Littleton Colliery

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Anslow, James, 22 Sep 1911, aged 36, Stallman, A fall of roof, estimated to be from 30 to 35 tons, occurred at the loose end of the deceased man's stall in the 8 ft. seam. It reeled out five props and buried him, and when released two hours later he was found to be dead. The roof had weighted from the direction of the waste, where the cogging was not pinned up to the roof. A pillar of coal 5 ft. square which had been left for roof support on the line of the carving side of the adjoining stall was completely crushed. The accident was probably due to a sudden weighting of the roof acting upon a 5 ft. thickness of friable roof containing unseen slips, causing it to break up and fall at the coal face where the timber was displaced, and the deceased man was overwhelmed by the debris while holing in the lower part of the coal seam before he had time to move from his position

Balance, Thomas, 29 Nov 1910, aged 48, Rock Ripper, The deceased were engaged repairing the roof of the main road about 80 yards from pit bottom, when the roof suddenly collapsed, reeling out several iron girder supports and killed them [More information ...]

Bate, Edward, 19 Feb 1905, (accident: 06 Feb 1905, 10.15 a.m.), aged 29, Loader, Fall of roof (rock), while filling stone at a fall on a level in the 8 feet scam, A piece of stone weighing about 3 lbs. fell and struck his head, causing a wound, Erysipelas supervened, and he died on the 19th February

Bond, H., 27 Sep 1900, (accident: 11 Sep 1900), aged 35, Labourer, Explosion of shot in gravel. Died September 27th

Boothby, George H., 04 Jun 1908, aged 23, Stallman, Deceased was working at the face in the Deep Seam, building the way-end cog on the rise side of the stall, when a piece of rock weighing about a ton fell from between two breaks in the roof and caught him on the head, knocking him down to the lower side of the stall road and killing him instantly. The roof, a hard sandstone, but very jointy, was well timbered, but the piece fell between the props

Bott, George, 13 May 1914, aged 33, Stallman, The deceased was liberating a prop set under the ripping at the way end of his stall and was using his pick to undercut it when it suddenly flew out and a piece of rock, about 30 cwts in weight, fell upon him, killing him instantly. A proper drawer — ringer and chain — was provided and should have been used to withdraw the prop

Brown, Robert, 23 Sep 1912, aged 35, Stall-loader, Deceased bent down to uncouple a horse's tail-chain from a full tub, when the horse evidently moved. Deceased's head was crushed between the full tub and a middle-set. The use of middle-sets where tubs are coupled and uncoupled is a source of danger and should be avoided wherever possible

Cecil, Arthur, 07 May 1902, 4 a.m., aged 21, Sinker, Fall of eleven iron rings and backing deals, supporting sides of sinking shaft

Clarke, W. L., 14 May 1937, aged 28, Labourer [More information ...]

Darby, William, 27 Mar 1908, aged 17, Horse-driver, Deceased was bringing a set of three loaded tubs down a road dipping 1¾ ins. per yard. All the wheels were lockered. He appeared to have been riding in front of the first tub, with one foot on the tail chain and the other on the rail. His boots were very heavily nailed, and in the middle of the sole of right boot there was fastened an iron plate 2 ins. by 11 ins. in the centre of which there was a bright polished groove about 3/16 in. in depth. He fell in front of the tubs which ran upon him, breaking his neck and right ankle

Devey, George Henry, 21 Jun 1912, (accident: 09 Dec 1911), aged 25, Stallman, Deceased was engaged in a stall in the Eight-feet seam, taking a rate of coal off the face, when suddenly a heavy fall of roof occurred. It fell from three unseen slips and a break, and a piece 3 feet 3 inches by 2 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 3 inches struck him on the lower part of the back and fractured his spine. He died June 21st, 1912. At least one more post should have been set to comply with the timbering rule of the Colliery

Edwards, William Herbert, 12 Sep 1907, 1 a.m., aged 17, Motor Driver, Electrocuted

