Maclaren Colliery No.1 pit Explosion – Abertysswg – 1902

MACLAREN, (No.1 Pit). Abertysswg, Monmouthshire. 3rd. September, 1902.

The colliery was on the Monmouthshire side of the Rhymney Valley between Tredegar and Rhymney and belonged to the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. Mr. H.E. Mitton was the certificated manger for the Ty Trist and Whitworth Colliery and acted as assistant to Mr. Tallis who was the General Manager. Mr. John Evans was the certificated manager of the colliery but took over from Mr. John Powell in July 1901. Mr. David Evans was the certificated undermanger and there were three overmen and thirteen examiners. Mr. Tallis went underground about once a week as did Mr. Mitton. John Evans lived at the colliery and devoted the whole of his time to his job. David Evans was called the undermanager but his position was more of an overman at the No.2 Pit and he had no supervision or control over any other part of the mine. The Inspector commented that this was not consistent with the position of the undermanger under the Act.

Of the three overmen and 13 examiners, there were, in the No.1 Pit workings, two overmen and five examiners during the day and four examiners at night. One of these, Thomas Lodwick was in charge of the Ras Las and Polka workings on the west side, on the night of the explosion. He was assisted in the examination before the night shift commenced by James R. Thomas, a shotman and acting examiner.

There were 777 men employed underground at the colliery of whom 403 worked in the No.2 Pit and 214 in the No.2 Pit by day and 110 in the No.1 Pit and 50 in the No.2 pit at night. There were 43 employed in the west side workings on the night of the explosion.

There were two shafts, the No.1 was 16 feet in diameter and 294 yards deep to the Ras Las Seam and was halfway between New Tredegar and Rhymney. The upcast shaft the No.2 was 12 feet by 16 feet oval and was 154 yards deep to the Yard Coal. This was 2,600 yards to the north close to the Rhymney Station on the Brecon and Merthyr Railway which formerly belonged to the Rhymney Iron Company, Limited. Coal winding commenced in 1893 and production was steadily increased to 1,250 or 1,300 tons a day.

The following seams passed through the No.1 shaft and were worked from there. They were the Big Vein which was five and a half feet thick and was at 250 yards, the Yard Coal which was three feet eight inches thick at 252 yards, the Polka Coal, three feet nine inches thick at 292 yards and the Ras Las Seam which varied from two feet nine inches to five feet thick was at 294 yards. All the seams gave off firedamp and were very dry and dusty. the seams were worked by longwall, the South Wales system of having stall roads about 15 yards apart but also to some extent, on the Barry and Nottingham system in which trams were taken along the face, the stall roads being 60 to 80 yards apart.

The workings in the Polka and Ras Las seams The main west level extended 450 yards to the west side and divided the rise and the dip workings which were about equal in extent. From the main level there were single headings driven at an angle to the rise and dip from which the stall roads were turned away from the face and the intermediate spaces packed with rubbish. The road was secured with timber where necessary in addition to the gobs.

The ventilation was provided by a Parson’s steam turbine fan which was at the top of the No.2 shaft. It was erected with the expectation that it would produce 150,000 cubic feet of air per minute through the workings at 3 inches water gauge but it did not exceed 74,000 cubic feet at 4 inch water gauge due to either the fan or the conditions underground. The Inspector would not commit himself on this discrepancy. The last record made on 1st September showed that 64,194 cubic feet passed through the working with 19,075 in the No.1 Pit on the west side workings and the Polka and Ras Las Seams. A new fan that would produce 300,000 cubic feet had been ordered some months before the explosion but had not been delivered to the mine. The air that went through the Polka and Las Ras workings joined air from the No.1 pit Big Vein and Yard Coal workings which was, in the opinion of the Inspector, “most objectionable and entirely wrong but is not directly connected with this explosion.”

Locked safety lamps of the Ackroyd and Best Bonnetted Clanny lamps were exclusively used in the mine except near the bottom of the shaft where there wee electric lamps. The workings were dry and dusty

There were about 85 working places in the west side workings and at the time of the explosion this face was about 700 yards long with 450 on the dip side and 250 on the rise side.  Those workings on the rise side had extended a further 150 to 160 yards before the previous June when a crush occurred in the workings in the North-West corner. Owing to the consequent interruption of the ventilation, Amos Barry and the face on the other side were stopped and gas accumulated.

Blasting was allowed only in the workings on the deep side of the Main West level and was carried out between shifts, 6.15 to 7.30 a.m. when all the men were out of the mine with the exception of the shotlighter and a limited number of men which was in accordance wit the Explosives in Mines Order and was in no way connected with the disaster.

The explosion occurred on Wednesday 3rd September 1902 at about 11.30 p.m. when 16 men lost their lives, three others were seriously injured and 15 more or less so. The effects of the explosion were confined to the workings in the Polka and Ras Las Seams on the west side on the No. 1 pit. It was heard at the surface of the No.1 shaft but none of the force that often accompanied explosions were noticeable and there was no damage to the shaft or to the surface installations.

The men who lost their lives were:

• William Rawlings aged 25 years, timberman, who was severely burnt.
• Thomas Minton aged 37 years, haulier, was severely burnt and died 7th September.

These two were repairing the Main West Level about 30 yards inside the new stables.

