OGMORE. Bridgend, Glamorganshire. 7th. December, 1874.

The colliery was being sunk by the Ocean Steam Coal Company and the men were killed by an explosion of gas while they were sinking a shaft. The pit was also known as the Edwards Pit and was the property of Messrs. David Davies and Company. The pit worked round the clock with three shifts and there was heading about 70 yards from the surface to another pit. Sinking operations were going on at the pit and the shaft had reached a depth of 230 yards and was 14 feet wide.

Thomas Stephen, master sinker, was down the pit at about 7 a.m. and all appeared safe to him. There were eight or nine men working with candles. As master sinker, he received instructions from Mr. Jenkins the manager of the works at the colliery and difficulty was expected in keeping ahead of the water. It was planned to let the water rise as they went on walling the shaft. It was known that there was blower of gas about 17 yards from the bottom of the shaft which had been opened about six or seven months before the accident. The air pipes were brought closer but even so, the gas had been known to catch fire from the shots and produce a flame about three or four feet high. Sometimes it would go out by itself and on other occasions, it had to be extinguished.

He went down the pit about 2 p.m. and came up again. The men, in the period between him going up and the disaster, were boring a hole for a shot and they had sent up two tubs of rubbish.

Thomas Lloyd of Pembroke Terrace, Nantmole, was the engine driver at the colliery and the five men were the only ones in the pit and had gone down at 2 p.m. Lloyd knew that a shot was to be fired. He heard the signal to “get ready to raise” at about 3 p.m. and had just begun to wind when the explosion took place. Quantities of smoke, stones and timber were thrown into the air about ten yards over the framing. No sounds of human voices were heard and the engineman stopped the engine. About a quarter of an hour later he started to wind again but all that came up was a piece of the scaffold. The bucket had been blown to pieces. The banksman at the pit was Isaac Brown and he was slightly burned by the explosion. He heard the noise of the blast when the engine had turned only a few strokes.

The men who died were:

  • Lewis. Davies, sinker,
  • Thomas. Davies, sinker,
  • Thomas Watkins, sinker,
  • Thomas Morris, sinker,
  • Rowland Pugh, foreman mason.

The inquest into the disaster took place at the house of Thomas Hopkins, the Nantmole Hotel at Nantmole in the Parish of Landyfodwg before Thomas Stockwood, H.M. Coroner for the Manor of Ogmore.

Evidence was given by Thomas Stephens, master sinker of Graig Row, Nantmole that on the Monday there were about 35 yards of water at the bottom of the shaft. The five deceased were working on a platform about 180 yards from the surface so the space between the water and the scaffold was about 14 yards. The air was taken down the pit in canvas tubing, two feet in diameter and the tubes went to within five or six feet of the stage. When water accumulated on the scaffold, it was allowed to fall to the bottom of the pit and it was thought that this could have displaced the gas upwards. Stephens went on to say:

When the air was foul the air pipes were kept underneath the stage. I had no reason to believe that there was much foul air in the pit.

The jury brought in the verdict that:

We find a verdict of accidental death and that the accident happened through ignorance on the part of the master sinker, Thomas Stephens, but that he is not criminally responsible for it.

The Inspector commented:

I have seldom met a case where there has been such a thorough disregard for the proper safety of the men employed. The blower had exited for several months and although the manager paid frequent visits to the colliery, he distinctly stated at the inquest that he had never heard of it before the explosion. The non-ventilation of that part of the shaft between the surface of the water and the stage was, in my opinion, a breach of the first general rule.

Proceedings were taken against the manager for this breach of the rules and the case was heard before magistrates at the  Bridgend Police Court on Saturday 6th February. After a short consultation the magistrate gave the following decision:

We are unanimous of the opinion that the only reasonable theory was that set up by Mr. Wales that the explosion occurred due to the consequence of the blower. We are also of the opinion that the defendant had not taken proper means to make himself cognisant of the state of the pit. We must, therefore, considering the serious nature of the case, fine him the full penalty of £20 and the costs of the case.

 

REFERENCES
Mines Inspector Report, 1874. Mr. Thomas E. Wales.

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

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