The Hartley Disaster

[Ragger]

The Hartley Calamity a poem written by George Cooke, of Byers Green, in 1862, is probably the longest poem I’ve ever read.

It’s certainly one of the most emotional poems I’ve come across. It tells the story of the Hartley Colliery disaster of 1862.

It’s an accurate story of the events that took place, unblocking the shaft, encountering stythe, searching and finding bodies, heartbreaking pithead scenes, and the lastly the burials.

Well worth reading if members have a few minutes to spare.

www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/articles/2005/07/04/coast05walks_stage8_walk.shtml

[Clive]

According to one of the history lists there is going to be one of those BBC who do you think you are progs and some ones ancester was a viewer at New Hartley. Should be good apart from some over payed actor crying about something they dont really care about.

[pitsparky]

Hi, Well the Poem was a very moving read.

I only live about two miles away from where this disaster happened,
it will be the 150th anniversary on the 16th of January next year and there are already moves being made amongst the local communities to commemorate the event.

I was recently trawling through the Bishop of Durhams transcripts for the Seghill Holy trinity Church looking for family members burials and I suddenly came across a whole raft of burials in January 1862, all men and boys, I thought to myself whoa whats going on here,then the penny dropped and I realized that these were victims of the Hester Pit Disaster at New Hartley.

So although the vast majority were buried at St Albans at Earsdon and that is where the Memorial is, quite a few are buried at Seghill.

Malcolm.

[rob52]

North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers - Founded 1852 - Royal Charter 1876

Thursday 16th January 2020
The Hartley Colliery Disaster 1862
Norman W Jackson
FIMMM FNEIMME CEng EurEng
Past President of the Institute

mininginstitute.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Transactions-2020-01-Transactions-Jackson-Hartley-Colliery.pdf

Rob