LLWYNYPIA. Porth, Glamorganshire. 25th. January, 1932.

The colliery was the property of the Welsh Associated Collieries Limited and was situated near Porth, Glamorganshire. The explosion occurred in the Pentre Seam where the coal was worked by longwall faces, some conveyor faces and others as stalls. The seam was 2 feet 10 inches thick and the area affected by the explosion was bounded by roads named, “Cooper”, “Randell” and “George Rees”. Several weeks before the explosion the George Rees’ Road had reached a downthrow how fault of three feet and it became necessary, to recover the seam over the fault, to drive a heading through the fault. This was done by the time of the accident. A heading 15 feet wide was being driven to the rise and parallel to the fault to form a new conveyor face. This heading was known as George Rees’ conveyor face.

The heading was ventilated by a current of air which reached it by way of Squints’ airway and the current was prevented from passing out along George Rees road by a brattice erected across the road about 50 feet back from the fault. It was then conducted to the face of the heading by a brattice which divided the heading into two. On reaching the face the air current turned round the end of the brattice and continued down a spout hole cut through the fault which was described as “an airway of somewhat restricted dimensions”. At the time of the explosion, it could only be passed through on elbows and toes. The means by which the air was split was primitive. A brick was placed to prevent the door on Old Camm’s road between Cooper’s and Joe Davies’ from closing.

The coal got from driving the heading known as George Rees’ conveyor face was put onto a compressed air driven conveyor which dumped it on the floor at the face of George Rees’ road where it was filled by hand into trams. This method had been used for six weeks and it produced a lot of coal dust.

On Friday morning 22nd. January at about 12.30 p.m., a joint in the compressed air main laid in Cooper’s failed, with the result that the conveyor in George Rees’ conveyor face could not be worked until it had been repaired and the coal had to be turned back from the face by hand. The coal so moved would fill about six trams, remained stacked in George Rees’ conveyor face until Sunday, 24th. January when two men, Edward Henry Charles Bulgin and Edward Davies went in at 6 p.m. to fill it away. One filled on to the conveyor and the other into the trams when it was dumped at the delivery end. According to the evidence of these two men, the afternoon shift fireman, Richard Cheney, who was killed in the explosion, told them not to go beyond the loose coal and that he would send some brattice which Edward Bulgin agreed to erect.

The fireman made his inspection between 9.30 and 10.30 on the Sunday night prior to the night shift coming down to work at 11 and his report showed that he had found firedamp in George Rees’ conveyor face but in what particular part it did not show but form the instructions given to Bulgin and Davies it would appear to have been at the face and was still present at the time he allowed them to go to work.

The evidence of the night shift fireman, Gordon Hughes which descended the pit at 10.45 p.m. on Sunday told that he met Cheney who told him that he had found gas in George Rees’ place at the beginning of the shift and that everything was all right now. This was just before 11 p.m. The day shift fireman, Reginald Shipp Camm descended the pit at 6.45 a.m. and conferred with the outgoing fireman, Hughes who told him everything was “pretty fair, only that there was a blockage in George Rees’ airway.”  Camm had the blockage removed by a collier, Charles Bulgin which stated that it amounted to “a few stones which I shoved on one side”.  Camm said that during this shift everything was normal and that he had never found gas in George Rees’ conveyor face but gas had been found in the rippings of George Rees’ road on the 7th, 8th., and 10th January. He had erected a fly sheet to turn the air coming along Squints airway into the rippings and this had diluted the gas. the flysheet had remained thereafter that as a precautionary measure.

On the completion of the shift Camm saw the oncoming fireman, Richard Cheney but had nothing to report to him. On this shift of 25th.January, two men, Thomas Cryer and Herbert Evans were to work in George Rees’ conveyor face, Cryer to get the coal at the face and fill it onto the conveyor and Evans at the delivery end filling the coal dumped on the ground by the conveyor into the trams standing on George Rees’ road.

