced in capacity, the management team considered three possibilities to extend the length of mine production: The colliery was, until its closure, one of the largest employers in the Cynon Valley. Machinery from Tower was used to boost production at the nearby Aberpergwm Colliery, a smaller drift mine closed by the National Coal Board in 1985 but reopened by a private concern in the mid 1990s.

The management announced at closure that one of the possibilities of creating additional short term value was through open cast mining extraction of the residual 6  million tonnes of anthracite. In August 2010, the company filed a planning application for the extraction by open cast mining of coal to a depth of , on a section of the former coal washery site. Coal would then be transported to Aberthaw Power Station by train. In 2012 Tower Regeneration Ltd, a joint venture partnership between Tower Colliery Ltd and Hargreaves Services plc was formed. The partnership company received planning permission that year to allow opencast coal extraction on what were termed the surface workings of the former colliery site, on the pre condition that the site would be subject to land remediation and reclamation, followed by land restoration of the entire Tower Colliery site. The land reclamation works includes: removal of structures; removal of residual contamination; re profiling of colliery spoil tips; removal of coal workings and mine entries; and provision of surface drainage. The project will create a sloping landform to reproduce semi natural habitats on the site, and hence prepare the area ground for future mixed use development.

The shareholders are still debating the future of the site, which they eventually wish to have developed to leave a legacy for the area which provides employment. Eventually there are plans to develop the site, with combinations of housing, industrial estate, industrial heritage museum or tourism resort being debated with several potential partners.