Lancashire, 22nd March 1962. Report number Cmnd 1846. 19 dead & 13 injured.

the casualties resulted from an explosion which occurred at about 9.45 a.m. in the No. 2 District of the Union Seam. Although coal dust played some part, the explosion was predominantly one of firedamp and affected about 680 yards of roadway and face. The evidence suggests that the explosion originated either in the return gate stable, as a result of shotfiring, or at a point in the return gate between 180 to 280 yards outbye of the face ripping, from a flash produced by friction involving metallic foil (a thermite reaction).

The colliery has three shafts: No. 3, the downcast, used for winding men, coal and materials; No. 4, the upcast, used for winding men only; No. 2 was used for pumping only but, although it was downcasting, it did not contribute to the ventilation of the mine workings. No. 4 shaft was equipped with an electrically driven exhausting fan producing 112,000 cubic feet of air per minute at 4.3 inches of water gauge. Following its completion in January, 1962, a surface drift, 1260 yards long and dipping at a gradient of 1 in 4. 16, was brought into use as a second intake

Report by H.S. Stephenson Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Five men lost their lives and one man sustained serious injury as a result of an explosion in the Meltonfield seam workings at Houghton Main Colliery at approximately 6.50 pm on 12 June 1975. The explosion resulted from the ignition of an accumulation of firedamp in B 05's return development heading which had been unventilated for a period of nine days prior to the explosion. The most likely source of ignition was frictional sparking from the impeller and casing of the Carter Howden auxiliary fan.

Houghton Main Colliery is one of 18 producing mines in the Barnsley area of the National Coal Board. It is situated some 5 miles* east of Barnsley. A total of 1361 men are employed; 1191 underground and 170 on the surface.

There are three shafts: No. 1 and No. 2 are downcast and each is 14 feet in diameter; No. 3 shaft is an upcast and is 20 feet in diameter. The shafts were sunk originally to the Barnsley seam and subsequently No. 2 and No. 3 shafts were deepened to the Thorncliffe seam at a depth of 816 yards. The shafts at the colliery are used principally for ventilation, man-winding and materials winding, but some 150 tons of coal per day are raised at No. 2 shaft. In the Beamshaw and the Parkgate seam horizons there are coal transport roadways inter-connecting with the neighbouring Grimethorpe Colliery where the combined output of both collieries is wound to the surface.

Report by J. Carver Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 26th June 1957. Report number Cmnd 279. 6 dead & 14 injured.

The explosion followed immediately after a shot was fired in the back-ripping of the main gate bringing down a large stone which fell on a power cable with the result that the cable was damaged and a flash occurred at the damaged point; that the said flash is the only discoverable cause for an ignition of firedamp; that the only discoverable source of an emission of firedamp was from a break in the roof of the main gate some 73 yards inbye from the flash.

Barnburgh Main colliery is situated at Barnburgh in the County of York, 6¼ miles west of Doncaster. There are two shafts, No. 5, the upcast, being 18 feet in diameter and No. 6, the downcast, 16 feet in diameter. The shafts are sunk to the Parkgate seam, 755 yards deep, intersecting the Newhill seam at 340 yards and the Barnsley seam at 508 yards. Both shafts are regularly used for winding men and material. The mine produces nearly 4,500 tons of coal per day with 2,040 men employed underground and 379 on the surface.

Report by C.W. Scott Divisional HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Denbighshire, 22nd September 1934. Report number Cmd 5358. 265 dead. Of these 255 lay entombed.

The cause of the explosion was never established. The explosion occurred about 2 a.m. on Saturday, the 22nd September, 1934, in the Dennis Section of the mine (see Plan 1) and its effects were limited to that Section, though the concussion was felt at the pit bottom and in the Slant District. Except for a few persons working near the pit bottom and one Deputy and five men who managed to escape from 29's District, all the men who were employed in the Section at the time lost their lives. In addition, three members of a rescue brigade lost their lives the same day in attempted recovery operations.

Fire followed the explosion and more particularly an extensive fire in the main intake airway at 29's Turn, which was fought continuously but unavailingly until the evening of the following day, by which time it was certain that all men not accounted for must be dead and the conditions as regards the presence of inflammable gas had become imminently dangerous. It was accordingly decided by the representatives of the Owners, Workmen and Inspectors that the mine must be sealed off at the tops of the two shafts, and this was done. A notice announcing that decision was posted at the colliery.

Further explosions occurred in the mine and at 1.25 p.m. on Tuesday, 25th September, one of them wrecked the sealing of the downcast shaft and a surface worker was killed by the projected debris. This brought the total loss of life up to 265, making this the worst disaster in British coal mining since the explosion at Senghenydd Colliery in 1913. So far, only 11 of the bodies have been recovered; the cause of death in each case was poisoning by carbon monoxide.

It was not considered safe to commence any recovery operations until about six months after the shafts were sealed; and then, by difficult and arduous operations, the shafts and the shaft bottom were recovered, and later, the Dennis Section was sealed off by a system of stoppings in the main and other roads leading into it. That is still the position, and no examination or inspection of the Dennis Section has been possible except for exploration along the main Martin return and thence to the top of 142's Deep by men wearing self-contained breathing apparatus.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Glamorganshire, 17th May 1965. Report number Cmnd 2813.31 dead & 1 injured

The casualties were caused by an explosion which occurred just before 1.00 p.m. in the P. 26 District in the Pentre Seam, the explosion was almost entirely one of firedamp, flame spreading along about 325 yards of face and return roadway and coal dust playing no significant part.

The firedamp involved was emitted into the airway from strata other than the seam being worked and assumed explosive proportions because of a severe reduction in the ventilation circulating the district ; this reduction resulted from a prolonged short-circuit through two access holes in an air bridge (or air crossing) and from a connec¬tion with previous workings ; and the firedamp was ignited by an electric arc within a gate-end switch, which electricians were testing while the front cover was unbolted.