Fullard, George William, 14 Nov 1924, (accident: 05 Nov 1924, 9.30 p.m., 7th hour of shift), aged 44, Ripper, Deceased and his son were ripping in a main rope haulage road, the gradient of which was about 1 in 15. They had a supply of empty tubs above them and as these were loaded they were taken by hand to passbye some 50 yards below. At the time when the accident occurred deceased had started down with a loaded tub, leaving another secured by means of a wooden locker at the place where they were working. Shortly afterwards a piece of side fell against this tub, and, breaking the locker, set it in motion with the result that it ran wild and crashing into deceased, who had hold of the back of his tub and failed to hear its approach, just as he was nearing the passbye, severely injured him. He died in hospital 9 days later

Gavin, Matthew, 08 Apr 1903, 11.30 a.m., aged 27, Rock-header, Explosion of a shot of compressed gunpowder, while he was trying to relight the fuse after it had missed fire

Gooch, Ernest, 30 May 1904, 10.15 a.m., aged 21, Gripper, Crushed by tubs while lowering two full tubs to haulage rope by going in front of them

Grundy, Thomas, 29 Nov 1910, aged 35, Rock Ripper, The deceased were engaged repairing the roof of the main road about 80 yards from pit bottom, when the roof suddenly collapsed, reeling out several iron girder supports and killed them [More information ...]

Hall, Joseph, 10 Sep 1924, 9.30 p.m., 2nd hour of shift, aged 30, Loader, Deceased was repairing a rail a few yards from the top of a dip which was inclined at 1 in 2 and worked by a main rope. The trammer at the top of the dip thought he heard the fireman say he was ready and he withdrew the stopping pin at the top of the dip in order to let the tubs go. The first tub was not coupled and ran down uncontrolled, killing deceased. The trammer failed to see that the tubs were not coupled and also failed to make sure that all was clear in the dip

Hamplett, Henry, 14 Sep 1909, aged 25, Stallman, Fall of roof [More information ...]

Hamplett, James, 14 Sep 1909, aged 22, Stallman, Fall of roof [More information ...]

Harris, W. J., 14 May 1937, aged 32, Foreman Labourer [More information ...]

Hastings, James Bagnall, 09 Jun 1901, aged 18, Pump-minder, Was getting water with a bucket from the reservoir when he fell in and was drowned

Higgins, James, 06 Nov 1906, 3.50 p.m., aged 50, Roadman, Struck by runaway tubs on an engine plane

Hughes, John, 04 Jul 1905, 7.30 a.m., aged 32, Cager, Crushed under cage at bottom of shaft

Jones, Richard Henry, 31 Jan 1906, 7 p.m., aged 19, Horse Driver, Deceased was taking a tub weighing 29¾ cwts. gross along a road dipping 2¾ inches per yard. He appeared to have been in front of the tub for some purpose and to have been caught and crushed by it, his neck being broken. The tub carried two drags, locking the four wheels

Keeling, George, 27 Jan 1914, aged 22, Loader, Deceased was filling a tub at a longwall face in the Eight Feet seam, when, without previous warning, a large piece of coal fell from the face and crushed him to the floor. He died from the effects of his injuries on the same day. The coal fell from a concealed slip and reeled out four roof supports against which sprags were set to the coal face

Lane, Alexander, 12 May 1906, 12.30 p.m., aged 23, Stall loader, Deceased was filling a tub at a longwall face in a seam 7 feet 5 inches in thickness, when a "rate" of coal 10 inches in thickness came away from a slip joint in an overhanging face, knocked his head against the tub and killed him instantly