• George Wilkins aged 41 years, a labourer, died from the effects of afterdamp.
• George Grainger aged 32 years, a labourer, died from the effects of afterdamp.

These two were repairing the Main Level, just outside No.4 Dip.

• Evan H. Evans aged 25 years, collier, who died from the effects of afterdamp and was getting coal at the bottom of No.3 heading.
• John T. Jones aged 23 years, haulier, who died from the effects of afterdamp and was hauling from above, back to the No.3 dip.
• Albert Williams aged 19 years, labourer, who died from the effects of afterdamp who was working with the repairers.
• Rees Jones aged 26 years, labourer who was severely burned and was cleaning the crossroad from No. 3 to No.2 heading.
• William J. Jones aged 17 years, severely burned and was working on the crossroad with Rees Jones.
• John Jones aged 30 years, collier who was severely burned who was working at the face of the No.3 heading.
• William Baker aged 24 years, collier, who was very severely burned.
• William H. Brown aged 32 years, collier, burned very severely. Brown and Baker were working at the face of Amos Barry.
• Gwilym Roberts aged 34 years, haulier who was very severely burned and was hauling from above.
• Walter Griffiths aged 25 years, haulier, burned but not severely who was stowing rubbish from Morgan’s heading.
• Gwilym Morgan aged 41 years, collier, burned but not severely who was opening out the airway between Thomas Death’s stall and Morgan’s heading.
• Azariah Probert aged 25 years, haulier, burned but not severely who was hauling from Morgan’s heading.

Three or four others were seriously injured but recovered from the pit alive, including the examiner, Lodwick. At the time of the report, they were said to be recovering.

Of the sixteen deceased, 16 lived in Monmouthshire and two in Glamorganshire and the proceedings came under the jurisdiction of two Coroners, Mr. J.B. Walford, Coroner for North Monmouthshire and Mr. R.J. Rhys, Corner for East Glamorganshire. Mr. Walford held and inquest on the 14 bodies and took evidence fully and completely and Mr. Rhys held a formal inquest taking sufficient evidence to arrive at a verdict.

The Monmouth inquest opened on the 6th. September and evidence of identification was taken and the proceedings were then adjourned until Thursday 25th September at Tredegar. Mr. Walford presided at the adjourned inquest when all interested parties were represented with Mr. Smillie of the Miners Federation of Great Britain appearing for the workmen.

The inquiry extended over three full days and 28 witnesses gave evidence. Thomas Lodwick was too ill to given evidence at the inquiry but had been on his rounds of inspection during the night shift and was on his way back to the pit when the explosion occurred and he was found in the main west level about 70 yards from the pit bottom.

The origin of the explosion appeared to be fairly clear in the extreme north and Rise corner of the Ras Las workings off the No.1 heading where the fall had blocked off the ventilation which as a result the working places to the rise of the stall road known as Thomas Death’s Road when had turned off a heading called “William Davies’s or “Talybont” had been abandoned and fenced off as a “Dangerous Place”.

As the fall was too large to remove a small ventilating current was driven through the fall into the No.2 heading. The intention was to make the work good and restore the ventilation. It was generally agreed that the gas ignited others in Amos’s Barry or at Gwilym Morgan’s working place. In the former was found a broken lamp but whether the damage came from the explosion or before it could not be determined. Morgan’s lamp was not found and was thought to be under fall.

The jury arrived at the following verdict:

The deceased persons lost their lives by an explosion of inflammable gas in the No.1 McLaren Colliery, Abertysswg, either near or at Amos Barry Heading or at the face where Nos. 15 and 16 (Morgan’s Heading) were working. That there is not sufficient evidence for us to decide whether a naked light or a broken lamp fired the gas or whether the gas fired at an intact lamp. A large majority of the jury consider the ventilation of the colliery at the supposed points of the explosion was satisfactory, apart from the question of ventilation the jury consider all interested persons believed these places safe for working. A large majority of the jury there is no one to blame for the matter.

Two riders were added by the jury:

1. The jury thinks it should be strongly kept before the colliers that their lamps should be put in secure positions.
2. That gas showing in a lamp should be taken as a danger signal and men are not allowed to work in or near it until some responsible official has decided whether the position is dangerous or not.

In November of that year, both Sir Charles McLaren, on the Board of the TIC, and William Abrahams (Mabon), for the Union, raised the matter of Albert Medals to reward the heroism of the Rescuers. The Home Secretary declined to forward the matter to the Queen. The Tredegar Company had no such qualms and presented the senior officials and twenty men who took part in the rescue attempts with a silver watch, vellum scroll of thanks and a £5 note.

REFERENCES
The Report to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Home Department of the circumstances attending the explosion which occurred at the MacLaren Colliery (No.1 Pit) Abertysswg, on the 3rd September 1902 by S.T. Evans K, M.P., and J.S. Martin, One of His Majesty’s Inspectors of Mines.
Maclaren Colliery (No.1 pit) Abertysswg – explosion. Report by J.S. Martin, One of His Majesty’s Inspectors of Mines.
The Colliery Guardian, 5th September 1902, p.518. 30th January 1903, p.243, 6th February, p.295, p. 304, 20th February, p.p.428, 27th February, p. 482, 6th March, p.543, 13th March, p.596.
”And they worked us to death”. Ben Fieldhouse and Jackie Dunn. Gwent Family History Society.
Ray Lawrence

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.