C O N T E X T 1 0 9 : M A Y 2 0 0 9 13 Graham Levins Rediscovering Pont Ceunant generating station The generating station at Pont Ceunant, built in 1899, provided the Frongoch Mine with electricity, replacing the water wheels and steam engines that had powered it. Frongoch was one of the largest and most productive mines in Ceredigion.The mine’s first lease was granted by Lord Lisburne to Philip Pugh in 1759. The mine was worked for the next 150 years by several of the leading companies and individuals in Welsh metal mining. In later years, the mine expanded to include the nearby Wemyss and West Frongoch mines. The mine closed in 1903. In 1898 the mine was taken over by a Belgian company. When this company took over the mine, the machinery was powered by steam engines and water wheels. The company decided that modern machinery powered by electricity had to be installed to work the remaining low-grade zinc ores productively. For this purpose a generating station, one of the first in Wales, was constructed a mile west of the mine in Cwm Newyddion. It was designed and built by the young Italian engineer Bernardino Nogara (who later in life became the head of the Vatican Bank). The existing system of reservoirs and watercourses (known as leats) that previously powered the water wheels was reorganised. This involved digging a threemile-long leat from the old Frongoch Pool to the header pond above the generating station, allowing a 400-foot head of water. The water was fed to a Pelton wheel which drove the 2,300 volt AEG alternator. A 360 hp Willans and Robinson six-cylinder steam engine and a Babcock andWilcox boiler were installed to power the alternator during times of drought and frost. The total cost of the project was £11,400 (more than £1.5 million today). The mine failed to run at a profit. Mining ceased in 1902, but the processing mill continued to process material on the surface until 1903, when the company went into liquidation. The equipment from the mine and the generating station was sold for a fraction of its cost by auction. A hundred years later, theWelsh Mines Preservation Trust, was concerned that this historic building had become a local dump for rubbish and white goods. In 2004, European funding enabled Ceredigion County Council to establish its Spirit of the Miners project. Following discussions between the trust and Spirit of the Miners, the council was able to advance an initiative that would clear the dumped material, deter future dumping and give the community a building of local pride. In 2007, with funding from the Spirit of the Miners, the Environment Agency and the landowner HenryWilliams, volunteers from the trust, Ceredigion County Council and Williams and his family cleared the dumped refuse. In addition to clearing the interior of the building, and to discourage future dumping, a decorative grille was designed and installed across its entrance. An interpretation board explained the history of the building. The theme of the grille was to The excavation of the floor of the generating room in progress. In the foreground is the base of the Willans and Robinson steam engine and behind is the base of the Pelton Wheel.
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