Cambrian Colliery, in the No. 3 Area of the National Coal Board's South Western Division, is situated near the village of Clydach Vale in the Borough of Rhondda, some 20 miles north-west of Cardiff. There are four shafts ; No. 1 Shaft, a downcast sixteen feet in diameter, sunk to the Five Feet Seam at a depth of 506 yards, the present winding level being at the Pentre Seam inset at a depth of 212 yards; the Maindy Shaft, at the former Colliery of that name, elliptical 14 feet by 12 feet, serving as the upcast for the Pentre Seam workings; and No. 3 and No. 4 Shafts, used for workings in the Five Feet, Lower Nine Feet and Bute Seams.

The Colliery employed 816 men at the time of the incident, 654 below ground and 162 on the surface, and the daily output was 700 tons from the Pentre Seam and 300 tons from the Lower Nine Feet and Bute Seams

Report by H.S. Stephenson Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Denbighshire, 22nd September 1934. Report number Cmd 5358. 265 dead. Of these 255 lay entombed.

The cause of the explosion was never established. The explosion occurred about 2 a.m. on Saturday, the 22nd September, 1934, in the Dennis Section of the mine (see Plan 1) and its effects were limited to that Section, though the concussion was felt at the pit bottom and in the Slant District. Except for a few persons working near the pit bottom and one Deputy and five men who managed to escape from 29's District, all the men who were employed in the Section at the time lost their lives. In addition, three members of a rescue brigade lost their lives the same day in attempted recovery operations.

Fire followed the explosion and more particularly an extensive fire in the main intake airway at 29's Turn, which was fought continuously but unavailingly until the evening of the following day, by which time it was certain that all men not accounted for must be dead and the conditions as regards the presence of inflammable gas had become imminently dangerous. It was accordingly decided by the representatives of the Owners, Workmen and Inspectors that the mine must be sealed off at the tops of the two shafts, and this was done. A notice announcing that decision was posted at the colliery.

Further explosions occurred in the mine and at 1.25 p.m. on Tuesday, 25th September, one of them wrecked the sealing of the downcast shaft and a surface worker was killed by the projected debris. This brought the total loss of life up to 265, making this the worst disaster in British coal mining since the explosion at Senghenydd Colliery in 1913. So far, only 11 of the bodies have been recovered; the cause of death in each case was poisoning by carbon monoxide.

It was not considered safe to commence any recovery operations until about six months after the shafts were sealed; and then, by difficult and arduous operations, the shafts and the shaft bottom were recovered, and later, the Dennis Section was sealed off by a system of stoppings in the main and other roads leading into it. That is still the position, and no examination or inspection of the Dennis Section has been possible except for exploration along the main Martin return and thence to the top of 142's Deep by men wearing self-contained breathing apparatus.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Derbyshire, 30th July 1973. Report number Cmnd 5557. 18 dead & 11 injuired

18 men lost their lives and the other 11 sustained serious bodily injury because the cage in which they were travelling in the No. 3 shaft crashed into the pit bottom as a result of an overwind.

Markham Colliery is one of 14 producing mines in the North Derbyshire Area of the National Coal Board and is situated near Duckmanton about five miles by road to the east of Chesterfield. At the time of the accident the saleable output was 30,000 tons per week with 1,870 men employed below ground and 425 on the surface.

Report by J.W. Calder Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

On 18 August 1993, three men were killed by an extensive fall of roof in the 45's supply gate district of the Parkgate seam at Bilsthorpe Colliery, near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Three others were also trapped but rescued some time later, following sustained and heroic effort, with only minor injuries.

At the time of the accident, Bilsthorpe Colliery was one of ten producing mines in the Nottinghamshire Group of the BCC; it is situated 11 km east of Mansfield and six km south of Ollerton. The mine is provided with two shafts, the sinking of which commenced in 1925. The No 1 shaft was sunk to a depth of 724 m to a level below the Blackshale seam. Insets were provided at the Top Hard and Parkgate seams' horizons at depths of 442 m and 625 m respectively. The shaft was later infilled to a depth of 477 m. The No 2 shaft was sunk to a depth of 461 m and the pit bottom established in the Top Hard horizon from which seam production commenced in 1928. Access to the Parkgate seam was provided by cross-measure drifts driven from the pit bottom area. The No 1 shaft is equipped with a skip and is used for mineral winding, while the No 2 shaft is used for winding men and materials.

Report by B. Langdon Deputy Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Denbighshire, 22nd September 1934. Report number Cmd 5358. 265 dead. Of these 255 lay entombed.

The cause of the explosion was never established. The explosion occurred about 2 a.m. on Saturday, the 22nd September, 1934, in the Dennis Section of the mine (see Plan 1) and its effects were limited to that Section, though the concussion was felt at the pit bottom and in the Slant District. Except for a few persons working near the pit bottom and one Deputy and five men who managed to escape from 29's District, all the men who were employed in the Section at the time lost their lives. In addition, three members of a rescue brigade lost their lives the same day in attempted recovery operations.

Fire followed the explosion and more particularly an extensive fire in the main intake airway at 29's Turn, which was fought continuously but unavailingly until the evening of the following day, by which time it was certain that all men not accounted for must be dead and the conditions as regards the presence of inflammable gas had become imminently dangerous. It was accordingly decided by the representatives of the Owners, Workmen and Inspectors that the mine must be sealed off at the tops of the two shafts, and this was done. A notice announcing that decision was posted at the colliery.

Further explosions occurred in the mine and at 1.25 p.m. on Tuesday, 25th September, one of them wrecked the sealing of the downcast shaft and a surface worker was killed by the projected debris. This brought the total loss of life up to 265, making this the worst disaster in British coal mining since the explosion at Senghenydd Colliery in 1913. So far, only 11 of the bodies have been recovered; the cause of death in each case was poisoning by carbon monoxide.

It was not considered safe to commence any recovery operations until about six months after the shafts were sealed; and then, by difficult and arduous operations, the shafts and the shaft bottom were recovered, and later, the Dennis Section was sealed off by a system of stoppings in the main and other roads leading into it. That is still the position, and no examination or inspection of the Dennis Section has been possible except for exploration along the main Martin return and thence to the top of 142's Deep by men wearing self-contained breathing apparatus.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 26th June 1957. Report number Cmnd 279. 6 dead & 14 injured.

