TITFORD LONG MEADOW. Oldbury, Worcestershire. 23rd. July, 1874.

The colliery was owned by Joseph Hacket and was being sunk at the time of the accident. Seven people were injured and five subsequently died from their injuries. The Thick coal at the pit had been worked for many years and in order to work some coal to the dip of the shaft it was necessary to have one of the gate roads in the Heathen coal which lay a few feet below the thick of Ten Yard seam. This gate road was made the return airway. Some months after it had been opened a fire was discovered just above the roof in the old Thick coal workings and it had burnt thorough everything between the Heathen coal and the Thick coal seams. The origin of the fire was a mystery and it was supposed to be spontaneous combustion but no symptoms of a fire had been seen in the place.

On the morning of the accident, men were trying to extinguish the fire and were pumping water from a small hose at the fire. Suddenly a crash was heard in the old Thick coal workings above and the atmosphere in the place where the men became very hot. The men rushed to the shaft and were drawn up and were sent home with the impression that an explosion of firedamp had taken place. The mine was sealed to prevent the fire spreading.

None of the men appeared burnt and their clothes, skin and hair had no traces of being singed but it soon became apparent that they were ill. They complained of a great thirst and a sense of suffocation and all but two died shortly afterwards.

It was assumed that they had inhaled very hot air which had inflamed the respiratory organs and they had died from suffocation.

The men who died were:

  • John Dyas, overman, killed on the day of the accident,
  • Edward Cook, pumper who died on the 24th July,
  • Joseph Roberts, collier died on the 24th July,
  • Richard Roberts, collier who died on the 26th July,
  • James Jackson, collier who died on the 30th July.

The inquest was adjourned several times with the hope that the mine might be re-opened and the cause of the disaster found. Mr. Baker, the Inspector said:

I gave it as my belief that the crash spoken of by the workmen was the result of an extensive fall of roof in one of the openings in that measure, in which the confined air had been intensely heated by the fire in the old goaf or the thick coal hollows. This heated air would be displaced and driven by the fall through the opening in the roof into the gate road where the men were at work. The owner himself was, fortunately for him some yards distant and escaped without injury.

After waiting for some months, there was no hope of inspecting mine and the jury, which was composed of several practical miners, returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.”

 

REFERENCES
Mines Inspector Report, 1874. Mr. Baker.

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

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