LEYCETTE. Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. 21st. January, 1880.

Mr. Wynne was Her Majesty’s Inspector of Mines for the district. The explosion left sixty two dead at the Fair Lady Pit owned by the Crewe Coal and Iron Co. The pit had opened in 1879 and mined the Seven Foot Banbury Seam. The workings extended two hundred in one direction and three hundred yards in the other at a depth of four hundred and ten yards. There had been complaints about the ventilation in the Seven Foot Banbury Seam.

The explosion took place at the Lady Fair pit of the Leycette colliery which belonged to the Crewe Coal and Iron Co. near Newcastle-under-Lyme. There had been an explosion at the colliery on the 12th. September which had killed eight men but this time there was a great deal of destruction and loss of life. On the Monday before the disaster, the late manager and Burgess one of the deceased was summoned at the Newcastle Magistrates Court for neglecting to provide sufficient ventilation in the mine for the last explosion. The cases had been brought forward for a week.

On the morning of the explosion, seventy lamps had been given out to the men and boys in the pit and the explosion occurred about 8.30 a.m. A new ventilation fan had been installed since the last explosion and the roof of the fan house was lifted off but the fan was fortunately not damaged and soon freed the mine of gasses so that the rescuers could get below ground. A party was quickly formed but on descending the pit, they found that the guide-rods were damaged and it was some time before they got down the pit as these had to be repaired. Even so, the cage would not go the full depth and ladders had to be used. Mr. Lawson, the manager of a neighbouring pit and seven men were the first to go down.

A cage load of survivors was brought to the surface about noon and they included, William Burgess a fireman who was in charge of the pit at the time, Joseph Highfield, George Rowley, and Thomas Brookfield. They walked to the lamp room from the pithead where they received attention and then went home.

At intervals of fifteen minutes, the cage came up the shaft bringing two or three men at a time. Most of them were seriously injured and among them were Levi Knapper who died on the way to his house, Thomas Dean, Thomas Mayer, John Salisbury, Henry Darlington, Joseph Allen, Jesse Salmon and Edward Parry.

During the morning experienced mining engineers arrived at the pit and gave their assistance. Thomas Wynne, the Inspector of Mines, and Mr. Sawyer the assistant Inspector arrived during the day. There were many willing colliers ready to go down the pit and rescue parties were formed to descended the pit. In the afternoon the bodies of Mr. Greener, the manger since the last explosion, and his son, who was the underlooker, were found fifty yards along the south slant from the bottom of the pit. They were brought to the surface along with nine other bodies.

There were twelve bodies at the bottom of the pit when the work was interrupted by some blowers of gas which ignited and the work could not go on until they had been extinguished. The workers in the mine ran a geat risk of suffocation and had to retire.

One theory as to the cause was that there was blasting on the South Side at the time but only wedges were used on the North Side. It was found that hole had been bored and everywhere there were signs of the violence of the explosion such as was caused by lighting a shot. It was said that the ventilation of the pit had been improved by the installation of the fan.

Those who died were:

  • H.R. Greener certificated manger.
  • George Greener, underlooker.
  • Isaac Johnson, fireman.
  • Joseph Viggers, hooker-on.
  • John Kynerton, hooker-on.
  • Samuel Lambsdale, hooker-on.
  • Joseph Highfield, bratticeman.
  • James Scott, dayman.
  • Thomas Turner, trammer.
  • William Burgess, trammer.
  • Fred Jervis, a loader.
  • Patsy Hutchinson, collier.
  • Horatio Cartledge, collier.
  • George Bolton, wagoner.
  • Andrew Smallwood, loader.
  • Thomas Edwards, collier.
  • George Dixon, bricklayer.
  • Thomas Madders, bricklayer.
  • John Evans, labourer.
  • William Winkle, braker.
  • John Testall, collier.
  • William Yardley, loader.
  • Thomas Dean, loader.
  • Edward Viggars, collier.
  • John Eysley, loader.
  • Thomas Cross, collier.
  • Richard Lear, braker.
  • John Turncock, loader.
  • Jabez Burgess, jigger.
  • Richard Jenkinson, collier.
  • Herbert Walker, wagoner.
  • Fred Viggars, trammer.
  • William Huxley, trammer.
  • Henry Grocott, wagoner.
  • Joseph Heywood, loader.
  • James Webb, collier.
  • John Morris, collier.
  • William Lear, bratticeman.
  • John Lawton, bratticeman.
  • John Hall, loader.
  • George Tomkinson, collier.
  • Alfred Loundes, collier.
  • James Beesley, loader and jigger.
  • Henry Ferniough, riddler.
  • James Whaling, loader.
  • John Davis (Cross) collier.
  • William Pickering, dayman.
  • George Thorley, collier.
  • Thomas Darlington, collier.
  • John T. Williams, collier.
  • Henry Darlington, jigger.
  • John Salisbury, jigger.
  • George Rowley, collier.
  • Thomas Brookshaw, loader.
  • Jesse Salmon, loader.
  • George Salmon, collier.
  • Edward Parry, collier.
  • John James, taker-off.
  • Levi Knapper, crutter.
  • Benjamin Harrison, crutter.
  • Isaac Bailey, crutter.
  • Thomas Mayer, crutter.
  • John Boulton, crutter.
  • George Clews, labourer.
  • Edward Thornton, wagoner.