The explosion followed immediately after a shot was fired in the back-ripping of the main gate bringing down a large stone which fell on a power cable with the result that the cable was damaged and a flash occurred at the damaged point; that the said flash is the only discoverable cause for an ignition of firedamp; that the only discoverable source of an emission of firedamp was from a break in the roof of the main gate some 73 yards inbye from the flash.

Barnburgh Main colliery is situated at Barnburgh in the County of York, 6¼ miles west of Doncaster. There are two shafts, No. 5, the upcast, being 18 feet in diameter and No. 6, the downcast, 16 feet in diameter. The shafts are sunk to the Parkgate seam, 755 yards deep, intersecting the Newhill seam at 340 yards and the Barnsley seam at 508 yards. Both shafts are regularly used for winding men and material. The mine produces nearly 4,500 tons of coal per day with 2,040 men employed underground and 379 on the surface.

Report by C.W. Scott Divisional HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Carmarthenshire, 6th September 1955. Report number Cmnd 287. 6 dead & 13 injured.

The explosion occurred on the "Q" face in the Lower Pumpquart seam at Blaenhirwaun colliery, Carmarthenshire, on 6th September, 1955, when four persons were killed and 13 others injured. One of the injured died in hospital on the 18th and another on the 30th September, 1955, bringing the death roll to six. All six had died from injuries accidentally received in a coal gas explosion the cause of which had yet to be ascertained.

Blaenhirwaun colliery is situated near the village of Cross Hands some 16 miles to the northwest of Swansea, near the northern extremity of the coalfield. It has been a working mine producing first grade anthracite coal since 1913. The output is about 350 tons per day and the numbers of persons employed are 360 below ground and 80 on the surface.

It is served by two vertical shafts, both sunk to the Green Vein. The No. 1 shaft, 10 feet in diameter and 155 yards deep, is the upcast equipped with a Walker Paddle fan producing about 55,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 3.125 inches. The No.2 shaft, 13 feet in diameter and 212 yards deep, is the downcast and main winding shaft for men and mineral.

Report by T.A. Rogers Divisional HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Warwickshire, 21st May 1882. Report number C.-4256. 32 dead

The colliery was in the estate of the late W.S. Dugdale and was a few miles from Atherstone and the property of the owners of Merevale Hall. An explosion of gas caused the loss of twenty three lives and nine others died from suffocation including the owner Mr. Stratford Dugdale. The explosion was caused by a firedamp ignition caused by an unprotected boiler for pumping water in the return airway

Of the 32 or more men who were in the mine at the time of the explosion, 23 died from the injuries which they received. No one of the 23 men died immediately from the effects of their injuries, but lingered on, in some cases for five and six weeks.

9 men were entombed, and whose bodies are still in the pit

Report by Arnold Morley, ESQ., M.P

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

On 27 January 1982, 40 men were seriously injured when an explosion of firedamp occurred below ground in the V52 District of the Cloven Coal Seam at Cardowan Colliery near Glasgow.

Cardowan Colliery is one of 17 producing mines in the Scottish Area of the National Coal Board and is situated eight kilometres to the east of Glasgow, adjacent to the village of Stepps. The sinking of Nos 1 and 2 shafts was commenced in 1924 and completed to the Kilsyth Coking Coal Seam, at a depth of 614 m, in 1928. Both are 5.03 m in diameter. No 3 shaft, 7.3 m in diameter, was sunk between 1958 and 1960, to a depth of 658 m with insets formed at 435 m and 621 m. The latter shaft is used for winding coal and materials with the other two shafts being used for winding men.

Report by A. Harley Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

South Yorkshire, 15th November, 1907. Report number Cd. 3979. 7 dead

Barrow Colliery, Worsborough, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, where on the 15th of November, through the oscillation of the ascending-cage and its collision with two girders in the No. 3 or Fan Shaft, seven men were thrown to the bottom of the shaft and killed.

The Barrow Colliery shaft accident was due to the carelessness of the hanger-on, Weldrick, in signalling the cage away when the drop-sheet was down on the lower deck of the cage.

Report by R. A. S. Redmayne, Proffesor of mining

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Falkirk, 25th September 1923. Report number Cmd 2136. 40 dead.

Inrush of water from old workings in a disused colliery.

This Colliery, owned by Messrs. James Nimmo & Company, Limited, is situated in the Parish of Grangemouth, about one mile west of Polmont Station, and is held under lease from the Duke of Hamilton. The Union Canal and the London & North Eastern Railway from Glasgow to Edinburgh run close together at this point, and the shafts lie between them. The two shafts fifty feet apart, are rectangular in shape and are both equipped with winding engines; No. 1 is 14 feet by 6 feet and No. 2 12½, feet by 5½ feet. Both are sunk to the Main Coal at a depth of 209 feet, passing through the Ball Coal at a depth of 171 feet.

Report by Sir Thomas. H. Mottram Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Carmarthenshire, 6th September 1955. Report number Cmnd 287. 6 dead & 13 injured.

The explosion occurred on the "Q" face in the Lower Pumpquart seam at Blaenhirwaun colliery, Carmarthenshire, on 6th September, 1955, when four persons were killed and 13 others injured. One of the injured died in hospital on the 18th and another on the 30th September, 1955, bringing the death roll to six. All six had died from injuries accidentally received in a coal gas explosion the cause of which had yet to be ascertained.

Blaenhirwaun colliery is situated near the village of Cross Hands some 16 miles to the northwest of Swansea, near the northern extremity of the coalfield. It has been a working mine producing first grade anthracite coal since 1913. The output is about 350 tons per day and the numbers of persons employed are 360 below ground and 80 on the surface.

It is served by two vertical shafts, both sunk to the Green Vein. The No. 1 shaft, 10 feet in diameter and 155 yards deep, is the upcast equipped with a Walker Paddle fan producing about 55,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 3.125 inches. The No.2 shaft, 13 feet in diameter and 212 yards deep, is the downcast and main winding shaft for men and mineral.

