Andrew Buchan

The name of Andrew Buchan is synonymous with brewing in Rhymney and for almost all of the Brewery’s 140 years in existence it bore the name of its founder.

Buchan’s first appearance in Rhymney was in the early 1820s where he worked as a carpenter in the Maerdy and Abertysswg Farms.

Andrew Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland. It is said that he lived in Dumbarton before moving to wales to make his living.

Following his spell as a carpenter, Buchan, who was also a qualified mechanical engineer, was chosen in 1826 by the Rhymney Iron Company to divert the course of the Rhymney river in order to expand the Bute Ironworks.

The Rhymney Iron Company had taken over Carno Shop which was previously a private concern owned by by a Mr Edwards and in 1835, on the death of its first manager, Andrew Buchan was appointed his successor.

The new Lawn Company Shop, opposite the railway station, was opened by the Rhymney Iron Company in 1837 and Buchan, then aged 50, was chosen to manage it. He continued with the Truck system there, whereby goods supplied to employees were paid for by deductions from wages and some respects, it proved beneficial to certain families who were subject to it. The ranks of the workers of the Company were often recruited from wandering labourers who would enter the shop in a destitute condition. No one knew them; no one could give them credit and they could not exist until their pay arrived.