Bersham Colliery Explosions – Wrexham – 1909

BERSHAM. Wrexham, Denbighshire. 3rd. August, 1909.

The colliery was the property of the Bersham Coal Company and had recently been sunk to the main coal seam and the opening of the seam was not very extensive but the coal was known to give off a great deal of firedamp. The Main Coal was reached by a shaft 418 yards deep. The diameter of the downcast pit was 10 feet 6 inches and the upcast 13 feet. The ventilation was by a Guibal fan, 30 feet in diameter and the total amount of air passing through the mine on the day of the explosion was 43,110 cubic feet per minute and of this 5,980 cubic feet would pass into the West Side and 11,040 cubic feet on the East Side.

The coal was worked by gunpowder and on the evening of the explosions a shot had been fired at the far end of the No.2 West Level which had ignited a blower of firedamp. Attempts were made by the workmen to smother the flame but without success and eventually they left the mine and went to seek the help of the manager.

On the arrival of the manager with some firemen and others, nine in all, they went down the pit and tried to cut off the ventilation by means of stoppings. By this time the smoke had become very dense and they could not get close to the face or the intake end of the West Level. They appeared to have partly opened an air door to try to drive away some of the smoke. The opening of the door reduced the ventilation in the North level and neighbouring places. Gas appears to have accumulated very rapidly and eventually it came into contact with the flames of the fire in the West Level and exploded at a point about 335 yards from the pit eye. The manger was killed as well as seven other people and a workman named Valentine was seriously injured but he died a few days later.

Those who lost their lives were:

• William Pattison aged 57 years, the manager,
• Joseph Mathias, aged 34 years, fireman,
• Edward Owen aged 49 years, fireman,
• John Johns aged 42 years, fireman,
• James Roberts aged 36 years, fireman,
• Henry Valentine aged 44 years, pitman,
• Thomas Evans aged 32 years, collier,
• Edward Parry aged 36 years, collier,
• Robert Lloyd aged 39 years, hooker-on.

The inquest into the disaster was held at the County Buildings before Mr. B.H. Thelwell, Coroner and the following jury, Messrs. Robert Roberts, John Salisbury, William Robert Griffiths, Edward Tunnah, David Yates, William Edwards, William Henry Simpson, Stephen Jones, R. Jones, John Prince, Benjamin Lloyd, Richard Pennah, Daniel W. Robinson, John Jones, John Owens and Robert Green. Also present were H.M. Inspector of Mines, Mr. Henry Hall and his assistant Mr. Hedley, Mr. J.H. Walker a mining engineer of Wigan and a number of colliery managers from surrounding collieries. Mr. Ellis, solicitor of Wigan, appeared for the Colliery Company.

Mr. Walker, of Wigan, was the first witness to be called. He had acted as consulting engineer to the Company from the preceding March and produced a plan of the mine as it was before the explosion. Mr. Walker thought that the explosion had taken place in the No.2 heading, west of the No.1 Pit. He had examined all the workings on the 27th and 28th July with Mr. Edward Lloyd Jones, the mineral agent, and had found the ventilation in good order and the only gas to be found was on the No.3 level on the east side. The fireman’s book which was kept in an office close to the downcast shaft was mostly destroyed in the explosion.

A collier, John Williams, who had worked off an on in the Bersham Colliery for about four years and knew all the men that had been killed went into the workings at 2 p.m. on the day of the explosion with his brother. He had seen shots fired as he went down the pit by Edward Owens who also fired shot at about 8 p.m. The shots were fired in William’s working place and the one next to it. He did not know if the place had been examined by the fireman. They worked up till 8 p.m. and did not see any gas in their place but there was gas in the next place, about five yards away. They were in the pit when the gas fired. Edward Owens, one of the deceased, called to him that the gas had fired and added, “Let’s go lads and put it out.” John Williams went into the place with another collier, John Hughes, and they tried to brush the gas out with a piece of brattice cloth but he did not succeed in doing so and they gave up and went to the surface. Williams believed that the gas had been ignited at a moderate blower.

Joseph Jones, another collier said Edward Owens was always close by when he fired the shots and a shot was never fired without the fireman’s orders. When they could not put out the blower, they all got frightened and ran away but Edward Owens sent Johns for some water from the pit eye. When he returned, he could not get to Owens because of smoke. He tried to go another way but by that time the alarm had been given and everyone was running the other way. He went with them and did not see Owens on the pit bank.

James Owen, collier, went down the pit at 2 p.m. and knew all the men who had been killed. He was working on the North Seam Level and at about 9 p.m. was called by others to come and try to put out fire. He had gone on Owens’ orders with Jones to get water from the pit eye and could not get through the smoke but on his return, he met the manager and Joseph Mathias but no words were exchanged between them. He had been a collier for forty years and whenever blowers were seen he had always wedged the coal down.