Report by T.A. Rogers Divisional HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Lancashire, 12th November 1932. Report number Cmd 4292. 27 dead.

There were two explosions; they occurred in the No 5 Brow district, the first shortly before 2 a.m. on 12th November, and the second some 20 to 30 minutes later.

The Garswood Hall No. 9 Colliery is one of a group of Collieries owned by the Garswood Hall

Collieries Company Limited, of which Mr. James H. Edmondson is the Managing Director. Mr

William Sword is the Consulting Engineer and Mr. H. J. Whitehead the Agent.

Mr. J. Latham is the Manager and Mr. Peter Bullough the Undermanager of the No. 9 Colliery, which has three shafts, namely:- No. 9, the downcast and coal-drawing shaft; No. 2, the upcast and No. 3, a shaft close to No. 2 but not now in use.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Statue of a miner – High Street, Coalville,

Inscribed: “This memorial is dedicated to all miners of Leicestershire who gave their lives winning the coal.”

Erected exactly 100 years after the Whitwick pit disaster 19 April 1898 when 35 miners were killed by an underground fire.

Sculpted by Judith Holmes Drewry and founded by Le Blanc Fine Arts, Saxby

Silicon bronze

1996

Yorkshire, 22nd April 1959. Report number Cmnd 843. 5 dead & 1 injured.

Explosion of firedamp, caused by an electrical arc from a damaged trailing cable and extended by coal dust, in the No. 5 Unit of 10 East District in the Top Haigh Moor Seam.

Walton Colliery (formerly known as Sharlston West) is a safety lamp mine situated near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire; its general layout, so far as it is relevant, is shown on Plan No. 1. The colliery employed 1,285 men underground and 298 on the surface, a daily output of 2,200 tons being obtained from the Top Haigh Moor, the Low Haigh Moor, the Kent Thick and the Birkwood or Lidgett Seams. About half of this output was from the Top Haigh Moor.

Report by T.A. Rogers Chief HMI.

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Denbighshire, 22nd September 1934. Report number Cmd 5358. 265 dead. Of these 255 lay entombed.

The cause of the explosion was never established. The explosion occurred about 2 a.m. on Saturday, the 22nd September, 1934, in the Dennis Section of the mine (see Plan 1) and its effects were limited to that Section, though the concussion was felt at the pit bottom and in the Slant District. Except for a few persons working near the pit bottom and one Deputy and five men who managed to escape from 29's District, all the men who were employed in the Section at the time lost their lives. In addition, three members of a rescue brigade lost their lives the same day in attempted recovery operations.

Fire followed the explosion and more particularly an extensive fire in the main intake airway at 29's Turn, which was fought continuously but unavailingly until the evening of the following day, by which time it was certain that all men not accounted for must be dead and the conditions as regards the presence of inflammable gas had become imminently dangerous. It was accordingly decided by the representatives of the Owners, Workmen and Inspectors that the mine must be sealed off at the tops of the two shafts, and this was done. A notice announcing that decision was posted at the colliery.

Further explosions occurred in the mine and at 1.25 p.m. on Tuesday, 25th September, one of them wrecked the sealing of the downcast shaft and a surface worker was killed by the projected debris. This brought the total loss of life up to 265, making this the worst disaster in British coal mining since the explosion at Senghenydd Colliery in 1913. So far, only 11 of the bodies have been recovered; the cause of death in each case was poisoning by carbon monoxide.

It was not considered safe to commence any recovery operations until about six months after the shafts were sealed; and then, by difficult and arduous operations, the shafts and the shaft bottom were recovered, and later, the Dennis Section was sealed off by a system of stoppings in the main and other roads leading into it. That is still the position, and no examination or inspection of the Dennis Section has been possible except for exploration along the main Martin return and thence to the top of 142's Deep by men wearing self-contained breathing apparatus.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 19th November 1957. Report number Cmnd 467. 17 dead & 12 injured.

Firedamp and air near the face of an unventilated heading in the Six Feet Section of the West Mine area of the colliery was ignited by a match; that this caused an explosion sufficiently violent to raise an inflammable cloud of coal dust, and that the explosion continued thereafter as a coal dust explosion. The primary cause of the explosion was failure to ventilate and to make thorough inspections for gas in the heading.

Kames Nos. 1 and 2 Colliery is situated at Muirkirk, some 22 miles east of Ayr. The shafts date from 1870 and are sunk to a depth of 840 feet. There were 510 employees below ground and 130 on the surface. At the time of the explosion the daily output was 650 tons, of which 400 tons came from the West Mine area.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Falkirk, 25th September 1923. Report number Cmd 2136. 40 dead.

Inrush of water from old workings in a disused colliery.

This Colliery, owned by Messrs. James Nimmo & Company, Limited, is situated in the Parish of Grangemouth, about one mile west of Polmont Station, and is held under lease from the Duke of Hamilton. The Union Canal and the London & North Eastern Railway from Glasgow to Edinburgh run close together at this point, and the shafts lie between them. The two shafts fifty feet apart, are rectangular in shape and are both equipped with winding engines; No. 1 is 14 feet by 6 feet and No. 2 12½, feet by 5½ feet. Both are sunk to the Main Coal at a depth of 209 feet, passing through the Ball Coal at a depth of 171 feet.

Report by Sir Thomas. H. Mottram Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Glamorganshire, Tuesday, 14th October, 1913. Report number Cd. 7346. 439 dead

The explosion, which in point of loss of life constitutes the greatest disaster in the annals of British mining happened at about 8.10 a.m. on Tuesday, the 14th October 1913.

The number of persons killed by the explosion or who died from the effects of the afterdamp was 439 and one man lost his life on the day following the explosion whilst engaged in work at the fire on the main west level, being killed by a fall of stone.