John Lewis, haulage rider was standing near the bottom of Camm’s passbye where he saw Richard Cheney and Morgan Bowen, a coal cutting machineman, cutting by the brattice. Morgan Bowen’s place of work was in Prior’s or Brown’s but he had come to work late that shift and Lewis thought that Cheney had enlisted him to do some work on the brattice. According to Lewis, the two men left Camm’s passbye carrying the brattice in the direction of Cooper’s and about 15 to 20 minutes later, Lewis said he felt a rush of air and dust.

The bodies of Cheney, Bowen and Cryer were found near the face of George Rees’ conveyor face with the brattice cloth they had taken in. The body of Henry Evans was found on George Rees’ road about 10 yards from the rippings. these four men were killed at once by the explosion. Seven others lost their lives, two of the rescue workers who died from the effects of afterdamp.

Those who lost their lives in the explosion were:

  • Richard  Cheney, fireman
  • Morgan  Bowen, coal cutting machineman
  • Charles  Cryer, collier
  • Henry  Evans, collier
  • Stanley  Dando
  • David  Hughes
  • Clifford  Sparrow
  • William  Thomas
  • David  Rogers.

Killed by the afterdamp:

  • J.  Alsop.

The rescuers who died:

  • John Evans, overman
  • John  Jones, fireman

The inquiry into the disaster was held at the Police Court, Porth on Monday 21st. March and concluded the following day. All interested parties were represented and opinions differed as to the precise point of origin of the explosion but it was generally agreed that it was either in George Rees’ conveyor face or George Rees’ road. As to the cause, no one could give a definite opinion. Thomas Sheppard, overman had no idea how the ignition was caused and Mr. E. Sims Rees, Senior Inspector thought that it could have originated from a “pop” shot but there had been no shotfiring in the seam so this explanation could be dismissed.

Mr. Rees dismissed smoking as a cause of ignition and Mr. William Henry Mainwaring, Miners’ Agent for the Rhondda District of the South Wales Miners’ Association Federation said that all he could think of was that in erection the brattice cloths, a hammer had slipped and caused a spark which led to the ignition.

The way in which the coal was loaded had led to a lot of coal dust being deposited in the workings and roads and there was evidence from the Gwlwym Griffiths, Instructor of the Porth Rescue Station who, with others had been the first to enter the area said that there smoke contained a lot of sulphur which indicated that it was coal dust explosion.

With reference to the rescue operations the Inspector commented that, “they were conducted with greater valour than discretion”  The men from the Porth Rescue Station were equipped with breathing apparatus but officials of the mine including the General Manager, Mr. J. Whitticombe, the Agent Mr. R. Lloyd and the Manager Mr. J. Whitticombe had no apparatus and were engaged in Prior’s and Brown’s. They had a canary with them and appeared to have more regard for its life than their own with the result that one of the party, John Evans, overman was overcome by the afterdamp and died.

The other death of John Jones, fireman from another seam should not, in the opinion of the Inspector, have occurred. It appeared that he went down the pit himself and went straight inbye on the Main Road where afterwards he was found dead with a canary in his hand.

Sir Henry Walker commented:

The Rescue Brigade itself is not free from criticism for a base was established elsewhere than the intake air. it may be said in answer that officials and men, unequipped with rescue apparatus had already been exploring in the return air apparently without ill effects, but such an answer does not meet the point. men trained for the purpose of rescue work are expected to avoid such unnecessary risk.

Until Mr. T.L. Mort arrived on the scene at 9.30, the exploration work was on unorthodox lines. Mr. Mort starting at the intake, followed the intake air and by replacing with boards and brattice the two doors on Camm’s which, with their sidewalls, had been blown outbye, restored the ventilation to its normal course. had this been done at the outset and no one allowed dot go beyond the doors across the main level other than men equipped with breathing apparatus, the loss of life would probably would not have been so great.

