Baddesley Colliery Explosion – Atherstone – 1882

BADDESLEY. Atherstone, Warwickshire. 1st. May. 1882.

The colliery was in the estate of the late W.S. Dugdale and was a few miles from Atherstone and the property of the owners of Merevale Hall. An explosion of gas caused the loss of twenty-three lives and nine others died from suffocation including the owner Mr. Stratford Dugdale. The explosion was serious and unusual and what took place from the time of discovering the underground fire and to the sealing of the shafts was of great mining interest at the time.

The colliery consisted of two shafts, No.1 and No.2 both of 7 feet in diameter and 840 yards deep. There was also another shaft known as the ventilating shaft or fan drift and all the three shafts were connected by a drift. There was a pumping pit called the Speedwell Pit which was 771 feet deep and 8 feet in diameter and the pumping engine there was capable of pumping over a million gallons per week. At the bottom of the No.1 shaft there was a double roadway going towards Hurley and this led to the deep workings. Communication between the two roadways by short passages at the end of which there were folding doors with the exception of the one nearest the shafts. The roadways to the deep workings were steep and were 1 in 3 at one place.

The workings were about 1,000 yards at the deep from the bottom of the shaft and an engine was placed near the shaft bottom which was used for raising coal from the deep to the upper levels. Along the bottom level a small quantity of water had found its way from the coal workings to the bottom of the incline and up to a short time before the disaster, the water was drawn up from this point in tubs and thence to the pumping engine. These tubs were made of wood and they leaked along the incline causing considerable damage to the floor which lifted.

To stop this some other was of raising the water had to be found. A self-contained engine boiler was placed in the return airway at the extreme deep of the workings which supplied steam to work a small engine to pump the water up the incline. The boiler was set on its end and the roof cut away so that the smoke, steam and flame passed down the top of the airway. The airway was driven in the solid but there was coal on either side. It was supposed that this coal was set on fire from the boiler. The boiler was installed with the full consent of Mr. Gillett, the colliery engineer, and he was given instructions by the manager to insulate the boiler with bricks but this was not done.

On the morning of 1st May, Mr. Day, one of the deputies going to work descended the upcast shaft and met his father, Charles, at the bottom. He told his father that there was smoke in the shaft and he did not know where it was coming from. Charles Day immediately went up the shaft to see for himself and found a lot of smoke and had great difficulty in the shaft with noxious fumes and a considerable quantity of smoke which left him exhausted when he reached the surface.

Day sent for George Parker the manager and asked him to follow him into the mine when he arrived. Day went into the workings but he could not get down the incline because of the large amounts of smoke which was so dense that he could go only a few yards. Parker with some other men had descended and arrived just as Day was coming back. They made several attempts to penetrate the smoke but found that is was impossible.

Matters were now so serious that the owner Mr. Dugdale and the agent Mr. Podmore were sent for and it was decided that the assistance be sort of Mr. Smallman a mining engineer who lived quite close to the colliery. Smallman, after making himself familiar with the underground layout of the colliery, devised schemes to drive the smoke from the mine and hoped that they would be able to get into the first communication between the intake and the return and reach the seat of the fire. All efforts were driven back by the smoke and fumes and several men were overcome. Fresh volunteers were called for and they also met with no success. This was the final effort to reach the nine men who were known to be in the workings.

The call for volunteers was readily answered and at the request of Mr. Smallman and Mr. Pogmore and his son, were amongst them and many of the workmen. Very soon after Mr. Dugdale descended although he did not anything about mine procedures but thought that his presence would aid the confidence of the men and lead them to greater efforts to save their fellow workmen. He went down the shaft and reached the place where the explorers were at work. The new arrivals brought fresh materials with them and Mr. Smallman started to put his plans to recover the mine into operation. They started about 6 p.m. and worked until 8.30 a.m. when the air suddenly became motionless. There was a loud report like a roar of thunder and flames which burnt Messrs. Dugdale, Podmore and son, Parker and others and killed twenty-three men. Of the 18 men in the advance party, only one survived and he made his way to the shaft and ascended with others who were injured and went to the engine house.

Mr. Evans received a telegram at his house but he was away from home and Mr. Stokes his assistant was sent for and did not get to the colliery until 9 a.m. where he found Smallman lying very badly burnt in the engine house. He did not recognise him until he spoke. He told the Assistant Inspector what had happened and that there were men in the mine but it would be dangerous to go in as there might be another explosion any time.

Without hesitation Mr. Stokes asked for volunteers and accompanied by Mr. Spruce, a mining engineer of great experience, and Messrs. Marsh, Mottram, Charles Day and William Morris went down the pit and groped their way in the dark along the level of the engine plane which they found filled with noxious fumes and smoke from roof to a small distance from the floor. On hearing a voice they rushed into the smoke and brought out Mr. Dugdale who was in a very weak state. They wrapped him in blankets and brought him to the surface.

Other descents were made by William Pickering, Joseph Chetwynd, Mr. Stokes, Mr. Marsh and Mr. Mottram and they succeed in bringing put Rowland Till and John Collins alive. These men died later and the final death toll was twenty-three.

When Mr. Evans arrived at the colliery he found smoke coming up the shafts indicating to him that there was fire raging underground. He held a consultation with Mr. Gillett of Derby, the mining engineer at the colliery and decided that further attempts to at rescue would be foolhardy and reckless. After another consultation the following day it was decided that there could be no one left alive in the pit and that the only way of extinguishing the fire and saving the colliery was to seal the shafts. This was successfully done during that day.