Those who were injured were:

  • Thomas Hulse,
  • John Salisbury,
  • Joseph Allen,
  • Edward Parry,
  • Thomas Mayer,
  • Henry Darlington,
  • Jesse Salmon.

The burials of sixty-two victims took place at Madeley cemetery the following Sunday. The inquest into the disaster was held at the Offley Arms Inn at Madeley before Mr. Booth, the Coroner when evidence was taken to try to find the cause of the explosion from men who were involved.

The first witness was Henry Beech, a miner, who was working at the pit on the day of the explosion. He had worked at the pit since last October. He came out of the pit early at 2 a.m. on the morning of the explosion and was employed at the Bang Up Level on the south side. He came up early that morning because he had had a missed shot otherwise he would have come up at 6 p.m. He reported that all with the mine when he came up.

Isaac Johnson was the fireman and he had been to Beech’s place twice during the night and fired a shot by blowing the flame through the gauze of his lamp after the place had been inspected.

When he his canister underground when he came up which was produced by George Smith at the inquiry. It had contained two cartridges when he left but mow it contained only one. Tompkinson would have to drill the hole where the shot was missed and use a cartridge and a canister.

Thomas Fletcher a miner testified that Johnson examined his place during the night and fired a shot about 1 a.m. A week before the explosion a shot had blown the brattice down and some gas had accumulated but this was easily cleared out.

Henry Thornton was a collier who had worked on the pit before the explosion but he had not seen gas and since the explosion he would not go down the pit. He knew another man named Foster was also afraid to go down the pit.

George Rowley, a collier went down the pit at 5.40 a.m. on the morning of the explosion. Johnson, the fireman had examined all the lamps and the places were clear of gas. Rowley got his pick and went to work in the lower part of the south workings. Thomas Bradshaw, another collier, was with him and they continued working until the explosion at 8.20 a.m. He did not hear the explosion but was affected by the gas when he tried to make his way to the pit bottom taking Thomas Brookshaw with him. His back was slightly burnt. Thomas Salmon was the engineman at the time of the explosion.

Mr.Samuel Lawton was the manager of the Harrison and Woodburn pit and went to the Fair Lady pit when he heard of the explosion. He could not get down the pit for about three and a half hours but he went down with a party of rescuers when the shaft was repaired. The party had difficulty in getting to the workings and they could get only one hundred anf fifty yards on the south side. They found traces of gas on the west side and at the top of the No.1 slant they found firedamp. He assisted in the recovery of the bodies.

Charles Roberts a firemen at the pit, was not in the pit at the time of the explosion but said that the pit was clear of gas at 10 p.m. and his report book showed no gas. There had been a small quantity on the 20th and the 29th December. He had made a thorough examination since the explosion and he thought that the explosion had been caused by an overcharged shot on the Bang up Level on the south side. He thought that dust had had a part to play in the disaster and he said that the mine was ventilated by pipes that had been installed since the September explosion.

Mr. Miles Settle, managing director of the Crewe Iron and Coal Co., told the inquiry that Mr. Greener had been the manager of the colliery since the 13th October. The mine was ventilated by a Schiele fan which was twelve feet in diameter which was driven by a steam engine with a pair of nine-inch vertical engine. This was a temporary measure and a more powerful engine was being erected at the colliery. The work had been done under the direction of Mr. Greener. About three weeks before the explosion Mr. Greener tested the fan which gave 65,000 cubic feet per minute at the maximum but it usually gave 28,000 cubic feet per minute when it was working.

Greener did not like blasting the coal and had offered to pay 6d per yard for wedging and money had been spent on the safety of the mine. Blasting was totally prohibited on the north side and it was only used in rock on the south side. It was thought that at shot had been missed on the south side as they found some rock was standing. Some gas might have been given off at a fault and fed on coal dust it could have been an explosion of coal dust rather than gas.

