New Exhibit on track for Mining Museum

Visitors to Cefn Coed Colliery Museum can now enjoy a new working exhibit with the attraction now open for Summer.

The museum’s smaller 1978 Hunslet Locomotive has recently been restored to full working order and can be seen running on its own personal stretch of track at the museum. This is all thanks to the work of the Museum’s volunteers.

During its working period, Cefn Coed was known to be one of the deepest mines in the world and known to be one of the most dangerous in Wales, earning it the nickname ‘The Slaughterhouse’.

The museum now houses relics from Wales’ mining history and attractions have been given a lick of paint and spring clean lately thanks to donations brought in by the Friends of Cefn Coed Colliery Museum.

Stars of the museum are the refurbished and electrically driven winding wheel, Hunslet steam locomotive and the Neath gas tram, one of the only surviving examples of its kind.

The museum also offers a full size replica mine for visitors to walk through and a number of old colliery buildings housing some of its original equipment and artefacts from across the coalfields of Wales, with a number of relics that have been hidden for years set to be unveiled to the public in the coming months.

Neath Port Talbot Council Leader, Ali Thomas OBE said: “It’s fantastic to see the local community coming together to ensure that the museum has something to offer everyone.

“We have a rich mining heritage in Neath Port Talbot and it is not something that should be forgotten. The museum will act as a lasting reminder to what our ancestors gave up many years ago, and will be a useful tool for teaching the younger generations our history.”

The museum is open May to September, 6 days a week 10:30am to 5pm and is closed on a Wednesday with free entry