Rhondda is located to the west of Boolaroo and to the south of Holmesville and "was once a thriving town which serviced the workers of Rhondda Colliery".
According to a Newcastle Herald article from 1949, the area was named Rhondda by Welsh migrants "in memory of a similar setting of the famous South Wales coalfield of Rhondda Valley".
Coal was first mined in the area in 1900 when Mr James Donaldson prospected for coal in a tunnel under his property, and so the Rhondda Colliery was born!
Rhondda Colliery was open until 1970 when a fire destroyed the mine and its operation.
Two of four prominent mines that historically formed the economic basis of West Wallsend were Seaham Colliery No. 1 which operated from around 1891-92 to 1932 and Seaham Colliery No. 2 which opened in 1905 and closed in 1945.
The village of Seahampton "came into existence when the nearby Seaham No. 1 colliery was opened. Its name was originally Seaham, and evolved to become Seahampton."
The Stockrington No. 1 and Stockrington No. 2 collieries commenced operation during the mid-1920s and mid-1940s respectively. When mechanisation became available in the late 1940s and early 1950s an additional No.3 tunnel was attached to Stockrington No. 2. In around 1952, No. 1 and No. 2 collieries were closed and workers were absorbed at the No. 3 tunnel - eventually known as the new Stockrington No. 2 Colliery.
During the operation of Stockrington Colliery, miners worked closely with beloved pit ponies that were slowly withdrawn as mechanisation increased. The last two pit ponies in the Hunter region retired in the late 1980s and Stockrington No. 2 Colliery ceased operation in 1988.
Mount Sugarloaf Colliery operated from 1949-1978 and "was situated at West Wallsend in the shadow of Sugarloaf mountain".
The population of West Wallsend reached its peak of approximately 6000 residents in the early 1900s when all four mines were operating in the area and families flocked to work in the local coalmines.
* NOTE: Surnames are used as a guide - students may be moved to other sporting houses to balance overall house numbers or be enrolled in the house of an older sibling with a different surname.
