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Maypole Colliery Disaster
1908
THE
MAYPOLE COLLIERY DISASTER - AUGUST 18th, 1908
The Explosions
Just
after 5 o’clock on a sultry August afternoon, Mr. Arthur Rushton, the manager of
the Maypole Colliery in Abram, returned home from a ten days’ holiday. As he put
the key in the lock, a dull rumble caused him to look over his shoulder. What he
saw was the start of a night-mare that stayed with him for the rest of his life.
A black cloud of smoke was pouring, with great force, out of the pit shaft. When
he arrived at the pit head, he found the engine house was a tangle of roof
timbers and bricks, the headgear blown away and the cage lying at the bottom of
the shaft. Soot and debris were scattered over a wide area. Buildings over a
mile away had been shaken by the blast and a dense cloud of black smoke and
poisonous vapours rose from the shaft for many hours.
Realising
the grave situation of the men below ground, Mr. Rushton and other officials
planned rapid and desperate attempts at rescue. Half a mile away was the
headgear of the Wigan Junction Colliery and from there, underground, went a
tunnel to the workings of the Maypole. The rescuers proceeded along this tunnel,
penetrating the Maypole workings and brought out three men alive and uninjured.
Advancing further, they met ‘afterdamp', and exploration became very difficult.
The roadways were filled with a mixture of smoke and afterdamp and although
strenuous efforts were made to clear it, it resisted all their skill and bravery
and stood like a wall, preventing further advance. In spite of the appalling
conditions, seven bodies were located, and fourteen others seen, but in
positions that made their removal impossible. The seven were taken along the
tunnel to Wigan Junction and up to the surface 800 yards above. These men had
survived the force of the explosion, but had succumbed to the effects of the
afterdamp.
It was
clear to the rescuers that the explosion had blocked the bottom of the up cast
shaft and that somewhere, deep in the workings, a fire had broken out and the
mixture of smoke and afterdamp was rushing into the maze of tunnels and workings
deep in the southern area of the pit. Unceasing efforts were made to penetrate
the workings, the men defying small explosions, intense heat and suffocating
smoke coming from the workings. On the third night, an explosion of shattering
force reversed the ventilation, the downcast shaft now becoming the upcast. The
rescuers narrowly
escaped with their lives as they were pursued along the tunnels to the cage at
Wigan Junction by an oily cloud of black smoke. After this it was clear that a
large part of the mine was on fire, thick acrid fumes belching up out of the
once downcast shaft. This put an end to rescue attempts and a roll call showed
that sixty-eight men remained half a mile below the surface of the earth and
without question were already dead.
It soon became apparent that there was no hope of dealing with the fire except
by flooding the pit. Representatives of the workmen, the owners and the Home
Office agreed that this course should be adopted. Over 100 million gallons of
water were poured down the shafts during the succeeding weeks. During this time
violent explosions, some almost as great as the original one, were experienced.
The
Inquest
The inquest on the seven bodies recovered opened on the evening of August 20th.
Formal identification was made by a procession of widows, sons and mothers. The
bodies had been laid out in the Abram Smallpox Hospital and relatives identified
features of some, and clogs, clothes, watches of the ones whose features had
been badly burned. Mr. Samuel Brighouse, the coroner, a man with much experience
of the frequent smaller accidents in the area, let it be known that all
responsible persons would have the opportunity to question and cross-examine the
witnesses. He was very much in command of his court and showed concern for the
relatives. "As the bodies are recovered,” he said, “I shall convene the court
and summon the jury at once, so that burial orders can be made without delay of
any sort.”
The Relief Fund
A fund was opened and an immediate donation of £100 arrived from His Majesty the
King. Contributions came from near and far - the coppers of the unemployed and
the gifts from the wealthy and from industrial concerns.
The Resumed Inquest
In September, a resumed inquest heard that, until the mine was cleared and the
cause of the explosion determined, there could be only a formal identification
of bodies but because it would be some months before this could be done, the
coroner decided to hear what evidence there was.
