It was a focal point during the miners' strikes of 1910 and a vital building at the Glamorgan Colliery, but for decades the Powerhouse which stands tall and derelict between Tonypandy and Llwynypia has existed as an empty shell.
Now it's up for auction once more... The Grade-II listed building will go under the hammer, virtually, at the end of March for the guide price of £55,000, which seems a pittance considering the historical and cultural value held in its existence.
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Built in 1905 as the engine house to Glamorgan Colliery, which closed in 1945, the pumphouse, as was, continued in use until 1966.
Back in 2007 there was hope of developing the building, with discussions of creating office space, shops, cafes and even a micro-brewery on site, with the Rhondda Powerhouse Trust set up.
The Trust did won funding towards the project for architectural drawings and a feasibility study, but the plans didn't take off and the Trust was dissolved in January 2019.
The building remains empty to this day.
The Powerhouse is recognised for the role that its employees played in the strikes of 1910, an event which resulted in one of the most brutal uprisings of modern Wales - with then Home Secretary Winston Churchill sending at first the Met Police down to the Rhondda and had troops on standby.
It began on August 1, 1910, when miners who arrived at the Ely Pit, Penygraig, found lockout notices attached to the entrances of the mine. The pit was part of the Cambrian Combine, a business network of mining companies in South Wales formed to regulate prices and wages.
Bidding for the Powerhouse on Colliers Way opens on Monday, March 21 and ends on Wednesday, March 23 and you can find out how to bid at Clive Emson Auctioneers.
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