There was one strange incident which was recorded in the Report. When the explosion occurred, a collier, Fred Cordey, was at work with his butty, William West, filling coal trams at the face of Brown’s heading. There was a rush of wind followed by a cloud of coal dust. Cordey made no remark nor did West but William J. Thomas, from J. Alsop’s face, adjoining, and afterwards found dead by the men of the Rescue Brigade, who near at the time, asked “What was that?”  and Cordey replied that he did not know, he did not see anything out of the ordinary and he and West went on filling the trams. in a short time both felt a little groggy and West collapsed. Cordey got hold of West and dragged him on his back for 30 yards away from the face. He put West’s lamp out of reach, and being unable to take himself further, went outbye for help. He travelled as far as the Pentre Main Heading where he found the Undermanager of the No.2 Pit, George Patch and William price. Cordey explained to Mr. Bowen that he wanted help for his butty. The following events were told in Cordey’s own words:

All right he (Mr. Bowen) said, give me a hand with William Price, and another chap named Richard George came in and we got William price up to the mouth of Camm’s heading. Then I came back to George Patch and attended him for a bit, and Mr. Bowen came in, and I do not know who else came in with him and I told him what I wanted for my butty, and so they went in front of me and by the time I got to the mouth of Prior’s road they had fetched me out.

Mr. Bowen was the first official to hear of the explosion and it was he who notified the General Manager by telephone and sent messages to the Agent, the manager and alerted the Porth Rescue Brigade. He went down the pit with Henry Hughes who was working at the surface but at one time had been a fireman underground. They met the afternoon shift overman, John Evans, near the entrance to Camm’s and Mr. Bowen asked him if he could tell where the men were working, but he could not as he had come from the seam below. Bowen and Hughes went forward past Camm’s and found two men under trams with their faces in water and sludge on the floor. These men were George Patch and William Price. They were released and were being given attention when Cordey came out of Brown’s.

Mr. Bowen then took up the story:

So here comes Cordey back from Brown’s. He asked me what had happened. I said “Nothing much. You sit down here, my lad.” I said, “What is the matter?” “Nothing much, “he said. “What have you got there?” He said to me. “It is all right,” I said: “you keep cool.” When I was cooling him down a bit I said, “Where were you working?” I did not know the man. he said, “Up in Brown’s.” I said, “Did you have a butty working. with you?” He said, “Yes.” “Where is he now?” I said. “Well, I dragged him back,” he said, “for about 20 to 30 yards, and then I had to drop him.” I saw he was coming to himself, and I said, “Will you hold this young man, and I will go and look for the butty.” “Yes I will Mr. Bowen,” he said. I said, “Come on Hughes, we will go and look for his butty.” So up we go to Brown’s. We went up to the return and nod I said, “Hughes, we have to be very careful here because the road is leading back to the return.” I tested for gas, but it was all right there. So we advanced for a few yards forward, and my lamp went out. So I said to Hughes, “We have to be careful here. let us go back a bit. We will step ten yards back, and I will put the lamps on the side.” So we stepped back ten yards and we advanced on again. we could hear now this man West groaning, and so I said to Hughes, “I can see a light up there.” “Well now,” I said, “we have to go for this man. You keep two yards behind me, and we can have him.” We went on, but Hughes did not keep the two yards behind me, so that the two of us arrived together. So we pulled him back. He had his lamp in his hand the same as Cordey said yesterday. So we drew him back to where out lamp was to safety. Then we started and we turned him around. I slackened his belt and opened his shirt and gave him plenty of ventilation and we started first aid on him.

The Inspector commented:

It may seem paradoxical to look upon this piece of work by Bowen and Hughes with favour and yet to frown upon that of the officials when Evans lost his life. There is however a difference. In the former case, Bowen and Hughes took their lives in their hands in the latter, the party had with them a canary and had they made use of it, as they should, the overman’s life would not have been lost.

Sir Henry Walker concluded his report by saying:

I fear that the truth was that there was little searching, if any, was done for the men who worked on the afternoon and night shifts, and his fear is strengthened by the fact that after the explosion a cigarette was found contained in a tin box in a waistcoat pocket. This tin box measured approximately 2 inches by 1 inch and was therefore not an article which could easily be missed by any person making a proper search. Its presence, having regard to its contents, seems to show very clearly that the men to whom it belonged knew perfectly well that no searching was being done.

 

REFERENCES
The report on the causes and circumstances attending the explosion which occurred at Llwynypia Colliery, on the 25th January 1932 by Sir Henry Walker, C.B.E., LL.D. H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines.
Colliery Guardian, 9th September 1932, p.49.

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

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