Hugh Thomas, engineman on the ventilating engine on the night prior to the explosion, left the pit at 6 a.m. and believed that all the day shift men had descended and the fan was working well. There had never been any trouble with the fan. When he left work he had handed over to John Viggers.

John Viggers of Scotley was the day engine tenter and he said the engine was in good order when the explosion occurred at 8.30 a.m. and that the fan was undamaged and was still working after the explosion. Alfred Bowers, the lamp cleaner had given out seventy-eight lamps. One was a Meusler lamp, forty-one were Teal Meiusler, thirteen Teal Davy lamps and three ordinary Davy lamps. He had examined all the lamps that came out of the mine after the explosion and found the fireman’s Davy lamp unlocked. This was the only one that was unlocked. Other lamps were given put the bricklayers by James Morris, another lampman. The unlocked lamp was found in Joseph Johnson’s hands. The lamp station was at the bottom of the shaft and it had been used for a week prior to the explosion. Sometimes as many as twenty lamps had to be relit in a shift. Mr. Greener had arranged the position of the lamp cabin and there were still eleven lamps still missing.

Morris had left the pit sometime before the explosion when Mr. Settle had given him the “sac”.

Edward Parry was one of the men inured by the explosion and had not fully recovered and was allowed to sit down to give his evidence. He was working on the second slant just past the thirlings and was getting coal when the explosion occurred. He was working with George and Joseph Salmon both of whom were killed. The ventilation was good and there were no signs of gas. He did not remember what happened to him after the explosion as he lost consciousness.

William Fletcher, the underviewer at the Harrison and Woodben pits went down the pit after the explosion. He found the roadways were filled with broken tubs, rails and rods. They found Edward Parry sitting against the face at the bottom of the slant. He described the passage of the exploring parties who found the dead and injured. He believed that the explosion came form a slant in the Bang up Level. Some brattice had been broken down and the fault was unventilated and he thought that there had been gas hanging about.

Edward Jones, a collier, testified as to the carefulness of Johnson the fireman. Both the men who worked in the place with him were killed. He said there was plenty of dust in the pit.

Mr. R.H. Wynne mining engineer with twenty-five years experience went to the pit when he heard of the explosion and went down the pit. He found that stoppings had been blown down along the south level but even with the stoppings down the ventilation was good. After consultation with Mr. Settle, Mr. Sawyer and others they came to the surface.

In the evening they descended again and assisted with the recovery of the bodies and he found gas but only in small quantities and a sheet was put up at once and the gas quickly cleared.

He found a shot hole drilled in the end of the south Bang up Level but he thought that the hole had been charged. He also found a hole that was an unused shot and it appeared to him that there was an overcharge of powder. There might have been a small quantity of gas but there was also a large quantity of dust and that might have been the cause of the explosion.

There was no evidence to show that the explosion had taken place on the north side. The north workings were a little charred but there were no signs of a separate explosion. In his opinion the ventilation was sufficient but he thought that the shot fired in the return airway should not have been fired.

It was a dusty mine and it was known that 2% of gas and coal dust would explode in contact with lamps. The dips on the south side were the dustiest that he had ever seen.

George Hunt, manager of the Talke colliery, concurred with the evidence that Mr. Wynne had given. He said that Mr. Greener, the manager who was killed in the explosion was an efficient and careful man.

James Morris, the lamp man who gave the Meusler lamps to the bricklayers on the morning of the explosion told the court that the lamps were in good order but he could did not know if they were taken into the pit.

William Burgess, a butty collier at the pit was one of the few that were rescued from the pit alive and he had received serious injuries and looked very ill in court. He went down the pit with Mr. Greener, the manager, and his son on the morning of the explosion. They had gone to measure some work and were at the pit bottom at the time of the explosion.

He had noticed a thirling had been cut from a tunnel in the south side to the Seven Foot Bang-up return air way on the previous day and there was an escape of air but brattice had been put up and the air restored to its proper course before 7 a.m. which was an hour and a half before the explosion. Several places had been fenced off on the south side because of a small blower of gas. He thought the thirling had nothing to do with the explosion and he found the ventilation good. In answer to a question from the Coroner, he said there had been more powder used in the mine since Mr. Greener had become the manager.

Mr. R.A. Sawyer, Assistant Inspector of Mines for the district had visited the mine on several occasions since the first explosion. On the 9th.October he had measured the ventilation in fourteen places and he found gas on the extreme south side of the workings. He had reported to Mr. Wynne that the roads were widened and that the ventilation was good. On leaving the pit he had told Mr. Greener that he would return and make another inspection in a month. The day that he should have made the inspection was the day of the explosion but he had been prevented from going by other work.