There is strong probability of the explosion having originated on the Mafeking Incline, and that it was preceded by an occurrence similar to that which took place further outbye in the Mafeking Return in October, 1910, namely, by heavy falls liberating a large volume of gas. These heavy falls exposed seams of coal and beds of hard rock, and an outburst of gas may have come away at one of them. The only apparent means of ignition would be sparks from the electric signalling apparatus, or from rocks brought down from the fall, and we know that explosions have been originated by both these causes. The only other possible means of ignition were safety lamps or matches. The difficulty in regard to the former is that no lamp was found in the place, and even were a broken lamp found under a fall there would be the inference that it may have been broken by the fall. There were however, lamps lower down the hard heading, but there is no evidence pointing to any of them having been the igniting cause of the explosion. In respect of matches, as has already been stated, a rigorous search of the persons descending the mine was being carried out daily, and the possibility of a match being the igniting cause is remote.

Report by R. A. S. Redmayne, H.M. Chief Inspector

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 19th November 1957. Report number Cmnd 467. 17 dead & 12 injured.

Firedamp and air near the face of an unventilated heading in the Six Feet Section of the West Mine area of the colliery was ignited by a match; that this caused an explosion sufficiently violent to raise an inflammable cloud of coal dust, and that the explosion continued thereafter as a coal dust explosion. The primary cause of the explosion was failure to ventilate and to make thorough inspections for gas in the heading.

Kames Nos. 1 and 2 Colliery is situated at Muirkirk, some 22 miles east of Ayr. The shafts date from 1870 and are sunk to a depth of 840 feet. There were 510 employees below ground and 130 on the surface. At the time of the explosion the daily output was 650 tons, of which 400 tons came from the West Mine area.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

From the pictured sign:

The Smith Mine Disaster

The Smith Mine is the side of the worst underground coal mine disaster in Montana history. The decaying buildings across the coulee are a memorial to the 74 men who died in the mine on the morning of February 27, 1943. Smoke pouring from the entrance to the No. 3 vein was the first indication of trouble.”There’s something wrong down here. I’m getting out,” the hoist operator called up. He and two nerby miners were the last men to leave the mine alive.

The families of the men trapped underground anxiously waited as the rescue crews from as far away as Butte and Cascade County worked around the clock to clear debris and search for survivors. There were none. Some men died as a result of a violent explosion, but most fell victim to the deadly methane gasses released by the blast. The tragedy sparked investigations at the state and national level that resulted in improved mine safety.

Today’s marker of the Smith Mine Disaster follows a simpler one left by two miners trapped underground after the explosion, waiting for the poisonous gas they knew would come.

“Walter & Johnny. Good-bye. Wives and daughters. We died an easy death. Love from us both. Be good.”

Additionally:

Smith Mine Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior in cooperation with the Montana Historical Society.

From the on-site sign:

The Smith Mine Disaster

The Smith Mine is the side of the worst underground coal mine disaster in Montana history. The decaying buildings across the coulee are a memorial to the 74 men who died in the mine on the morning of February 27, 1943. Smoke pouring from the entrance to the No. 3 vein was the first indication of trouble.”There’s something wrong down here. I’m getting out,” the hoist operator called up. He and two nerby miners were the last men to leave the mine alive.

The families of the men trapped underground anxiously waited as the rescue crews from as far away as Butte and Cascade County worked around the clock to clear debris and search for survivors. There were none. Some men died as a result of a violent explosion, but most fell victim to the deadly methane gasses released by the blast. The tragedy sparked investigations at the state and national level that resulted in improved mine safety.

Today’s marker of the Smith Mine Disaster follows a simpler one left by two miners trapped underground after the explosion, waiting for the poisonous gas they knew would come.

“Walter & Johnny. Good-bye. Wives and daughters. We died an easy death. Love from us both. Be good.”

and

Smith Mine Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior in cooperation with the Montana Historical Society.

Yorkshire, 22nd April 1959. Report number Cmnd 843. 5 dead & 1 injured.

Explosion of firedamp, caused by an electrical arc from a damaged trailing cable and extended by coal dust, in the No. 5 Unit of 10 East District in the Top Haigh Moor Seam.

Walton Colliery (formerly known as Sharlston West) is a safety lamp mine situated near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire; its general layout, so far as it is relevant, is shown on Plan No. 1. The colliery employed 1,285 men underground and 298 on the surface, a daily output of 2,200 tons being obtained from the Top Haigh Moor, the Low Haigh Moor, the Kent Thick and the Birkwood or Lidgett Seams. About half of this output was from the Top Haigh Moor.

Report by T.A. Rogers Chief HMI.

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Lanarkshire, 18th September 1959 . Report number Cmnd 1022. 47 dead

Fire originated in the balata transmission belt of the electrically driven booster fan in the return airway from No. 2 Pit workings. The fire was caused by frictional heat generated between the rotating motor pulley and the belt, which had left the fan pulley and jammed near it. Flame from the belt ignited oil vaporised from the fan shaft bearings and oily deposits in and around the fan. The flame then spread downwind to ignite roadway timbers.

Forty-seven men on a man-riding train underground in a return airway died from asphyxia due to poisoning by carbon monoxide contained in smoke from a fire which originated in the driving belt of a booster fan farther inbye and spread to wood props and laggings used as roof supports.

Report by T.A. Rogers Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Fifeshire, 14th December 1957. Report number Cmnd 485. 9 dead & 11 injured.

Firedamp at the face of the Unit was ignited by a match struck illegally for the purpose of smoking, and that the explosion continued along the main gate as a coal dust explosion, causing the death of nine men and injuring 11 more.

Lindsay Colliery is situated at Kelty, about two miles north of Cowden¬beath in the county of Fife. It has been in production since 1875 and at present comprises one vertical shaft and two surface mines. Coal is raised through the shaft and No. 1 Surface Mine (not shown on the plans) while No. 2 Surface Mine is used for ventilation and man-riding. At the date of the explosion the output was approximately 1,100 tons a day, of which some 400 tons came from the Glassee Seam. Seven hundred and ninety men were employed below ground and 170 on the surface.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 22nd April 1959. Report number Cmnd 843. 5 dead & 1 injured.

Explosion of firedamp, caused by an electrical arc from a damaged trailing cable and extended by coal dust, in the No. 5 Unit of 10 East District in the Top Haigh Moor Seam.

