Desford Colliery

Current Status - Page under construction! and is far, far from complete!

Clarke, Douglas, 09 Nov 1970, aged 48, Killed by a fall of coal ; address: 14, Beacon Crescent, Greenhill, Coalville

Elverstone, William, 14 Jan 1913, aged 35, Stallman, Holing, locally known as "bannocking," is done in 18 inches of shale overlying a 4 feet 6 inch seam. Front sprags are set before commencing to hole, and when a depth of 2 feet has been reached under-sprags are fixed. Deceased and another holer were engaged upon some holing in front of the gateway when a long length of roof fell inside and on a line with the front row of sprags, and crushed his head on to the coal. Had the under-sprags been fixed the roof would have been supported

Lissiman, William, 23 Jul 1910, aged 39, Holer, The accident occurred at a long-wall face in a seam 5 ft. 6 ins. thick. A sprag had been set to the centre of the coal, and deceased was "slotting" (or increasing the height of the holing) preparatory to setting a short sprag under the coal, when a piece weighing about 4 cwts. came away from the upper portion of the seam, above the head of the long sprag, and fell upon him, causing injuries which resulted fatally nine hours later

Poole, John, 02 Jan 1914, (accident: 19 Dec 1913), aged 25, Loader, A prop that was set under the roof coal was pushed out when some holed coal was "dropped." After making a clearance of coal the stallman asked the deceased to give him a helping hand to reset it. When it was completed the deceased was about to walk to the gate end when the roof coal from the lid over the prop to the lip where the roof had previously fallen fell across his back. He died in hospital January 2nd. It was an error or judgement on the part of the stallman not to have supported the coal to the lip, a distance of 18 inches

Prime, William Thomas, 15 Mar 1924, (accident: 25 Feb 1924, 9.30 a.m., 3rd hour of shift), aged 49, Holer, Whilst shovelling holing dirt back into the goaf he caught his elbow against the coal face and knocked off a bit of skin. He finished his shift and also worked on the following day, but subsequently the wound became septic and he died on 15th March

Simpson, George, 10 Aug 1909, aged 57, Dataller, He was told to take out a broken bar in a roadway and did so. Shortly afterwards the roof fell and fatally injured him, and he died next day. No catch prop was set, and he should have lined the old bar up with a new one before taking it out (Upper Main seam)

Sindall, George, 08 Jul 1913, aged 46, Stallman, Deceased was getting down holed coal. In spite of the fact that the piece of coal had three free sides and had been shaken by a shot, he deliberately cut out the only sprag. The setting of a temporary sprag would, in all probability, have prevented the accident. Deceased's action was contrary to the instructions of the officials

Thorpe, Charles, 10 Nov 1913, aged 38, Stallman, When the deceased and another stallman went into the gate-road to have the mid-day meal, a prop under a bar was observed to be broken and bulging on to the tub road. This was 25 yards from the working face and outside the stall work. After the meal, deceased withdrew the broken prop and then used his hands at the bar trying to disengage it from off the prop at the other end, when a block of roof stone, weighing about 30 cwt., fell and struck his head, killing him instantly. It was a breach of Section 52 of the C.M. Act, 1911, to remove roof supports without having previously set temporary supports for the safety of persons so engaged, and for not using a safety contrivance. It is clear, had the Rules been carried out, the accident would not have happened

Watson, John, 10 Apr 1907, (accident: 27 Dec 1906), aged 61, Dataller, He was assisting to set a bar when it slipped off the props and injured deceased. He died 10th April, 1907 (Upper Main coal)

White, George, 03 Apr 1907, (accident: 28 Mar 1907), aged 52, Stallman, Fall of coal. Deceased was holing a web out to a loose end when a portion of the lower part of the coal fell and fatally injured him. He died 3rd April (Lower Main coal)