The human price paid for nation’s coal

In March it will be 30 years since the miners started their year-long strike. Many bitter memories will be rekindled and inevitably talk will drift to the sad collapse of the industry once the conflict had ended. But above all, no one can forget the disasters, the great loss of human life that often occurred without warning and inevitably shook closely-knit mining communities to the core.
The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975
The rescue at Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975

Yorkshire witnessed some quite appalling mining disasters throughout the 19th century, when the industry was relatively in its infancy, and during the 20th century – even when health and safety was quite advanced.

One terrible disaster rocked the Houghton Main community, Barnsley, at about 6.50pm on June 12 1975.

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There was an explosion at the Meltonfield Seam, resulting in the deaths of five miners and one sufferingserious injury. About 200 men were underground at the time. Work was stopped immediately and the pit evacuated.

The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975
The rescue at Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975

Coal Board chairman Sir Derek Ezra, Energy Minister Tony Benn, Bill Simpson, chairman of the Health and Safety Commission and Yorkshire NUM leader Arthur Scargill visited the devastated scene underground.

Sir Derek Ezra commented: ‘We have not been having many of these accidents recently but it does not make them any less tragic when they occur.’

Tony Benn expressed sympathy with victims’ families, and said: ‘It might remind people, as it reminded me, that there is still a very high price in human life to be paid, for the coal we get in this country.’

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Rescue teams worked throughout the night to recover the bodies of the dead miners. They were Irvin Larkin, 55; Richard Bannister, 30; Arnold Williamson, 59; Raymond Copper, 42 and Leonard Baker, 53.

The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975The rescue at

 Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975
The rescue at Houghton Main Colliery in June 1975

Two other miners caught in the fringe of the explosion miraculously walked out unscathed.

There were some harrowing scenes at the pithead as weeping relatives were told of the seriousness of the situation.

A priest was at hand and the Salvation Army stepped in to provide tea and food for exhaused rescuers.

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At the time of the blast a total of 1,361 men were employed at the mine, 1,191 underground and 170 on the surface.

The report into the explosion gave a clear understanding of how the colliery had developed and operated.

The Houghton Main Colliery Co. Ltd sank the pit between 1871 and 1873 and operated the mine until nationalisation.

There were three shafts: No. 1 and No. 2 were downcast and each was 14 feet in diameter; No. 3 shaft was an upcast and was 20 feet in diameter.

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The shafts were sunk originally to the Barnsley seam and subsequently No. 2 and No. 3 shafts were deepened to the Thorncliffe seam at a depth of 816 yards.

The colliery also worked the Meltonfield, Beamshaw, Parkgate and Silkstone seams.

The shafts were used principally for ventilation, man winding and materials winding, but some 150 tons of coal per day were raised at No. 2 shaft. In the Beamshaw and the Parkgate seam horizons there were coal transport roadways inter-connecting with the neighbouring Grimethorpe Colliery where the combined output of both collieries was wound to the surface.

The public inquiry into the Houghton Main explosion was opened by James Carver, HM Chief Inspector of Mines and Quarries, Health and Safety Executive at Barnsley town hall on August 26. It lasted for nine days, during which 81 people gave evidence.

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It was heard that nine days before the explosion a ventilation fan was switched off after two men saw sparks shooting out. Their actions were commended by Carver, because the fan’s job was to keep air flowing to an underground dead-end where explosive fire damp was known to accumulate in huge quantities. But from that day on, no definite action was ever taken and the fan was finally blamed for causing the blast.

Houghton Main ceased production on October 30, 1992. It was offered to the private sector but without any luck and finally closed in late 1993. As a result, over 400 jobs were lost.

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