Walton Colliery (formerly known as Sharlston West) is a safety lamp mine situated near Wakefield in the West Riding of Yorkshire; its general layout, so far as it is relevant, is shown on Plan No. 1. The colliery employed 1,285 men underground and 298 on the surface, a daily output of 2,200 tons being obtained from the Top Haigh Moor, the Low Haigh Moor, the Kent Thick and the Birkwood or Lidgett Seams. About half of this output was from the Top Haigh Moor.

Report by T.A. Rogers Chief HMI.

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 7th September 1950. Report number Cmd 8180. 13 Dead.

The accident was due to a big inrush of peat or moss from the surface. Thirteen lives were lost and the 116 men whose escape was cut off were rescued about two days later.

The accident occurred about 7.30 p.m., whilst the afternoon shift was at work, on Thursday, 7th September, 1950, when a large volume of liquid peat or moss suddenly broke through from the surface into the No. 5 Heading Section of the Main Coal Seam. The inrush started at the point where the No. 5 Heading, which was rising at a gradient of 1 in 2, had effected a holing at the outcrop of the seam beneath superficial deposits and had made contact with the base of a relatively large natural basin containing glacial material and peat. The liquid matter, rushing down the steeply inclined heading, continued to flow for some time and soon filled up a large number of existing and abandoned roadways as well as several working places, until it eventually cut off the two means of egress to the surface from the underground workings of the colliery.

Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery is situated in the Parish of New Cumnock in the County of Ayr and lies about 22 miles almost due east from the town of Ayr. Before the accident the colliery gave employment to about 600 persons underground and 120 on the surface and had a weekly output of coal varying from 4,500 to 5,000 tons. The output came from two seams, the Main Coal and the Turf Coal, the major portion coming from the Main Coal. The downcast shaft, completed in 1942, was ordinarily used for the winding of men, mineral and material and is 16 feet in diameter and 122 fathoms deep. The older Knockshinnoch No. 1 Pit served as the upcast shaft and also as the second exit. It lies about a quarter of a mile to the north of the downcast shaft and is 12 feet in diameter and 70 fathoms deep.

Report by Sir Andrew Bryan Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Derbyshire, 26th September, 1950. Report number Cmd 8574. 80 dead

The accident was due to a disastrous fire which started at a transfer point of the trunk belt conveyor system in the South-Western Main Intake Haulage Road in the High Hazel seam. Because of the intensity and extent of the fire and of the inability to get it under control, it was found necessary to seal off the part of the mine in which the fire was located in order to extinguish the fire by depriving it of air. Not until the district was reopened about one year later, were investigators able to study fully the origin and extent of the fire and the probable course of events inbye where the Victims had been at work, and so the Inquiry had to be held in two stages.

Report by Sir Andrew Bryan, D.Sc, F.R.S.E

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

In the year 1866, 361 lives were lost in the Oaks Colliery Explosion on the 12th and 13th of December.

Up to and for the next 47 years it was Great Britain’s worst mining disaster.

At the Senghenydd Colliery on Tuesday, 14th October, 1913 the explosion which occurred deep underground constituted the greatest disaster in the annals of British mining with the number of persons killed by the explosion or who died from the effects of the afterdamp was 439 and one rescuer.

This is the Centenary year of the great disaster, may they rest in peace.

The Original Report that i have managed to borrow has been carefully scanned and reproduced so that anyone can now read the full account of the disaster that unfolded. The original plans were scanned and posted earlier in the year in the Mining Disaster Plans Set so you can now relate the drawings to the report. ENJOY!!!!

Fifeshire, 14th December 1957. Report number Cmnd 485. 9 dead & 11 injured.

Firedamp at the face of the Unit was ignited by a match struck illegally for the purpose of smoking, and that the explosion continued along the main gate as a coal dust explosion, causing the death of nine men and injuring 11 more.

Lindsay Colliery is situated at Kelty, about two miles north of Cowden¬beath in the county of Fife. It has been in production since 1875 and at present comprises one vertical shaft and two surface mines. Coal is raised through the shaft and No. 1 Surface Mine (not shown on the plans) while No. 2 Surface Mine is used for ventilation and man-riding. At the date of the explosion the output was approximately 1,100 tons a day, of which some 400 tons came from the Glassee Seam. Seven hundred and ninety men were employed below ground and 170 on the surface.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 7th September 1950. Report number Cmd 8180. 13 Dead.

The accident was due to a big inrush of peat or moss from the surface. Thirteen lives were lost and the 116 men whose escape was cut off were rescued about two days later.

The accident occurred about 7.30 p.m., whilst the afternoon shift was at work, on Thursday, 7th September, 1950, when a large volume of liquid peat or moss suddenly broke through from the surface into the No. 5 Heading Section of the Main Coal Seam. The inrush started at the point where the No. 5 Heading, which was rising at a gradient of 1 in 2, had effected a holing at the outcrop of the seam beneath superficial deposits and had made contact with the base of a relatively large natural basin containing glacial material and peat. The liquid matter, rushing down the steeply inclined heading, continued to flow for some time and soon filled up a large number of existing and abandoned roadways as well as several working places, until it eventually cut off the two means of egress to the surface from the underground workings of the colliery.

Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery is situated in the Parish of New Cumnock in the County of Ayr and lies about 22 miles almost due east from the town of Ayr. Before the accident the colliery gave employment to about 600 persons underground and 120 on the surface and had a weekly output of coal varying from 4,500 to 5,000 tons. The output came from two seams, the Main Coal and the Turf Coal, the major portion coming from the Main Coal. The downcast shaft, completed in 1942, was ordinarily used for the winding of men, mineral and material and is 16 feet in diameter and 122 fathoms deep. The older Knockshinnoch No. 1 Pit served as the upcast shaft and also as the second exit. It lies about a quarter of a mile to the north of the downcast shaft and is 12 feet in diameter and 70 fathoms deep.

Report by Sir Andrew Bryan Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Beighton, Yorkshire, 23rd February 1924. Report number Cmd 2276. 4 dead & 4 injured.