From that time until the end of November the pit remained sealed and when the covering was removed the mine was explored and the bodies recovered. The Waddell fan had not been damaged and the colliery was well ventilated which made the relighting of the furnace unnecessary.

Those who died were:

• William Stratford Dugdale aged 54 years, owner.
• John Pogmore aged 57 years, agent.
• Frank Pogmore aged 27 years, solicitor.
• John Parker aged 58 years, manager.
• Joseph Clay aged 52 years, underviewer.
• Joseph Day aged 31 years, deputy.
• Joseph Ball aged 48 years, enginewright.
• Amos Ball aged 26 years, collier.
• Thomas Day aged 22 years, collier
• Charles Evans aged 32 years, collier.
• William Day aged 22 years collier.
• William Orton aged 56 years, stallman.
• John Evans aged 25 years, stallman.
• Richard Evans aged 28 years, stallman.
• Rowland Till aged 29 years, carpenter.
• Samuel Boonham aged 49 years, stallman.
• John Atkins aged 35 years, collier.
• Charles Albrighton jnr. aged 20 years, loader.
• Eli Smith jnr. aged 19 years, loader.
• Thomas Besson aged 41 years, collier.
• John Collins aged 17 years, loader.
• Richard Archer aged 32 years, inclineman.

Those who were left in the mine:

• William Smith aged 46 years, stallman.
• John Ross aged 51 years, collier.
• Joseph Scattergood aged 13 years, incline boy.
• Joseph Orton aged 35 years, collier.
• George Bates aged 38 years, stallman.
• Henry Ratford snr. aged 51 years, stallman.
• William Blower aged 26 years, collier.
• William Knight aged 31 years, collier.
• William Day aged 71 years, collier.

The inquest into the deaths of the men was held at the Town Hall, Atherstone by the County Coroner for Warwickshire, Dr. Iliffe. Mr. Stokes gave a graphic account of what had happened when he and others went down the pit:

The six of use set off round the shaft and I found the air coming from behind us very strong from the shaft and we decided to relight one of the lamps. We had only three lamps between the six. We got a tub to shade us from the wind. I thought it was perfectly safe and we started forward and found the roadway quite clear until we got some distance. When we arrived at the top of the incline it was just as if you had drawn a black curtain the smoke was so dense, and it was as straight as if you had cut it with a knife. We went 50 yards very well.

I stooped down and shouted, “Is there anyone beyond?” and almost immediately someone shouted, “Here”. I said to the men who were with me, “Now I will take the middle, one of you get on my right and the other on my left and the three will follow us. We will make a rush for this man. The three must follow behind so that is one falls the other is ready to pick him up and drag him out.”

I shouted again, “You must keep shouting and we will find you.”

We started off down the road. I do not know how far we went. We went with our heads as low as possible and I found that foot from the ground the ventilation was good. There was at least 11 feet of dense smoke. Indeed it was a regular wall of smoke and we had to keep out heads close enough to the ground.

I kept shouting again and again and received the same help, “Here. Here.”

After a few yards, I stumbled over Mr. Dugdale. I took his right arm and Mr. Marsh took his left arm and Mr. Mottram took the back of his collar of his coat. He lay upon his back upon the floor. I said “Pull,” and we dragged him away. We had not gone far when I fell. I got up and we pulled until we had got away from the smoke.

I said, “Who is it?” and he said, “Mr. Dugdale.”

We had ascended and were on the bank a little time when Mr. Spruce said to me, “Do you remember when Mr. Dugdale was callin.?” Noting as if the sounds were going away. I said that there could be another behind Mr. Dugdale. We went down again and found a man named Collins. It was evident that the had crawled up the incline. We took him to the engine house and treated his burns. He told us that there was another man behind him and Chetwynd went in with a rope which he tied around the body and we dragged him out. It was a man Named Till.

The Coroner heard all the evidence and then summed up. The jury retired and the jury returned the following verdict

We find that the 12 we viewed on the 4th May met their deaths in accordance with the medical evidence adduced at the inquiry held on the 5th May and was of an accidental character. We also consider it an error of judgement to have placed the engine and boiler so far from the bottom of the shaft in the return airway, and in such an imperfect and unprotected manner, subjecting the pit to great risks, and which, in this cause of the fire.

First Class Albert Medals were bestowed by Her Majesty to Reuben Smallman, mining engineer, Arthur Henry Stokes, Inspector of Mines, Charles Day, collier and Charles Chetwynd, collier. Second Class Medals were awarded to Samuel Spruce, mining engineer, Frederick Samuel Marsh, colliery manager, Thomas Henry Mottram, colliery manager, William Morris, collier, William Pickering, collier and Jospeh Chetwynd, collier. The men were presented with the awards at the Corn Exchange, Atherstone on Monday 19th February 1883 by Lord Leigh, Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Warwick. Lord Leigh said:

I do not believe that any brave soldier, whoever had the Victoria Cross presented to him, had performed an action more gallant than any of these heroes.

At this point there were loud cheers and His Lordship then pinned the medals on the left breasts of each man and congratulated him wishing him a long life to wear the decoration and heartily shaking hands with him.

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspector Report, 1882.
Two reports by Arnold Morley, Esq., M.P., upon the circumstances attending an accident which occurred at Baddesley Colliery, Atherstone, Warwickshire, on 1st May 1882.

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