All the witnesses agreed that the tragedy was the result of an ignition of gas
and His Majesty’s Inspector of Mines, Mr. Hall, outlined the likeliest causes of
this, the most obvious being a blown-out shot, or a defective lamp. It was
suggested that the explosion was aggravated by coal dust in dirty roads and that
pockets of gas in the cavities of old or abandoned workings were ignited by a
shot penetrating these cavities, the shot-firer being unaware of their
existence. Letters were received from throughout the country, some condemned
owners for making men work in dangerous areas, others, condemned the Miners’
Lodges for ignoring complaints allegedly made by men at the Maypole and several
letters blamed the safety lamp - the Marsaut. “After some years,” said one
correspondent, “the threads in the base fitment wear, allowing gas to travel
along the threads,”. Corrosion of the pillars supporting the glass, and thus
destroying the air-tight fit was also offerred as a possible cause of failure.
Witnesses agreed that the so-called “permitted” explosives were only safe if
used under certain specified conditions, but there was disagreement about the
value of damping with water to keep down coal dust about the heat in certain
working places and about the correctness of, and notice taken of, the firemen’s
report - it was clear from the evidence that the reports were rarely compared.
The surviving firemen were questioned very closely and were found to hold
differing views as to the quantities of gas found, especially in a large cavity
in the roof caused by a fall some time earlier.
The movement of people and tubs could clear small pockets of gas away these were
therefore not always reported because an hour later the gas was cleared. Some
men assured the court that the gas was so strong near the workings face that
their lamps had to be “put back” into a clearer area. Some men had their
drawers, or helpers, “fanning” them with a shirt and others claimed that they
frequently went away to clear their heads in cleaner air. All these claims were
denied by others. There were no records of complaints made at the Lodge meetings
and no use was made of Rule 38, by which two men could be appointed to examine
working conditions on the miners’ behalf. The court had to decide - were some
men working bad areas because the money was good, and ignoring safety rules?
Some places were so easy to work that, as one man put it “You could kick the
coal out with your clogs.” The main complaint was that there were not enough
empty tubs and since a man made his money on the amount he cut, waiting for tubs
meant a loss of income. One witness said he made an average of £2.5s. (£2.25) a
week, which was enough to keep a man and his family in reasonable comfort.
There were frequent brushes between the coroner and Mr. Walsh who represented
the Miners’ Lodge. He was rebuked many times for repeating questions which the
coroner felt had been satisfactorily answered already, and for wasting the
court’s time. Mr. Walsh accused the coroner of deliberately silencing him.
The Mines’ Inspector, gave the mine and its managers a good report. The reports
he had seen from the firemen were adequate and he classed it as a clean,
well-run pit, a bit “firey” but easy to work. He would not give an opinion as to
the cause - no-one could until the pit was explored, and then the job would be
difficult because of the flooding.
The Verdict
The inquest closed, on July 8th, 1909, after sitting for 23 sessions. The
coroner took an hour to sum up and then the room was cleared whilst the jury,
all local men, considered the questions put to them. They spent six hours in
earnest deliberation, and when the public were again allowed in, announced that
they were unanimous in all their findings, which were that:
1. The men died from an explosion caused by a mixture of coal dust and gas,
fired by a shot using a permitted explosive and into which too much trust was
placed. The supervision during the manager’s absence was slack.
2. It appears that due precaution had not previously been taken by some of the
men whose lives had been lost.
3. That it was possible that
some of the men may have been willing to work, in dangerous conditions in order
to make ‘easy’ money.
4. Firemen should not be expected to fire shots as well, but there should always
be a man doing the job exclusively.
5. There should be more mines’ inspectors.
6. There should be a rule limiting the number of people down a pit when shots
are fired.
