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Treorchy treacle mine opens to the public for the first time

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One of the world’s best kept secrets – the oldest treacle mine still in existence – will be opening its doors to the public in the heart of the South Wales Valleys for the first time today.

Treorchy Treacle mine opened in 1921 after coal miners found a deep seam of treacle within the mountains. It was decided at the time not to publicly disclose any information while they mined the treacle and sent samples off for testing.

When the samples came back as high-quality treacle, a meeting was formed with local council members and they decided that if it was to be known that there was a treacle mine in Treorchy children might try to enter the mine to steal the treacle. They therefore decided to keep the mine a secret. And that is the way it has been up until recently. The secret has been passed down through the generations of treacle miners.

But the amount of treacle in the mine has been getting less and less over the years and the cost of treacle has plummeted. It was decided that it was time to tell the world about the mine and open it up to the public. They are hoping it will become an attraction for families and school outings.

One of the miners told WalesonCraic:

“It’s going to be a sort of cross between Dan Yr Ogof caves and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We’ll give everyone a teaspoon before they enter and they can scrape treacle off the walls – there’s nothing like fresh treacle.”

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