From a previous report he noted that Mr. Settle agreed not to allow blasting in the Lady Fair levels and was greatly astonished to find that blasting was still going on in the coal on the south side. He knew Mr. Greener before he became the manager of this colliery and thought he was a careful and experienced man.

On the day of the explosion he reached the pit at noon and went down at once. The few men that got out of the pit alive had come up but there were a few fires that had been found had not been extinguished.

He made his way to a large fire in Davies’s place on the south side and the levels were and dips were full of gas. He saw it put out with an extinguisher and pails of water. He then went to the north side and was joined there by Mr. Settle. This was full of gas and they put the fires out as they went along. Passing up the Bang Up pit, they went along to the Bang Up level in which he found the fireman’s book, clothes, a tape, and an open canister that belonged to Thompson with one cartridge, some fuse and a scraper and a rammer. At the face of the Bang up level he saw a hole drilled in the coal which, on close examination proved to be blown out shot. He saw that the fires were put out and left the mine in a safe condition.

The explosion was instantaneous all over the mine and almost all the bodies were found in the workings. Edwards was found with his pick in his hand in the act of striking the coal. Rowley and Bradshaw owed their marvellous escape to the fault at which the blast expended itself. Morris was the only one who had moved any distance. The bodies were burnt and many of them badly knocked about.

The Assistant Inspector found a missed shot and there was evidence of a shot fired in Morris’s place a short time before the explosion. There was a strong deposit of coke. The blown down coal was still at the face and a pick was found close by. This showed that he had been at work when the explosion came. He must have been able to proceed a little way down the road followed by Lear and Lawton and they were all were found facing the pit indicating that they were trying to get out of the pit. Morris’s canister was empty when it was found. Samuel Plant (No.42) was working at the top of the level had left his work and stepped into the cage a few minutes before the explosion. He had been told by Morris to tell the fireman if he found him that he had a shot ready to fire. The furnaceman’s body was found at the bottom of the second thirling from the face and was covered with bricks and rubbish in the explosion.

Templeton’s body was at the bottom of the dip and Hall’s was found ten yards up the dip. He concluded that the fireman was coming to the south side and the first fired a shot in Morris’ place and then lighted a stone shot in Tompkinson’s level, taking refuge at the bottom of the second thirling whilst Tompkinson and Hall fired the shot. The fireman’s was buried by a blown down stopping.

The ventilation according to George Greener’s notebook was 18,630 cubic feet per minute passing along the south side. Allowing for leakage, 10,000 cubic feet would be leakage and the rest would enter the Bang up level. He believed that gas was continually being emitted on the south level and gas would be given off in the working places.

The Seven Foot Banbury at the Leycett colliery was very dirty and the dust very fine and was held in suspension in the air. The coal was riddled underground and this would cause a lot of dust in the south workings. The dust produced by Thorley, Allan and Cross would make a lot of dust which would be mixed with the air before it went up to the Bang up level. On occasions, the dust had been so thick that Brown, one of the firemen had often waited for the bulk to disperse before he fired a shot. It was known that dust mixed with gas could soon become an explosive mixture. He believed that the stone shot was overcharged and produced a large flame that formed an explosive mixture and was fired by the flame of the shot. The dust raised by the good ventilation would feed the explosion.

Evidence of the power of the explosion was seen by the body of Walker whose body was literally cut in two the pieces being found three yards apart and of Greener and his son whose bodies were not recognisable and had all traces of clothing torn off. Greener had intended to do away with the riddling and was making a jig brow which was good to the memory of the men.

Mr. Wynne came to the conclusion that the explosion was caused by a blown out shot in the south Bang up level. Mr. T. Evans Inspector for the Midland district thought it possible that the gas was ignited by faulty lamp.

The verdict of the jury was:

That the men met their deaths by an explosion caused by the discharge of a shot in the No.1 Bang Up level and that no blame be attached to anyone at the pit.

The jury also made the following recommendations:

1) That blasting by powder be discontinued altogether in firey mines while men were working therein.

2) There should be more frequent inspections at uncertain intervals.

The jury also respectfully presented to the Home Office the great inconvenience that they had been put to and hoped that they would see fit to give them adequate remuneration for the time they spent at the inquiry. The coroner said he would make the necessary representations on the point.

 

REFERENCES
Colliery Guardian, 23rd January 1880, p.138, 30th April 1880 p.692.
Mines Inspectors Report. 1880. Mr. Thomas Wynne.
The Illustrated London News, 31st January  1880.
Copy of the proceedings in regard to the first explosion at Leycett Colliery, North Stafford. (Mr. McDonald.) Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 7 June 1880.

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

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