Editing Pontypridd (section)

===Coal===
The history of Pontypridd is tied to the [[coal]] and [[iron]] industries; before their development Pontypridd was a hamlet of a few farmsteads, with [[Treforest]] initially becoming the main urban settlement in the area. Sited at the junction of three valleys, it became an important location for transporting coal from the Rhondda and iron from [[Merthyr Tydfil]], first by the [[Glamorganshire Canal]], and later by the [[Taff Vale Railway]], to the ports at [[Cardiff]], [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]] and [[Newport, Wales|Newport]]. Its role in coal transport lengthened its railway platform, which is thought to have once been the longest in the world in its heyday.<ref>Huw Williams, 1981. ''Pontypridd: Essays on the History of an Industrial Community''. University College, Department of Extra-Mural Studies.</ref> Pontypridd in the second half of the 19th century was a hive of industry, once nicknamed the "[[Wild West]]".<ref>Lucy Ellis, 2009. ''Tom Jones Close Up''. 0711975493</ref> There were several collieries within the Pontypridd area itself, including:
[[File:Pontypridd Railway Station 1910s.jpg|thumb|right|Tonypandy & Trealaw railway station during an early 1910s coal strike]]
[[File:The Pontypridd Chronicle Jan 15 1881.jpg|thumb|Front page of the earliest surviving copy of the Welsh newspaper ''The Pontypridd Chronicle''; 15 January 1881]]
*[[Albion Colliery|Albion Colliery, Cilfynydd]]
*Bodwenarth Colliery, Pontsionnorton
*Daren Ddu Colliery, Graigwen & Glyncoch
*Dynea Colliery, Rhydyfelen
*Gelli-whion Colliery, Graig
*Great Western/Gyfeillion Colliery, Hopkinstown
*Lan Colliery, Hopkinstown
*Newbridge Colliery, Graig
*Pen-y-rhiw Colliery, Graig
*Pontypridd/Maritime Collieries, Graig & Maesycoed
*Pwllgwaun Colliery/'Dan's Muck Hole', Pwllgwaun
*Red Ash Colliery, Cilfynydd
*Ty-Mawr Colliery, Hopkinstown & Pantygraigwen
*Typica Colliery, Hopkinstown & Pantygraigwen, and
*Victoria Colliery, Maesycoed

As well as deep-mined collieries, there were many coal levels and trial shafts dug into the hillsides overlooking the town from Cilfynydd, Graig, Graigwen and [[Trehafod|Hafod]]. The Albion Colliery in the village of Cilfynydd in 1894 underwent one of the worst explosions in the South Wales coalfield, with the death of 290 colliers (see [[Keir Hardie]]).