The links between the Betws Washery site and the coal industry go back to 1891. When the Ammanford Colliery Company Ltd opened a new drift where Maesquarre Road joins Pentwyn Road it was called Ammanford No 2 Colliery but know to the miners as "little vein" after the seam it worked. It’s sister Ammanford No 1 or "top works" to the men who worked there was located a short distance across the Pentwyn road and the two collieries shared a small washery built along side Ammanford No2.

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The coal industry in area was dramatically changed by the Anthracite Strike of 1925 which had started in Ammanford during April of that year. The town became the center of a bitter dispute Ammanford No2 was the scene of a riot on July 30th and the so called "Battle of Ammanford" on 4th of August, where 198 miners were arrested 58 of whom were jailed for up to a year. The strike ended shortly after on 24th of August but Ammanford No1 never reopened.

The colliery changed hands a number of times through the years and on the eve of nationalisation in 1947 Ammanford No2 was one of 15 collieries operated by Amalgamated Anthracite Colliery's Ltd. employing 188 men and producing 25,000 tons a year. Following nationalisation the colliery continued production but was now known simply as Ammanford Colliery. The colliery’s coal production peeked in 1956 when the workforce of 399 miners produced 100,470 tons, but by the dawn of the 1970's production figures were declining and the days pre mechanised mining were numbered. Ammanford Colliery was one of the last NCB collieries in South Wales to employ the long wall method where coal was won by hand with mandril and shovel.

In 1974 British Coal was granted planning permission to develop a new modern drift on the old site of Ammanford No1. Developed to work the 'Red Vein' seam at a greater depth than the previous operation. The new mine was ultra-Modern using a semi-automatic cutting machines at the coal face, power loading machines with nucleonic steering devices, television monitoring and computer controlled conveyors it cost £18 Million to develop and left Ammanford Colliery just across the road looking very dated Ammanford was finally closed in 1976 two years before the new Betws Drift opened.

Following closure the colliery the site was partially cleared and modern washery facility to serve Betws Drift was constructed there with access to old colliery's railway sidings. The two sites were linked by an underground conveyor system which ran under Pentwyn Road using an old road way which previously linked Ammanford Colliery to the 'Red Vein' seam. Fortunately a number of buildings from the original Colliery survived and still exist today the colliery offices and workshops are home to a number of small businesses and the bathhouse is used as a workshop by a fabricators.

The new washery continued to process the coal won at Betws Drift until 1993 when British Coal announced the colliery would be closed. A year later both the colliery and washery reopened following a successful management buyout as the Betws Anthracite Company Ltd. In the years following privatisation an innovate new use was found for the coal produced when anthracite on the 'peacock' seam was found to possess an extraordinarily high carbon content it was almost pure carbon. It was developed it to a product known as 'puracite' which could be used in a water filtration system to treat drinkable water and to process waste water and effluent. The product consisted of 90% carbon granules which were washed dried then precisely sized to the individual customers needs. In 1998 a new facility was built at the washery to deal with the production of puracite. However although the colliery could produce state of the art products production techniques had reverted back to mining by hand and over the years the coal produced and the number of men employed declined. A government grant of £2.8 million in 2001 intended to secure the future of the mine failed and the washery closed in 2003 when production stopped at Betws drift. One of the last orders filled was for puracite granules used in filters of the swimming pools at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Four years later the washery still stands for the time being. Surrounded by the waste tips from over a centaury of mining it has been granted a reprieve from demolition while contractors work to clear the tips and begin the ground works for redevelopment. In the coming months a major road project will divide the site in two and housing developments will begin.