DOWLAIS. Aberdare, Gamorganshire. 9th. September, 1895.

The colliery was known as the Dowlais Cardiff Colliery and was the property of the Dowlais Iron Company. It was situated at Aberdare Junction. The sinking of the shafts was started some years before and was progressing and when it was completed, with one exception was the deepest winning in the South Wales coalfield. They were also the largest shafts in the United Kingdom and were 20 feet in diameter. Six men lost their lives in the sinking accident and another was injured.

The work of sinking the shafts was under the direction of Mr. W.H. Martin, chief mining engineer for the Company with Mr. Daniel Lewis and the resident manager and Mr. John Vaughan, the mechanical engineer. Mr. William Jones, a sinker of twenty-five years experience was the master sinker.

Sinking operations were being carried out in the north Pit which had reached a depth of 739 yards. One rope was used in the exact centre of the shaft and to this a rope or bowk, a large iron bucket, was attached for raising and lowering the debris from the sinking. A larger bucket or barrel was sometimes used to raise water from the bottom of the shaft. The sinkers ascended and descended in either of these two buckets. As was usual in sinking operations the bowks or barrels ran free in the shaft and had no guides.

When shots were to be fired, all the men had to leave the shaft bottom but since the depth had become so great it was the practice for only a certain number to ascend to the surface and the remainder, those leaving the last lighting of the charges, ascended to a side opening in the shaft. The Special Rules established for the sinking puts to allow ten men to ascend or descend at once, but some time before the management posted a notice limiting the number to eight.

There were pumps in the shaft from the surface to a depth of 325 yards where there was landing called No.2. These pumps were kept in position by means of iron girders, at intervals of about 15 years. There was also a line of iron pipes, 2 feet in diameter, to take air to the bottom of the shaft. the pipes were supported by wooden byats 6 inches square. Between the pump byats and the bowk there was a clearance of 4 feet 6 inches and between the bowk and the air-pipe byats one of 5 feet 3 inches.

At 470 yards, there was s a landing called No.3, the edge of which was 5 feet from the bowk when plumb. At 670 yards there was another landing with a clearance of 4 feet 6 inches from the bowk. These were all the projections in the shaft which could possibly affect the safe ascent of the bowk.

Just before the accident, there were 20 sinkers in the shaft, one of whom, William Davies, was the first leader, and another, Thomas Davies, the second leader of that shift. They were about to fire a round of four shots and as a preliminary to this operation, an electric light with which the shaft bottom was partly lit, was raised up the shaft to escape possible damage from the shots. The water barrel was in the shaft bottom and eight men went up to the surface in it, which left 12 men in the pit. On reaching the surface the water barrel was taken off and the ordinary bowk, 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, was put on and sent down. When it reached the bottom it was placed plumb and lots of told thrown into it. These were stated to be twelve shovels, the same number of picks of mandrils, sic buckets or pails used for filling the water barrel and a part of a hand pump. The eight men then got into the bowk to ascend but William Davies told them to get off and wait with the remainder for the last load. The bowk was then signalled up to “the steady” and was raised four and a half to five feet. Thomas Davies, the second leader, whose duty it was to steady the bowk, did so and the usual signal was given for its ascent to the surface. It was during this ascent that the accident happened.

What took place in the first part of the ascent will never be known but, for some reason, the bowk came into contact with a projection in the shaft and six poor fellows were precipitated down the shaft and killed. All the engineman knew was that the bowk was being raised as usual and that when about 25 or 30 yards above the No.2 lodge-room, he felt a check and stopped the engine. When the bowk was eventually brought to the surface, one of the bridle chains was found broken, another was detached from the bowk and the remaining two intact but severely strained. Some of the tools were still in the bowk but the rest had gone down the shaft with the men. It was fortunate that the six men at the bottom of the shaft escaped with only one injury from the falling men and tools.

The men who died were sinkers:

  • Walter Norbert aged 27 years,
  • John Pritchard aged 41 years,
  • Owen R. Williams aged 25 years,
  • Thomas Pugh aged 31 years,
  • Edmund Morris aged 28 years,
  • Thomas Evans aged 29 years.

An examination of the shaft was made and at the third girder above the No.2 lodge-room, two iron washers, twelve inches square and one inch thick were knocked about two inches out of square and at the next girder below one of the washers was found to have turned an eighth part out of square and had its lower corner bent upwards. It was also found the 6-inch square wooden byat had been knocked out nine yards below and had fallen down the shaft and a piece of the wrought iron pipe used to convey water from a garland in the lodge-room was knocked off.

The point in the shaft where the bent washer was found almost corresponded to where the engineman thought the bowk was when he checked the engine. The wooden byat was nine yards lower and it was evident that the engineman did not detect this. If the bowk had been properly steadied before it was signalled away, and the evidence was clear that it was, this accident could only be put down to an oscillation which took place afterwards. This could have been caused by the long length of rope and the speed of the engine but the evidence did not point to this. The rope was one a quarter-inch diameter and described by the engineers as “absolutely without twist” From observations made by the Inspector, the bowk did not move if it was steadied and the men did not move around. If they moved then it could oscillate. It was possible that the tools on which they were standing moved. Mr. Robson commented:

In my opinion, it was wrong to load the bowk with so many loose materials but while this practice may be condemned, I am not prepared to say that it is the most probable cause of the accident. The Special Rules do not prohibit materials being sent up with men. They do, however, provide for them being made secure in the tub before it is sent away but this rule does not appear to have been observed on this occasion.

The jury brought on a verdict of “Accidental Death” and added a rider that it was their opinion that it was dangerous practice for men to ascend along with tools in the bowk and recommended that it should be stopped.

 

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspectors Report, 1895. Mr. Robson.

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

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