The opening ceremony at Nantgarw Coke Ovens in 1951. The stands have been erected West of the coke wharf. In the background, left, the headgear of Nantgarw Colliery can be seen.
The structure to the right is the gas producer plant. The coke oven's main function was to produce gas for sale. The ovens were not underfired by this (valuable) gas but by 'producer gas' which was made by processing coke to provide a low calorific value gas to run the ovens themselves. At this time there were 48 ovens, later incresed to 72.