Since the demise of the old guard in Merthyr Tydfil Council, things have, on the whole, been quite different for the residents living near the mine. The new brooms in the council are determined to sweep clean, and we're only too happy to stand back and let them carry on.

Although the mining carries on, we are currently experiencing (relative) quiet! It appears that the mining company, Miller-Argent, have suddenly realised their social responsibilities and they're making efforts to limit the noise and dust output from the mining operation.

Obviously the two events above are completely unconnected and coincidental, and Miller-Argent would have implemented these constraints anyway - wouldn't they?

Whatever the reason, and for how long it will last we don't know, but for the moment a semblance of normal life is tentatively creeping back into the local community.

We are all just grateful for small mercies.

The mining operation is now in full spate. The noise is horrendous. We are assailed by this low flying aircraft noise for every waking hour of our day, 7 in the morning until 11 at night. All pleading with the mining operator, Miller-Argent to be sensitive with the work at the extreme ends of the day have been rebuffed with the reply, 'no, it would impact our productivity'.

We can't hide from it, even in the house with all the windows and doors shut, we can hear the constant droning of the machinery. It's now ruling our lives, we have to sleep between 11 pm and 7 am, as this is the only slot allocated to us. We can no longer open the windows or use our garden, and we're now coming into high Summer.

It's been a dry week, and the dust clouds have started to rise from the constant convoy of heavy lorries taking the coal and spoil away to be processed. The water bowsers used to wet the roads have been struggling to make an impact and keep it damped down. It's only May, so this will only get worse. We are dreading the fallout on our homes, but we're extremely worried about it's health impact.

I must have been an extremely bad person in my previous life to deserve this in this one...

For reasons known only to the mining company, last week was a very quiet afair!

There were only small machines working on the side of the mountain facing us, and the noise was quite manageable. It just goes to show how much noise the big mining machinery makes.

The worst of the noise normally hitting us, some of the nearer residents, is from the big Komatsu diggers. Not only do they generate very loud engine noise, but it is  a constant noise. It doean't lift and drop as a car does, it stays at a virtually constant engine speed and noise level for the entire working day (16 Hrs without a break).

For others further into Merthyr, Penydarren for instance it's the noise from the convoy of lorries going up and down the haul roads carrying spoil and coal.

With a 500M buffer zone, these machines would be far enough away from us to cause little problem...but we haven't been granted one of these!

Anyway, nice and quiet (ish), I wonder for how long...?

As the mining operation progresses, the term 'living' is being replaced by 'existing'.

A typical day starts at 7:00 am with the start up of the giant Komatsu diggers which remind me of the walking house in Howls Moving Castle. They crank their engines up to speed and our day begins. A steady convoy of lorries of commensurate size forms, moving up and down the haul roads taking the spoil and coal up over the mountain top to tips, or the Cwmbargoed disposal point. Not much chance of a lay-in again today.

The noise level depends on the exact position of the machinery, but when working low down on the mountainside or when in direct line-of-sight of our house it is like having a helicopter hovering over our estate. An incessant low frequency droning, pulsing noise; it cannot be escaped anywhere in the house. We can't open the windows, and outside the noise is far worse. I dread the Summer months.

This continues unabated throughout the day, evening and night, until the end of their working day at 11:00 pm when we can go to bed and get some sleep. This is assuming that we haven't had a nervous breakdown or gone insane somewhere along the way... A bit tongue-in-cheek, I know, but if you've listened to this noise for 16 Hrs a day, day in day out you do get so tense that sleep is not that easy to come by!

We are luckier than some; we are about 400-500 Metres  from the mine, there are others that are actually only 37 Metres away at its nearest point!!!

This has been going on now since August 2007, but became very bad mid-December 2007.... and they're only just starting.

We had a break because of bad weather at the start of the year, and it brought home to us what we were missing! God help us all, 17 years left to go.