Laverock, Joseph Henry, 26 May 1909, aged 48, Stallman, Fall of Roof. The shot-firer had just fired a shot in the coal in a Deep Seam stall, and afterwards examined the place, being followed by the deceased, who was told to clear away the loose coal and set a prop up to the roof as soon as possible ; the shot-firer intended to remain to see the prop set, and was standing only a few feet away from deceased. While deceased was filling the coal away with his rake and basket a large piece of rock weighing about 15 cwts. fell from the roof at a feather-edge slip previously unseen, and fractured the base of his skull, killing him almost instantly. This roof is very subject to these dangerous slips and requires great care

Lomax, James, 18 Nov 1906, (accident: 13 Nov 1906, 10 a.m.), aged 18, Gripper, Strained himself when assisting to lift on a derailed tub. He continued to work until 4 p.m., when he went home without reporting the accident to any of the officials. He died five days afterwards from acute peritonitus, following a rupture of the mesentery and strangulation of the intestines

Lunt, George, 16 Oct 1906, 10.20 a.m., aged 39, Overman, A guide pulley at the head of a self-acting endless rope jig had broken, causing the rope to surge violently against the roadside and apparently to shake the timber. The manager, under-manager, and deceased were present to arrange for necessary repairs, when two props were suddenly reeled out and about two tons of roof came down, falling upon deceased and fracturing his spine. He was extricated in 35 minutes, but was then dead

Marklew, Henry, 12 Mar 1904, 9.30 a.m., aged 48, Stallman, Fall of roof (rock) at longwall face in 8 ft. seam. He was preparing to draw timber in a waste, and while uncapping a tree, a sudden weight knocked the tree out and caused the fall

Moore, Samuel, 11 Dec 1907, 12.10 p.m., aged 40, Dayman, Two props under the ends of steel girders at the foot of a jig on rise side of a main haulage level had been broken, and deceased was about to replace them with new ones. Middle sets were set under the girders, and one of the broken props taken out. Deceased was knocking out the other from inbye side, when a atone, 6 feet by 2 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 3 inches at extremes, suddenly came away from the roof at foot of jig and fell upon him, causing injuries to which he succumbed in a few minutes. The fireman had examined the roof an hour-and-a-half previously, and considered it to be safe. The removal of the broken props had probably disturbed the roof and caused it to settle slightly. The stone fell from a slip, part of which was previously visible. The prop might have been knocked out much more safely from outbye side, but deceased apparently thought otherwise

Morris, Jack, 13 May 1914, aged 14, Nipper, Deceased was stationed at the junction of a jig with an endless rope haulage road. A journey of 16 empty tubs was travelling inbye, two miles per hour. The first tub became derailed, and the boy's attention was called by the overman, and he was going to the signal wires to signal to stop the rope, when the tub collided with a prop and forced it out, and a girder and some debris fell from the roof, pinning him to the ground. The overman was endeavouring to liberate the boy, when a large fall occurred and buried him completely. He was dead when extricated, his neck being broken

Mulcahy, J., 14 May 1937, aged 30, Labourer [More information ...]

Pointon, John, 27 Nov 1905, 2.30 p.m., aged 34, Pikeman engaged as Driver, Run over by tubs while going in front of 4 tubs drawn by a horse on part of the road dipping from 1 in, to 1¾ in. per yard

Reynolds, Thomas Henry, 23 Sep 1910, aged 30, Stallman, Deceased and his mate were engaged pushing an empty tub which came in contact with a prop at the side, and while attempting to squeeze the tub past it, the prop discharged and liberated a stone from the roof, which trapped him by the neck upon the edge of the tub and killed him

Robinson, Thomas H., 07 Jan 1908, aged 30, Stallman, Deceased and some others were setting jig posts at the face of a long wall working 7 ft. 6 ins. in height, and having an inclination of 1 in 3, when a rate of coal, 19 ft. in length by 1 to 1½ ft. in thickness, suddenly fell from the face and fractured the base of his skull. There was only one spur set to support the coal, and this was reeled out. The accident might have been prevented had sufficient timber been properly set at the proper time

