Description

The second occurred on Sunday, 14th October, about 11.40 p.m., at the Wingate Grange Colliery in the County of Durham, the property of the owners of Wingate Grange Colliery, and caused the deaths of 25 persons, 24 of whom were killed on the spot, and one man subsequently died on November 24th from pneumonia brought on by the cold and exposure in the pit whilst waiting to be brought to the surface.

Special reports by Mr. A. H. Ruegg, K.C., who attended the adjourned inquest by your instructions, Mr. J. B. Atkinson, the Inspector in charge of the Newcastle District, and myself have already been presented to you, but notwithstanding this I wish to make a few remarks here, in the hope that they will get into the hands of the various subordinate officials of collieries who may not have the opportunity of seeing the special reports referred to.

The explosion occurred in the Low Main seam on a main engine plane about 680 yards from the up cast shaft, and the effects were traceable for about 1,140 yards north from the shaft, for about 490 yards up the stable way, and 50 yards up the 1st east.

The Low Main seam in which the explosion occurred gives off little or no firedamp, and none had been found on the engine plane for many years. There was no goaf near from which gas could have come off, and there were no cavities in the roof where gas could lodge, and a ventilating current of over 26,000 cubic feet per minute was passing along the engine plane. It therefore appears clear from the first that the explosion could not be traced to firedamp. It was found that some geloxite and a length of fuze were missing from the shot firer's box which was discovered intact in a refuge hole close to the scene of the explosion and to where his body was found, and it was eventually found that a shot had been fired with a view to blowing down a small projecting piece of stone on the side of the road. The stone was in no way dangerous and had been in the same position for 25 years at least, and no orders had been given to have it removed. The man who fired the shot, and who lost his life, was a licensed shot firer and was stated to be a very steady man. He had no drilling gear with him and had placed the explosive loose on a ledge of stone and fired it without drilling a hole and without using any stemming, in direct contravention of the Explosives Order and Mines Act, and without a special authorisation which he ought to have had if a shot had to be fired on a main engine plane. Although the road in question was not one which would be considered very dry and dusty, for the floor nearly all through was damp, some very fine coal dust was deposited on the rough surface of the stone, the pack wall, and timbers, the accumulation of many years, and this undoubtedly was ignited by the firing of the explosive and caused the catastrophe.

Had the regulations been observed the shot could have been fired with safety and the explosion would not have occurred.

The danger of coal dust alone without any admixture of firedamp has not been fully recognised until recent years, and even now is not admitted by some mining engineers, and by many officials and workmen.

There can be no doubt about it ; this was clearly demonstrated at the Timsbury and Camerton Colliery explosions in Somersetshire some years ago, and now again at Wingate.

It has been argued that if this danger exists to the extent now claimed, that explosions would be of daily occurrence where gunpowder is used in the coal faces, but the argument is not sound. The dust in the faces in nearly all cases is coarse and heavy and would not readily lend itself to the propagation of an explosion.

The danger lies in the very fine particles of dust, often as fine as the finest flour, which are carried down the shafts from the screens or blown off the top of the tubs in their transit to the shaft and which settle almost unobserved, on the sides, roof, timbers, and floors of the engine planes, and it only requires a small initial explosion whether of gas or some explosive to cause an explosion which may extend throughout the mine.

A great deal has been done in this district and is still being done to remove this danger. Many miles of water pipes with suitable standards and hose pipes at fixed distances have been laid down, water tubs with sprays of various sorts are in use, and a system of spraying the tubs automatically with water before leaving the landings for their journey to the shaft has been found to act very beneficially. Methods of dealing with dust on the screens have also been successfully applied at some collieries. Brushing away and clearing the dust from the main roads has been done for a considerable time in places where watering seriously affects the roof and sides as it does with certain classes of stone.

Given an area free from dust or a zone of road perfectly wet, if an explosion should occur from any cause, the evil effects of it will be greatly reduced and the area much circumscribed, and I hope this is now being more fully realised by the persons responsible for the safety of the mines.

None but the most efficient men, and the fewer the better, should be appointed shot firers, and care should be taken to see that they thoroughly understand their duties and responsibilities before being authorised to act in such a position. I am glad to say that steps are being taken in this direction.

Something might also be done with a view to reducing the number of shots fired, and firing them between shifts or when the majority of the men are out of the mine.

At the same time I do not for a moment wish it to be inferred that there is not great danger from an ignition of firedamp alone. Many lives have been lost from this cause, and every precaution must be taken to keep the working places, returns and all parts of the mine free from an inflammable mixture of gas and air. This has been understood for many years, but what I want to point out is that an additional danger exists which has not been so well recognised, but which is a strong factor in the safe working of a colliery.

The text of the report from the Mines Inspector into this disaster is available in the Disaster Reports section of this website.

Census Data

Please note: the census extracts shown here are our 'best guess match' to the person shown on this page and is not intended to be definitive — only knowledge of the family would allow this.

Memorial: 1906 Wingate Grange Colliery Disaster

Memorial

Related Articles

Further Reading

• Mines Inspectors Report into the 1906 Disaster (Cd. 3379)
• Durham Mining Disasters, c.1700 - 1950s by Maureen Anderson, Published by Wharncliffe Books, 2008, ISBN 1-845630-73-4

Sources

• , Page: 12
• 1881 Census — taken 3rd April, 1881
• 1901 Census — taken 31st March, 1901
• 1906 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 3449), Durham District (No. 4) by R. Donald Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 36, Accident Number: 390 Where to find this report
• Memorial photograph (T-00177-00-0002) © Kev Duncan

Researchers

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