Situated near Hengoed, in 1905 Powell Duffryn began the sinking of Penallta colliery, and had employed 291 men by 1908.

[1] In 1947, the mine was nationalised as part of the governments post-World War II regeneration scheme, and became owned by the National Coal Board.

[2] The colliery formed a rugby union club in 1952 called Penallta RFC, and in 1954 produced 500,000 tonnes of coal.

The colliery survived the 1984–1985 miners' strike, and made impressive gains in production after the return to work.

[3] In 1996, a vision for Penallta was put forward by Caerphilly County Borough Council, in partnership with Groundwork Wales and various local community, statutory and voluntary agencies.