Henry Mathias, collier, thought that it was dangerous colliery to work in but that it was carefully managed. Thomas Steen, also a collier was working on the East Side of the North Level and at about 8 p.m. John Hughes came and asked him and his partner, Evan Parry, who was killed in the disaster, to come and help him put out a fire. He went back and he and his partner found smoke and ran for their lives. He saw the face of the coal on fire and he heard a man named Anthony calling out. He went back to help him as he was smothering on the road. The wind rushed through the workings and doors clapped violently and he felt sure that there would be an explosion as he knew that there was gas close by. Three days before Joseph Mathias had told him to put up rails to prevent people going into a place twenty yards off where Mathias had told him there was gas present.

Mr. N.R. Griffiths, mining engineer of Wrexham, heard the explosion at about midnight and immediately drove to the colliery. He was told of the position by John Pattison and Mr. Hough and they went to look at the air that was coming from the mine through the fan drift and there was a strong smell of burning coal coming from the mine. Griffiths and Hough descended the downcast shaft in the bottom deck of the cage since the cover had been blown off the top deck. They found some damage to the shaft. The water rings were broken which made the shaft very wet and the down signal strand was broken about halfway down but about four yards from the bottom they found that the rods on the north side of the shaft had been blown into the shaft and the cage jammed against them. They returned to the surface where the met Mr. Dodd and got a ladder. With the help of the ladder Dodd and Griffiths got into the north inset, told the other two to wait in the cage for them and they set off along the North Level. A few yards from the shaft they found a fall of roof and just beyond this they could see the first body which they later found was William Pattison. He was lying on his face and knees facing the shaft and appeared to have been blown towards the shaft by the blast. They satisfied themselves that he was dead and went along the Level. They found that both stoppings were down as was the air crossing and the air supply decreased the further they went.

At the old longwall working they could smell burning and a little further on they found Valentine alive. The door to the First West Heading was blown out and the air was stagnant. They went on along the North Level and there was thin white smoke hanging along the roof. The afterdamp was very strong and affected Griffiths and found that they could go no further. They shouted once or twice but got no reply and as they got no reply, Griffiths came to the conclusion that there was no one left alive in that part of the pit. He became worried for the safety of the mine other parts of the pit and thought it was likely that the injured Valentine would have some information. He returned to the pit eye and made arrangements to take Pattison’s body to the surface where he spoke to Valentine.

Valentine told him that when he had left the pit eye the hooker-on was there and as he had gone towards the north Level, he had met Pattison going towards the pit eye. Pattison had told him to hurry and Valentine was certain that the men must be further along the North Level. Valentine also confirmed that the blast came from the Level towards the pit eye.

Griffiths went back down the pit with Mr. Hedley, the Inspector and some men who they sent to the South Side of the shaft to try to find the body of the hooker-on. The body was found under the guide rods that had been blown into the South inset. They found that the afterdamp was not as strong in the North Level and as they made their way up the found the bodies of John Jones and Edward Owen. These bodies were taken to the pit eye and further progress along the level was prevented by the afterdamp and they found that they could not return as gas had filled the road behind them up to the point where they found Valentine.

Griffiths and Hedley decided that the safest way to get the bodies out was to erect brattice along the North level from this point, taking the air one side of the brattice and returning it down the other. They went to the pit eye and sent up the bodies of John Jones, Edward Owen and Robert Lloyd and went to the surface where they met Mr. Walker, Barnes and Hall. The work on the bratticing started on the morning of Saturday 7th and the second West heading was reached. The door was found shout and not damaged by the explosion but aboard was broken. This had been done intentionally, apparently to let some air to pass through the door. The stopping in the Main Return was knocked out to let air circulation. The bodies of James Roberts and Thomas Evans were found on the inbye side of the stopping.

Griffiths did not go down the pit again until the following Monday when the bodies of Evan Parry and Joseph Mathias were found. On the 18th August the ventilation was restored throughout the pit and a full examination of the mine was made by the inspectors and others who were interested parties. From the evidence that was available it was seen that the explosion came out along the North Level and in the workings on the South Side there were indications of a violent concussion which had blown tubs for some distance.

The last witness to give evidence at the inquiry was John Laidley Hedley, Assistant Inspector of Mines. He was critical of the use of gunpowder in mines and said:

Firedamp was freely given off in all parts of the seam and at the time of my inspection showed at the flame of the lamp in all the south headings, in addition to which there were blowers in several places. The danger of using gunpowder in such places was pointed out to Mr. Pattison, who presumable acquiesced in our views, as the work in this part of the mine was discontinued. The question then naturally arises whether in a seam of this character is it safe to fire shots at all. I am strongly of the opinion that shots should not be fired at any time when blowers are perceptible and that under any circumstances gunpowder should only be used when the men ordinarily employed in the mine are out of the mine. If it is held that the mine can not be worked under these circumstances, I may say that the principle is now being carried out in a number of fiery mines in Lancashire.

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspectors Report, 1909.

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