Following closure, the colliery was demolished very hastily. Some said that this was to prevent any chance of the mine reopening. This is given some weight by the fact that nothing was salvaged from South Pit following the end of the Miners' strike, as testified by several colliers to me (Hunslet locos excepted). It is worth noting that at the time of the strike considerable expenditure had been made in driving new roadways ready for coalface development of the Meadow Vein. Some say £ 3 million of new equipment was abandoned, some put it at £6 million. This will remain one of the myths about the colliery. The result was that the various buildings were demolished, but not removed and now the site has been subsumed by the march of nature. It remains an eyesore and in stark contrast to the former proud location of the Rock Vein and Black Vein Pits.
The future of the site is partly in the hands of Caerphilly County Borough who have inherited a somewhat unsatisfactory situation. The position was explained by Dave Whetter of the Council on the BBC Radio 4 programme, Open Country, broadcast in November 2000. The former British Benzol site is in the ownership of a private American company, but negotiations are taking place with a view to transfer of the land to the Council, who already have the colliery site. The clear up costs are likely to be greater than the value of the land. Once this is done the it is hoped that the site can be developed for housing. The coal tip above the colliery will be removed to the top of Mynydd y Grug and landscaped. This plan is not far-fetched. The colliery site is stable and no mining was permitted within 200 yards of the shafts themselves, which have been filled with boulders and capped.
A visit to the colliery site at present is not an uplifting experience. The only points of reference are the shafts, some tracks and the concrete yard, together with the settling tank and roadway running through the site. Let's hope that work can commence on the site and that there will be some lasting memorial to its former use.