7. Floors should be swept as well as watered to keep down the dust.
Conclusion
The coroner on dismissing the jury, recalled the tragic stories brought out by
witnesses. Boys found clinging to fathers’ legs, men with cloth over their faces
and open tea cans as they vainly tried to combat the sulphurous fumes. Families
in which all the men folk had been wiped out. The fearlessness of men who spoke
out even though they feared it would blacklist them by either collier or
Company. Above all, the shadow lasting longer than the fumes below, that lay
over the whole community from the day, eleven months earlier when the Maypole
“went up”.
From “The History and Development of the
Wigan Coalfield”, Wigan
Metropolitan Borough Museums Service, Wigan (exhibition brochure c1978?)
The Men Who Lost Their Lives
Seventy
five men and boys lost their lives in the disaster. The postcard published by W
Gothard of Barnsley quotes 76 as the toll, but prints 77 names. Fortunately two
of those listed had not been killed that day. Only seven bodies were recovered,
the remains of the other 68 being still underground.
G. Allen GEORGE ALLEN
E. Banks MEYRICK BANKS
J. Bennett JOHN BENNETT
M. Boyle MICHAEL BOYLE
J. Burns JAMES BYRNE
E. Cafferty EDWARD CAFFERTY
M. Cafferty MICHAEL CAFFERTY
Pat Carroll PATRICK CARROLL
J. Cassidy JOHN CASSIDY
P. Caulfield PETER CAULFIELD
P. Charnock PETER CHARNOCK
J. Conway JAMES CONWAY
J. Crehen JAMES CREHEN
T. Cross THOMAS CROSS
Pat Cullen PATRICK CULLEN
J. Danson JAMES DAWSON
J. Davies JOHN DAVIES
A. Devaney
AUSTIN DEVANEY
T. M. Donald JAMES McDONALD
J. Donlon JOHN DONLON
T. Donlon THOMAS DONLON
J. Doyle J DOYLE
A. Draper
P. Duffy P DUFFY
S. Evans
T. Fishwick
J. Flannery
C. Ford
J. France
M. Gallagher M GALLAGHER
T. Gaskell
J. Goghegan J GEOGHEGAN
J. M. Grath JOHN McGRATH
Thomas Groark THOMAS GROARK
John Hammons JOHN W. HANNON
T. Harrison THOMAS HARRISON
A. Henderson ANDREW HENDERSON
J. Hodgson JAMES HODSON
Geo. Holcroft GEORGE A. HOLCROFT
J. Holcroft JAMES HOLCROFT
M. House MICHAEL HOUSE
A. Hughes ARTHUR HUGHES
Tom Jennings THOMAS JENNINGS
T. Kearns THOMAS KEARNES
H. Killoran HUGH KILLORAN
T. Killoran TOM KILLORAN
J. Kirby JOHN KIRKBY
T. Lloyd THOMAS LLOYD
G. Melling (DID NOT DIE IN MAYPOLE PIT DISASTER)
A. Monks ALFRED MONKS
W. Monks WILLIAM H. MONKS
W. Moore (DID NOT DIE IN MAYPOLE PIT DISASTER)
J. Moran JOHN MORAN
Pat Mulligan PATRICK MULLIGAN
T. Murphy THOMAS MURPHY
W. McCabe WILLIAM McCABE
E. McDonough ANTHONY McDONOUCH
T. McEllen THOMAS McELLIN
P. McGowan PATRICK McGOWAN
M. McGrael MICHAEL McGRAIL
McGuckien MICHAEL GUCKEIN
McMalloy MICHAEL MALLORY ?
B. Nelson HERBERT NELSON
J. Pennington JOHN PENNINGTON
H. Pimblett THOMAS H. PIMBLETT
R. Pimblett ROBERT PIMBLETT
JAMES I. ROBINSON
O. Robinson OZIAS ROBINSON
L. Rushton LEVI RUSHTON
P. Simm PETER SIMM
Pat Sloyan PATRICK SLOYAN
H. Taylor HENRY TAYLOR
J. Taylor JOHN E. TAYLOR
J. Walkden
JAMES WALKDEN
J. Walsh JOSEPH WALSH
R. Wilding ROBERT WILDING
Maypole
Disaster Memorial
in
Abram Church yard
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