An explosion of firedamp initiated by the firing of a charge of eight ounces of Samsonite No. 3, a permitted explosive, in proximity to fissures or breaks which contained firedamp

The East Pit of Birley Colliery is situate about 42 miles from the Town Hall of Sheffield and half a mile south of the village of Woodhouse and is owned by Messrs. The Sheffield Coal Company, Limited. The seam worked is the Parkgate, 41 feet thick with a strong sandstone roof, and it was in the 320's level section of the No. 4 district of this seam that the accident occurred.

Report by Henry Walker Chief HMI.

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 12th & 13th December 1866. 361 dead & 6 injured. Of these 286 lay entombed. Britains 1st worst Mining Accident surpassed in 1913 by Senghenydd Colliery to become 2nd largest explosion. The number of men and boys working in the pit on the 12th of December at the time of the explosion was 340.

There had been more in the pit during the morning, but they had come out before the usual time.

Of those who were brought out, 20 were then still living, but 14 of these have since died; six only are now living.

There were 61 brought out dead, making 81 altogether.

All those of whom I have now spoken were men and boys working at the Oaks, who were in the pit at the time of the first explosion.

The number of lives lost by this explosion is therefore 334, including those who were killed in the pit and those who have since died.

The number of lives lost by the second explosion is 27, of whom four were men working at the Oaks, and 23 were volunteers, out of 198 who went down the pit to assist.

The total loss of lives from both explosions is therefore 361.

One volunteer, Samuel Brown, was brought out alive after the third explosion.

Report by J. Kenyon Blackwell

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

Statue of a miner – High Street, Coalville,

Inscribed: “This memorial is dedicated to all miners of Leicestershire who gave their lives winning the coal.”

Erected exactly 100 years after the Whitwick pit disaster 19 April 1898 when 35 miners were killed by an underground fire.

Sculpted by Judith Holmes Drewry and founded by Le Blanc Fine Arts, Saxby

Silicon bronze

1996

Beighton, Yorkshire, 23rd February 1924. Report number Cmd 2276. 4 dead & 4 injured.

An explosion of firedamp initiated by the firing of a charge of eight ounces of Samsonite No. 3, a permitted explosive, in proximity to fissures or breaks which contained firedamp

The East Pit of Birley Colliery is situate about 42 miles from the Town Hall of Sheffield and half a mile south of the village of Woodhouse and is owned by Messrs. The Sheffield Coal Company, Limited. The seam worked is the Parkgate, 41 feet thick with a strong sandstone roof, and it was in the 320's level section of the No. 4 district of this seam that the accident occurred.

Report by Henry Walker Chief HMI.

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Derbyshire, 26th September, 1950. Report number Cmd 8574. 80 dead

The accident was due to a disastrous fire which started at a transfer point of the trunk belt conveyor system in the South-Western Main Intake Haulage Road in the High Hazel seam. Because of the intensity and extent of the fire and of the inability to get it under control, it was found necessary to seal off the part of the mine in which the fire was located in order to extinguish the fire by depriving it of air. Not until the district was reopened about one year later, were investigators able to study fully the origin and extent of the fire and the probable course of events inbye where the Victims had been at work, and so the Inquiry had to be held in two stages.

Report by Sir Andrew Bryan, D.Sc, F.R.S.E

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

Fifeshire, 14th December 1957. Report number Cmnd 485. 9 dead & 11 injured.

Firedamp at the face of the Unit was ignited by a match struck illegally for the purpose of smoking, and that the explosion continued along the main gate as a coal dust explosion, causing the death of nine men and injuring 11 more.

Lindsay Colliery is situated at Kelty, about two miles north of Cowden¬beath in the county of Fife. It has been in production since 1875 and at present comprises one vertical shaft and two surface mines. Coal is raised through the shaft and No. 1 Surface Mine (not shown on the plans) while No. 2 Surface Mine is used for ventilation and man-riding. At the date of the explosion the output was approximately 1,100 tons a day, of which some 400 tons came from the Glassee Seam. Seven hundred and ninety men were employed below ground and 170 on the surface.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 7th September 1950. Report number Cmd 8180. 13 Dead.

The accident was due to a big inrush of peat or moss from the surface. Thirteen lives were lost and the 116 men whose escape was cut off were rescued about two days later.

The accident occurred about 7.30 p.m., whilst the afternoon shift was at work, on Thursday, 7th September, 1950, when a large volume of liquid peat or moss suddenly broke through from the surface into the No. 5 Heading Section of the Main Coal Seam. The inrush started at the point where the No. 5 Heading, which was rising at a gradient of 1 in 2, had effected a holing at the outcrop of the seam beneath superficial deposits and had made contact with the base of a relatively large natural basin containing glacial material and peat. The liquid matter, rushing down the steeply inclined heading, continued to flow for some time and soon filled up a large number of existing and abandoned roadways as well as several working places, until it eventually cut off the two means of egress to the surface from the underground workings of the colliery.

Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery is situated in the Parish of New Cumnock in the County of Ayr and lies about 22 miles almost due east from the town of Ayr. Before the accident the colliery gave employment to about 600 persons underground and 120 on the surface and had a weekly output of coal varying from 4,500 to 5,000 tons. The output came from two seams, the Main Coal and the Turf Coal, the major portion coming from the Main Coal. The downcast shaft, completed in 1942, was ordinarily used for the winding of men, mineral and material and is 16 feet in diameter and 122 fathoms deep. The older Knockshinnoch No. 1 Pit served as the upcast shaft and also as the second exit. It lies about a quarter of a mile to the north of the downcast shaft and is 12 feet in diameter and 70 fathoms deep.

Report by Sir Andrew Bryan Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Ayrshire, 19th November 1957. Report number Cmnd 467. 17 dead & 12 injured.

Firedamp and air near the face of an unventilated heading in the Six Feet Section of the West Mine area of the colliery was ignited by a match; that this caused an explosion sufficiently violent to raise an inflammable cloud of coal dust, and that the explosion continued thereafter as a coal dust explosion. The primary cause of the explosion was failure to ventilate and to make thorough inspections for gas in the heading.

