HEBBURN. “A” Pit. Hebburn, Durham. 4th. November, 1889.

The colliery was owned by the Tyne Coal Company and was on the south bank of the Tyne. Mr. R.T. Swallow was the chief manager with Mr. Joseph Elwen as the certificated manager of the colliery. There were two shafts at the colliery, the “A” pit which was the downcast which was 12 feet in diameter and the C Pit which was the upcast and was also 12 feet in diameter at the top of which was 36 feet diameter Guibal fan which exhausted the air from the mine.

The shafts were connected to the Hutton seam. At the “A” Pit which was the one affected by the explosion, there were three seams worked, the Bensham at 160 fathoms, the Hutton at 188 fathoms and the Beaumont at 210 fathoms. The Beaumont was reached by a drift a considerable distance to the north of the “A” Pit shaft which dipped at the rate of 12 inches to the yard. The explosion originated and the effects of it were solely in the Beaumont seam.

The seam had a section of 2 feet 4 inches of coal, 2 feet 6 inches of stone and 7 inches of coal. The top coal was worked on the longwall system with gateways about 10 yards apart and cross-gates at intervals of about 40 yards. The stone or band and the thin coal was worked in the ordinary gateways for a width of about four feet. The stone was used to build pack walls to support the roof.

The ventilation current entered the A Pit and passed along the Hutton seam on the top part of the 12-inch per yard drift where part of it went to the Hutton seam and part to the Beaumont seam workings. According to the record in the ventilation book, there were 11,000 cubic feet of air per minute going into the Beaumont seam.

The Beaumont workings were divided into three districts the 1st, 2nd and 3rd West. The effects of the explosion were confined to the 1st. west district. On the morning of the disaster Mr. Bell, the Assistant Inspector measured the air at a distance of about 300 yards from the headways where a shot had been fired and found that it was entering the district at a rate of 3,900 cubic feet per minute which was understood to be the usual quantity. The air passed in one current near the face of the coal by means of canvas doors hung in the gateways and then to the return. It was known that the seam gave off firedamp and at the inquest, it emerged that gas had been detected a month before the disaster but not in large quantities. The seam was not considered to be dusty.

The explosion occurred about 1.30 a.m. when only shotfirers, stonemen and shifters were at work in the mine. There were 20 men in the mine but only eight of these were in the 1st. West district. All the men who could have thrown some light on what happened were either killed or died later and two others were too far away.

The area was fully inspected after the event and a shothole was found to have been drilled in the lower part of the stone band close to the thin top coal. The hole had been drilled by machine and was one and a half inches in diameter and 3 feet 10 inches deep. The hole was not well placed and had not done its work. The stone appeared to have been lifted and shaken. There was also no stemming in the hole which led to the conclusion that the shot had blown out and caused the explosion.

The men who lost their lives were:

  • Andrew Miller aged 36 years, shotfirer,
  • James McQuid aged 52 years, shifter,
  • Robert Hopps aged 33 years, shifter,
  • John Bones aged 23 years, stoneman,
  • William Welsh aged 23 years, stoneman,
  • Henry Stuart aged 19 years, putter.

The inquest was held by Mr. R.W. Cooper on the 14th, 20th and 28th November. Mr. R.W. Cooper, solicitor of Newcastle represented the owners and the Durham Miner’s Association was represented by Mr. H. Forrest of Durham. After hearing the evidence the jury brought in a verdict of “Accidental Death.”

 

REFERENCES
Mines Inspectors Report 1889.

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

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