Spotted this from the motorway coming out of Port Talbot and had to go back for a look.
The history is far from clear, but it seems likely that it was established after 1850 to feed the iron and steel works nearby where it was added to the iron ore before entering the blast furnace in order to separate off the slag. There is very little on the internet about this, and a Google search of the name reveals almost nothing. The operator on closing is not known, although bags for Lafarge Blue Circle Cement were found on site which could place closure at around 2001-2.
A car was parked outside but I'd come too far to turn away, so I walked up the road to the quarry not knowing what to expect - hopefully it was just some dog walkers. I turned the corner into the yard and froze as I heard voices from the nearest building. Steeling myself for a hurried apology or a quick dash back to the car I walked on and saw no fewer than five burly twenty-something men emerging from the shed. Fortunately a brief exchange established that they weren't in fact going to beat me senseless and/or rob me but had come to doss around the old limeworks and climb the tower (which apparently counts as entertainment in the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot) they seemed fairly jolly, but even so I didn't feel like staying any longer than necessary.
The works shed was a mess of rusty steel and contained among other things a flatbed truck, a Ferguson tractor and an unidentified saloon car.
A pair of tunnel kilns - I'd venture that these might have been used for brickmaking or limestone drying as this type of kiln is not normally used for limeburning.
Inside a kiln
An almost buried battery of flare kilns. I only noticed this after standing on top, just feet from the unguarded shafts, oops.
Digger
Limestone in
Switchgear
Pulveriser
Works production end
Conveyors
Conveyor
Atkinson diesel conveyor motor
Rotary kiln
Rotary kiln
To give an idea of scale (I am 6' 1")
Rotary kiln
Thanks for reading.
The history is far from clear, but it seems likely that it was established after 1850 to feed the iron and steel works nearby where it was added to the iron ore before entering the blast furnace in order to separate off the slag. There is very little on the internet about this, and a Google search of the name reveals almost nothing. The operator on closing is not known, although bags for Lafarge Blue Circle Cement were found on site which could place closure at around 2001-2.
A car was parked outside but I'd come too far to turn away, so I walked up the road to the quarry not knowing what to expect - hopefully it was just some dog walkers. I turned the corner into the yard and froze as I heard voices from the nearest building. Steeling myself for a hurried apology or a quick dash back to the car I walked on and saw no fewer than five burly twenty-something men emerging from the shed. Fortunately a brief exchange established that they weren't in fact going to beat me senseless and/or rob me but had come to doss around the old limeworks and climb the tower (which apparently counts as entertainment in the County Borough of Neath Port Talbot) they seemed fairly jolly, but even so I didn't feel like staying any longer than necessary.
The works shed was a mess of rusty steel and contained among other things a flatbed truck, a Ferguson tractor and an unidentified saloon car.
A pair of tunnel kilns - I'd venture that these might have been used for brickmaking or limestone drying as this type of kiln is not normally used for limeburning.
Inside a kiln
An almost buried battery of flare kilns. I only noticed this after standing on top, just feet from the unguarded shafts, oops.
Digger
Limestone in
Switchgear
Pulveriser
Works production end
Conveyors
Conveyor
Atkinson diesel conveyor motor
Rotary kiln
Rotary kiln
To give an idea of scale (I am 6' 1")
Rotary kiln
Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
