Warren Vale Colliery Disaster
The Situation on Saturday Evening
The colliery consisted of two pits near together. The deeper pit, of 127 yards, worked the nine foot seam. The other pit, 90 yards deep, worked the five foot seam. These two pits were connected by a shaft through the five-foot seam down to the nine foot seam, an air-furnace being connected with the shaft of the five foot pit, so as to create an up-draught.
The explosion took place in the northern part of the workings of the deeper seam, but communicated by the shaft of the upper seam. The force of the explosion caused the corve ascending the deeper shaft, which was loaded with 16 cwt. of coal, to be projected into the air, and it was the coal fell around on every side like the cinders from a volcano. An empty descending corve in the other shaft was thrown out of the pit, and fell a considerable distance.
The fire cage at the mouth of the pit was knocked to pieces, and several men were thrown down, but, fortunately were not seriously injured.
Eli Barber, and a party of about 16, were working in the southern portion of the mine when the explosion took place. They were on their way to the pit shaft, when they encountered the after-damp, and were knocked unconscious. James Froggatt and some other colliers descended, and managed to rescue them>
One of men, Joseph Cooper, had actually reached the pit shaft, and had climbed by the conductors a considerable distance up the shaft. Of the party rescued, William Barraclough and Timothy Tinsley, later died from their injuries.
Three other bodies were later found and removed, John Garrick, George Hague, and George Knapton. continued »
