1830s exploration on Kilvey.Geologist Sir #WilliamLogan mapped the area to search out coal seams,seen as of national importance in the 1830s. Here's an extract from Logan's first map of #Swansea.The coal seams of the Hill were vital knowledge.We still have one of the rock exposures he studied to decide the position of the coal.There were no trees left so Logan could wander and search for coal and rock outcrops.Logan was the first to understand our coal seams. #KilveyHistory #GeologyHistory

This is Swansea coal from Kilvey Hill.Picked this up in the vicinity of the Swansea 2ft Seam.I was lucky to see coal deposits in the hole left after a Larch had blown down. Remarkable to see coal like this around Swansea nowadays.It looks like good quality bituminous coal. Close up you can see the bands of fusain, durain and vitrain as identified by expert palaeobotanist #MarieStopes in early 1900s.In the enlargement you can see the glassy layers. #KilveyHistory, #SwanseaHistory #GeologyHistory

Likely the most important Notable Tree in the City and County of Swansea. I have added it to the #WoodlandTrust #AncientTreeInventory.The biggest Monterey of about twenty that survive from planting in 1970.One of the pioneer trees planted on the toxic slag tips as part of cleanup and regeneration of the area in the 1960s.An important survivor of the incredible efforts made by the Council and University College Swansea as part of the Lower Swansea Valley Project. #KilveyHistory #LandscapeHistory

Finally found a better copy of a c.1744 drawing of Kilvey Hill from George Grant Francis' 1880 book on #Swansea'sCopperIndustry.Although many look at the buildings of the Copperworks, I use it to show the problems the pollution caused.This extract shows the valley of Nant Llwynheiernin, and the old cornmill (destroyed in the early 1800s). You can see a large dead tree near the mill, killed by coppersmoke. In the foreground riverside meadows are being covered by copper waste tips #KilveyHistory

#KilveyHill, Swansea has a thousand year history of coal mining.Swansea was a coal town,even the Romans and Vikings would have burnt local coal.This mine on the Hill shut down in the1700s.It was on the Swansea 2ft Seam.The exposures can still be seen and the entrance to the tunnel is in the centre.The rocks show destructive effects of centuries of copper smoke and sulphuric acid. Famous geologist #WilliamLogan would have visited this site in the 1830s to map our Welsh coalfields.#KilveyHistory