Maypole Colliery disaster

Maypole Colliery disaster

Postcard published in 1908 to raise funds for the victims of the disaster
Date	18 August 1908 (1908-08-18)
Time	17:10
Location	Abram, Wigan, Lancashire, England
Type	Coal mine disaster
Cause	Explosion of firedamp
Deaths	75
Burial	St John's Church, Abram

The Maypole Colliery disaster was a mining accident on 18 August 1908, when an underground explosion occurred at the Maypole Colliery, in Abram, near Wigan, then in the historic county of Lancashire, in North West England. The final death toll was 75.

One man, William Moore, originally counted as a victim, was later located working above ground. He had mislaid his tally and had not reported the fact. His name would later be added erroneously to the commemorative postcard as a victim. George Melling also was found alive and to be on the list of the dead. He too had lost his tally. Again he would be listed, complete with photo, on the postcard.

The pit was owned by Moss Hall Collieries and employed several hundred men. On the morning of the explosion, Tuesday 18th August 1908, the Mine Manager Mr Arthur Rushton was returning from his holiday. At the Coroner’s Inquest he said that on approaching home he heard a low rumble and saw a cloud of dust. He immediately went to the Colliery where he saw that some of the fan house masonry had been blown away. The headgear to No. 1 pit was partly demolished and the cage was down below.

There were two shafts which gave access to tunnels several hundred feet below ground and which in turn connected with adjoining collieries at Wigan Junction and Bickershaw. Rushton got the under-manager to take a rescue party down the shaft at Wigan Junction Pit and to enter the Seven Feet Mine that way. Having done that, Rushton got the engineman to knock down the No. 2 pit. Minutes later, having got a signal from the rescue party from the Seven Feet Mine, Rushton concluded that the seam was clear at that point. The rescue party continued but soon encountered rubble which blocked the roadway. Having cleared the roadway and been joined by men from Wigan Junction, the rescue parties began to move forward. Fortunately, a little over an hour before the explosion the men from the day shift had returned to the surface, leaving only the shotfirers, firemen and general maintenance men below. There were therefore 78 men remaining below. As relatives gathered on the surface waiting for news oftheir loved ones, the rescuers slowly made their way through clogged roadways, through foul air and dust and rising temperatures. Breathing became difficult, and with one rescuer showing signs of acute distress, the party prepared to return to the surface. They came across three uninjured men, William Doran, Edward Farrell and Richard Fairhurst. The three lone survivors were working in the Seven Feet Mine, the rest, all 75, were working in the Four Feet Mine. Around 9 o’clock that night, Rushton descended No. 2 shaft again, this time with Mr Hall, His Majesty’s Inspector of Mines, and a rescue party from Garswood. Several hours later they came across the first badly charred body. Others were soon found. Late in the afternoon of the following day, a list naming the victims was issued. So far only seven bodies had been found and 70 were presumed dead. The rescue party was still bringing bodies to the surface when a second explosion occurred. They ran for their lives. Fire swept through Wigan Four Feet igniting pockets of gas and thus causing further explosions. It was then realised that two men were still below ground in the pumping station. Tom Morris and James Fox volunteered to go below to find them. Armed with only wet cloths for their faces, they were lowered down once more. Having found the barely conscious men, they came back to the surface. The water pumps were now out of action and water was fast filling the tunnels. This continued with further pumps being turned off to direct water to areas on fire. The fire raged on for four weeks with more explosions occurring, the last terrible one happening on Sunday September 14th. In all it was estimated that 100 million gallons of water were poured down the shafts. Further rescue was out of the question as was searching for evidence of the cause of the original explosion until the water subsided. After starting an inquest into the deaths of the seven recovered men, the Coroner adjourned and later reconvened the court when it became obvious that the water level would not go down quickly and bodies would not be recovered in the immediate future. The inquest was finally closed on July 8th 1909 after 23 sessions. The verdict arrived at was death by an explosion caused by a mixture of coal dust and gas, fired by a shot using a permitted explosive but where all reasonable precautions were not taken. Men had been allowed to work where there was gas and at the time when shot was being fired. If this alone had been observed the death toll would have been two or three instead of 75.

Background

The colliery was on the Lancashire Coalfield which contained numerous coal mines. Maypole Colliery was owned by the Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company Ltd which had taken over the pit from the Moss Hall Coal Company in 1907. The miners were mainly drawn from the local area but also included a large number of workers who had moved to the area from County Mayo in Ireland.

Explosion

The chimney of Maypole Colliery in 2005

An explosion occurred just after 5pm in No 1 Pit, shortly after the night shift began. Most of the men below ground at the time were shot-firers and maintenance workers. The explosion happened in the area known as the Four Feet mine. Colliery manager Arthur Rushton reported that when some distance away he heard a rumble and saw a cloud of dust rising from the pit shaft. The head gear was largely destroyed and the fan house, which provided ventilation, was badly damaged.

Rescue parties were organised immediately and led by the general manager John Knowles. After two days, attempts to locate survivors and recover bodies were abandoned when fire broke out underground. The pit was flooded to quell the fire. The last bodies were not recovered until 1917.

It was initially reported that 75 men had been working in the pit at the time. Three survivors were working in the Seven Feet mine, a different coal seam, not the Four Feet mine where the explosion occurred.

Aftermath

King Edward VII sent a telegram expressing his sympathy towards those who suffered as a result of the disaster.

The inquests started three days after the explosion, but were adjourned as more bodies were recovered and were not completed until 8 July the following year. Accidental death verdicts were recorded on all 76 victims. The colliery owners argued that there had been no gas in the pit despite gas having been reported on the day before the explosion. The coroner concluded that the cause of death had been an explosion of firedamp and coal dust ignited by permitted explosives.

Memorials

The Maypole memorial at St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram

Many of the victims of the disaster were buried at St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram. A memorial to the men who died was erected in the churchyard. The memorial was rededicated on the centenary of the disaster in 2008.

See also

List of mining disasters in Lancashire

References

Notes

Citations