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Rescuer during the Hartley Colliery Disaster
© Mining Institute
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The Hartley Mining Disaster |
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The disaster
Like many 19th Century coalmines, the Hester pit at New Hartley had only one shaft. This meant miners had only one exit and entrance and only one means of ventilation: a shaft 12 feet by six inches in diameter. The dangers of such a system were apparent, but the cost of sinking another shaft meant few mines had the luxury of two shafts. When the accident took place, the existence of only one shaft signed the death sentence on the 204 men working below.
At 10.30am on January 16th 1862, the 40 tonne beam which supported the pump to clear the mine of sea water split and crashed down, blocking the mine’s only shaft. The lift had been coming out of the mine at that time was carrying eight men, five were thrown out of the lift and died, but miraculously, three survived – though just how miraculous their survival was, did not become apparent for six days. One of these three survivors, Tom Watson, described the moment when the beam split:
“There was a sudden crack and a tremendous crush of stuff… timber and stones kept falling about the cage and we made up our minds that the shaft had closed.” ( ‘Newcastle Courant’, 7th February, 1862, quoted in ’The Hartley Colliery Disaster, 1862’ John Elliott McCutcheon )
In a cruel twist of fate, the accident occurred during shift changeover, meaning that almost double the number of men were in the pit than normal.
Once news of the disaster spread, men from neighbouring mines arrived to help clear the shaft and free the men. They were led by William Coulson, a man whose experience in sinking shafts meant his name was known to many. Initially, the rescuers were confident that all the trapped men would be freed, believing there was enough air and food to sustain the men until they could be freed.
However, shifting the broken beam in order to create an exit for the trapped miners proved more difficult than the rescuers initially thought. The discovery of poisonous fumes made it especially dangerous for those clearing the route, and delayed their progress until ventilation was restored. Mr G.B. Forster, a mining engineer who wrote a day-to-day account, described the level of gas:
“The gas and stench were at times so strong as almost to prevent the men from working in the pit.”
Finally, after six days of work, a passage was cleared, and the grim discovery was made that every single man had perished, gassed by the toxic fumes which still lingered in the air. Removing the bodies took 17 1/2 hours, as each corpse was winched up the 600 foot shaft.
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