Barnsley Oaks Disaster

[dazbt]

Tomorrow, the 12th of December marks the anniversary of England's worst coal mining disaster which occurred at the Oaks Colliery.
Here's a link, there are about 6 pages to this great write up, don't miss any of them;

www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Oak.htm

[John]

Dec 11, 2009 6:49:39 GMT -5 dazbt said:

Tomorrow, the 12th of December marks the anniversary of England's worst coal mining disaster which occurred at the Oaks Colliery.
Here's a link, there are about 6 pages to this great write up, don't miss any of them;

www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Oak.htm

Very difficult to imagine what conditions were like back then, we were lucky to have been born when we were, and worked in relative safety, at least compared to back in the 1800's. Mining will never be risk free as all of us know from our experiences underground.

[dazbt]

Dec 11, 2009 10:19:48 GMT -5 John said:

Dec 11, 2009 6:49:39 GMT -5 dazbt said:

Tomorrow, the 12th of December marks the anniversary of England's worst coal mining disaster which occurred at the Oaks Colliery.
Here's a link, there are about 6 pages to this great write up, don't miss any of them;

www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Oak.htm

Very difficult to imagine what conditions were like back then, we were lucky to have been born when we were, and worked in relative safety, at least compared to back in the 1800's. Mining will never be risk free as all of us know from our experiences underground.

I agree with that insomuch as we were far luckier to have worked in coal mining during times when much better, safer and easier conditions were the norm, plus, being able to witness and benefit from some of the major improvements that were implemented during our time ............. but, on thinking about the statement that it is very difficult to imagine what conditions were like back in the late 1860s', I don't think that I do agree. For anyone that worked in the relative safety of the mid to late 1960s coal mining era of the UK and USA were still comparatively closer to their century earlier predecessors than many other industry workers, coal mining conditions had vastly improved during that keystone 100 years, but in my opinion, a great deal slower and with a lesser effect than most other industries. Many things had changed at a point pre the mid 1960s, ventilation, lighting, roadway supports, coal conveyancing and in most instances coal getting mechanisation had been introduced at the face .......... but still not at all of those improvements had been implemented at all UK collieries. Some coal mines, quite a few in fact, still worked with naked lights and inadequate ventilation, many were still hand filled faces, tubs used from face to surface transportation, inadequate drainage, wooden props and wooden bars, unsupported gates and major roadways (in seams considered safe), shaft cages where miners had to crouch or kneel to travel shafts, walking distances of up to 3,000 yards crouched double with 5' clearance in the so called modern 'within-seam' coal mines ............ it sometimes didn't seem all that distant from 1866 and I for one never found a great deal of difficulty, at times, in "imagining" what it was like for those poor beggars in 1866 that had to work in the worst of conditions and under the greatest of threats, purely to earn a pittance.

[John]

In some ways you were luckier than me as you were based at a central workshops Daz, I spent my time at pit level and never saw real bad conditions. OK, I witnessed heavily weighted roads, sometimes having to crouch down, but not for too far. My old pit was nearly 100 years old, but had had good ventilation from dot one. The original fan was a steam driven unit, and from records I've located, did a fair job.
It was a good distance inbye to the farthest working face a good walk from 41's to pit bottom was over six miles, along pretty good roads. There were a couple of low spots along 1's main road, but nothing to grumble about. All in all conditions were pretty good for an old colliery.
Cotgrave on the other hand had finished in the deep soft seam when we arrived there, soft floors and soft roofs had sealed the fate that seam off. I recall being shown the south trunk conveyor road, was set with full 20ft circulars. The centre of the floor section had "grown out the floor and was touching the crown"! The road was untravelable. Funny though, the main loco road running parallel to it was untouched by convergence.

All working when I was there was in the Deep Hard seam, gate roads had full time dinting teams in them to keep them open. Haulage of supplies was by Becorit mono rail rope haulage strung from the roof.
Ironic, that Cliftons last deep hard seam face was heading to Cotgrave and had no troubles at all, no visible floor lift and just normal weighting of the roof, yet Cotgrave working the same seam, no faults between us was having bad convergence. One of their last deep hard faces was within 400 yards of old 41's face.
Be nice if we had an old Cotgrave worker post what conditions were like towards the end of Cotgraves deep hard workings.

The only other pits I went down in the UK were Hucknall No1, which was our training centre and not a working pit, and Bestwood, which was a working pit. We were taken on a visit during our underground training.

[erichall]

I originate from near Barnsley, I come from Mining stock, both sides of my family having been miners, I had heard about the many disasters, especially the Oaks,
I did my initial underground training at Barnsley Main, and must admit to a morbid fascinationof the disasters that have happened in the UK Coal industry.
My first memory of a coal mining disaster, was the fire at Creswell Colliery in Derbyshire. For my sins I have long supported Sheffield Wednesday, and remember at the time they were playing Newcastle United. A collection was being taken for the relief fund, and men were going round the ground with 2 large BRS Tarpaulins to collect coppers etc that were being tossed into the tarps. Newcastle had a mascot at the time, who dressed in topper and tails coloured black and white, and he was going round the ground with his rattle encouraging the crowd. as he approached one corner of the North Stand/Leppings Lane, he bent to pick up some coins that had missed the tarp. As he straightened, a coin skimmed by some unthinking person caught him just above the eye. He made no fuss, put his had up to the cut above his eye, stuck his thumb up in the air, waved his rattle and continued until he reached the St.John's man in the next corner.
Shortly after this, I was called out of school to my father who had bad news that his brother, an underground engineer at kilnhurst Colliery had been killed in a fall of ground.
Nevertheless, I decided to persue a mining career, and after training, and working as an Underofficial in the Barnsley Area, I moved into North derbyshire to enter Colliery Management. We moved to Clowne, which is the next village to Creswell, and I later discovered that some of the men killed at Creswell had been from Clowne, one of whom was the father of a close friend of ours. In Clowne Church, in the early fifties, the sanctuary was moved back and two side chapels were built on. The South Chapel was dedicated to "All men who have lost their lives in Coal mines" This Miners' Chapel as it is known by, has a 7ft window with a stained glass portrait of Christ crucified, whilst underneath is a picture of a Colliery surface, complete with pit tip, 2 headstocks above shafts , one downcast one clearly the upcast since it has the fan drift clearly shown, and a miner complete with underground clothes, helmet and lamp. It is supposedly a replica of the Creswell Surface.
as if this wasn't enough, I was an Undermanager at Markham No.4 when the chair at Markham No.3 ran away. I knew many of the men involved, and was involved in the fringes of the enquiry.
One thing I learned about mining disasters, which may or may not be of comfort to those who lose loved ones - out of every disaster comes some good. At Creswell, it was the adoption of fireproof conveyor belting, and the introduction of Self-Rescuers ( this was because many of those who lost their lives was not through the fire, but from the after-product of Carbon Monoxide. Some men died at a door which, had they not been overcome by the fumes, would have mearly needed opening -so near and yet so far)
At Markham, this speeded up the introduction of sonic testing and the gradual disappearance of single path braking systems)