Kames Nos. 1 and 2 Colliery is situated at Muirkirk, some 22 miles east of Ayr. The shafts date from 1870 and are sunk to a depth of 840 feet. There were 510 employees below ground and 130 on the surface. At the time of the explosion the daily output was 650 tons, of which 400 tons came from the West Mine area.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Fifeshire, 14th December 1957. Report number Cmnd 485. 9 dead & 11 injured.

Firedamp at the face of the Unit was ignited by a match struck illegally for the purpose of smoking, and that the explosion continued along the main gate as a coal dust explosion, causing the death of nine men and injuring 11 more.

Lindsay Colliery is situated at Kelty, about two miles north of Cowden¬beath in the county of Fife. It has been in production since 1875 and at present comprises one vertical shaft and two surface mines. Coal is raised through the shaft and No. 1 Surface Mine (not shown on the plans) while No. 2 Surface Mine is used for ventilation and man-riding. At the date of the explosion the output was approximately 1,100 tons a day, of which some 400 tons came from the Glassee Seam. Seven hundred and ninety men were employed below ground and 170 on the surface.

Report by Sir Harold Roberts

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Glamorganshire, Tuesday, 14th October, 1913. Report number Cd. 7346. 439 dead

The explosion, which in point of loss of life constitutes the greatest disaster in the annals of British mining happened at about 8.10 a.m. on Tuesday, the 14th October 1913.

The number of persons killed by the explosion or who died from the effects of the afterdamp was 439 and one man lost his life on the day following the explosion whilst engaged in work at the fire on the main west level, being killed by a fall of stone.

There is strong probability of the explosion having originated on the Mafeking Incline, and that it was preceded by an occurrence similar to that which took place further outbye in the Mafeking Return in October, 1910, namely, by heavy falls liberating a large volume of gas. These heavy falls exposed seams of coal and beds of hard rock, and an outburst of gas may have come away at one of them. The only apparent means of ignition would be sparks from the electric signalling apparatus, or from rocks brought down from the fall, and we know that explosions have been originated by both these causes. The only other possible means of ignition were safety lamps or matches. The difficulty in regard to the former is that no lamp was found in the place, and even were a broken lamp found under a fall there would be the inference that it may have been broken by the fall. There were however, lamps lower down the hard heading, but there is no evidence pointing to any of them having been the igniting cause of the explosion. In respect of matches, as has already been stated, a rigorous search of the persons descending the mine was being carried out daily, and the possibility of a match being the igniting cause is remote.

Report by R. A. S. Redmayne, H.M. Chief Inspector

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original borrowed from a collection of disaster reports

Staffordshire, 2nd July 1937. Report number Cmd 5720. 30 dead & 8 injured.

Coalface fire followed by several methane explosions and one large explosion. 2 HM Inspectors killed.

Holditch Colliery, known locally as Brymbo Pit, is about two miles N.N.W. of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

The two shafts, No. 2, sunk in 1912, and No. 1, sunk in 1916, are approximately 2,000 ft. deep to the stone drifts from which the two working seams, the Great Row and the Four Feet, were reached

Report by F.H. Wynne Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 6th August 1936. Report number Cmd 5503. 58 dead.

An explosion occurred in the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Colliery about 3.15 a.m. on Thursday, 6th August, 1936, whereby 58 persons lost their lives.The two doors separating the intake airway known as 1's level from the main return airway were found wide open; short circuiting the airflow allowing firedamp to build up, electricians had been working on a commutator cover of the motor of the loader near the inbye end of 1's level was found on the floor and the cover of the starting switch of this motor was found to be loose pointing to electrical sparking as the explosive ingredient.

The Wharncliffe Woodmoor 1, 2 and 3 Colliery is situate some two miles north-north-west of Barnsley and adjoins the North Gawber (Lidgett) Colliery, where an explosion occurred in September, 1935. Both collieries are under the same control.

The Lidgett Seam, in which this explosion also occurred, is about two feet four inches thick and is reached by drifts from the Haigh Moor Seam some 34 yards above it. The depth from the surface to the Haigh Moor is about 280 yards at the shafts.

Report by Sir Henry Walker Chief HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

South Yorkshire, 15th November, 1907. Report number Cd. 3979. 7 dead

Barrow Colliery, Worsborough, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, where on the 15th of November, through the oscillation of the ascending-cage and its collision with two girders in the No. 3 or Fan Shaft, seven men were thrown to the bottom of the shaft and killed.

The Barrow Colliery shaft accident was due to the carelessness of the hanger-on, Weldrick, in signalling the cage away when the drop-sheet was down on the lower deck of the cage.

Report by R. A. S. Redmayne, Proffesor of mining

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

South Yorkshire, 15th November, 1907. Report number Cd. 3979. 7 dead

Barrow Colliery, Worsborough, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, where on the 15th of November, through the oscillation of the ascending-cage and its collision with two girders in the No. 3 or Fan Shaft, seven men were thrown to the bottom of the shaft and killed.

The Barrow Colliery shaft accident was due to the carelessness of the hanger-on, Weldrick, in signalling the cage away when the drop-sheet was down on the lower deck of the cage.

Report by R. A. S. Redmayne, Proffesor of mining

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports

Yorkshire, 26th September 1959. Report number Cmnd 935. 3 dead.

The explosion occurred in 1's District of the Eleven Yard Seam at St. John's Colliery, Normanton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, at about 2.0 a.m. on 26th September, 1959. The Jury found that death in each case resulted from injuries following an explosion of firedamp which was caused by a spark from a coal drilling machine which was being used to extend a heading in the colliery; and that the same was by misadventure.

St. John's Colliery is a safety-lamp mine at Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the time of the accident 786 men were employed underground and 209 on the surface; the daily output, obtained from the Silkstone, Eleven Yard, Blocking and Beeston Seams was 1,600 tons, about one-third of which was from the Eleven Yard.

Report by H.J.Perrins Divisional HMI

Plan scanned and pieced together to remake a copy of the original taken from my collection of disaster reports