Shepherd, Nahum N., 17 Mar 1906, 3.20 p.m., aged 18, Fitter, Deceased was assisting to get a load off a gravity hoist. The man at the brake left it thoughtlessly to assist also. When the load came off, the empty cage shot up and deceased's head was caught between the bottom ring of the cage and a girder forming part of the framework of the hoist. An empty tub had been left on the top cage

Simmonds, John, 09 Apr 1905, (accident: 31 Mar 1905, 9.30 p.m.), aged 38, Timberer, Crushed by tubs on self-acting endless rope haulage road while repairing. Died 9th April

Slide, Edward, 14 Jul 1910, aged 45, Road Repairer, The accident occurred on a horse road which deceased was enlarging. There not being sufficient loose debris where he was working, to complete the filling of his tub, he went to a point 5yards away and, without previous examination, cut out the soft part of the side, thus undermining a piece of "bind " already overhanging, which fell, exposing a break at the back and a slip at one end, and causing injuries to deceased from which he died within four hours

Spencer, A., 06 Dec 1937, (accident: 04 Nov 1937), aged 32, Stallman

Stanton, Reuben, 17 Feb 1908, aged 49, Stallman, Deceased who was usually employed as a miner at the coal face, was set on by the fireman to rip down a "bridge" about 8 yards in length, on the main haulage road, which is 10 ft. wide. The bridge which was about 16 ins. in thickness, and consisted of "very jointy" rock, was supported by side props and lids, and by a steel girder which crossed the road 5 ft. from its outer end. The fireman instructed him to commence at the inner end, and blow down the rock, taking out the props and girder as he came to them ; and deceased returned with him to the shaft bottom to obtain the explosive. Instead of carrying out his instructions, deceased appears to have concluded that he could facilitate the work by taking out the girder first. He did so and the whole length of the bridge came down with it, killing him instantly. Had he done as he was told, the work could have been done practically without risk

Thurstance, Arthur, 16 Sep 1908, aged 19, Gripper-on, Deceased was employed on a level which had a dip out-bye of 1½ inches per yard. The tubs were hauled by an endless rope worked by gravity, the power being due to the weight of the loaded tubs on an inclined crut where the dip out-bye averaged 10 ins. per yard. Two strands of the rope having broken near the in-bye wheel it was at once stopped, and after standing for 20 minutes the remaining four strands suddenly broke and the loaded tubs ran amain. Deceased was caught and dragged some 10 or 15 yards, and received injuries to which he succumbed six hours afterwards. Three others were more or less injured. The rope was 7/8 ins. diam. of special steel A quality. Its breaking strength was stated by the makers to be 29 tons, with a factor of safety of 4.5. The load upon it when it broke was under six tons. It had been in use for 18 months

Trumper, Arthur Harold, 25 May 1914, (accident: 22 May 1914), aged 23, Loader, The stallman was jigging a tub. This stuck part way down the jig and deceased pulled at the rope to release it. Just as he did this, a fall occurred, and a stone struck him on the back. He appeared to be only slightly injured, but was ultimately taken to hospital where he died on the 25th May. A small fault crossed the place, and after the fall slips were visible. A "bump" occurred just at the time of the accident and three props were knocked out. The place was well timbered

Tudor, Henry, 09 Nov 1903, 7.30 p.m., aged 16, Driver, While assisting to lift one of two coupled tubs on to the rails, without either uncoupling the tubs or unhooking the horse. The horse started while he was between the tubs, and he was thrown down and dragged underneath and his neck broken

Walmsley, Richard, 14 May 1937, aged 61, Underground Manager [More information ...]

Wardle, F., 21 Dec 1934, aged 59, Stallman, crushed between a tub and the side of the road [date of report]

Whitehouse, William E., 04 Dec 1913, aged 14, Nipper, He was taking another driver's horse attached to six empty tubs inbye, and while walking on the full road he was met by a journey of full tubs being lowered by gravity, which knocked him down, causing injuries from which he died on the same day