Holditch Colliery disaster
| Date | 2 July 1937 |
|---|---|
| Time | 05:45 GMT |
| Location | Holditch Colliery, Staffordshire, England |
| Also known as | Brymbo Colliery |
| Deaths | 30 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 8 |
The Holditch Colliery disaster was a coal mining accident on 2 July 1937, in Chesterton, Staffordshire, England, in which 30 men died and eight were injured. It was caused due to a fire and subsequent explosions, and was exacerbated by a decision from management to risk the lives of mine workers to try to save the coal seam.
Archaeologists believe that the area itself was mined as long ago as Roman times.
Holditch Colliery, also known as Brymbo Colliery, opened in 1912, and was one of a number of coal mines in Staffordshire. It was located around two miles north west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Formerly the main employer in Chesterton, the colliery employed 1,500 men and mined ironstone in addition to coal. With varying amounts of coal coming out of the colliery per year, in 1947 it hit 400,000 tonnes. In many ways an old-fashioned mine, steam power was in some form used up until 1980. It was believed to have been the most gassy colliery in Britain. The colliery consisted of two 2,000 feet deep shafts, sunk in 1912 and 1916, working Great Row and the Four Feet seams.
Despite heavy investment in the 1960s and 1970s the colliery closed down in 1990, just three years after the end of the year long miners' strike. Just before its closure it was taking out over 500,000 tonnes of coal a year. Many of the miners transferred to nearby Silverdale Colliery, which itself closed down on Christmas Eve 1998. The current site of Holditch Colliery is now a large business park.
At around 5:45 am on 2 July 1937, two coal cutter men (Herman Payne and William Beardmore) were working when Beardmore noticed a flame. The flame spread quickly across the coalface into a deadly wall of fire. The two men quickly fled and actually survived the disaster which was about to strike.
Of the 55 men working in the vicinity of the fire, all but two managed to escape (W.Hystead and Arthur Stanton). The two men became lost in the smoke, which eventually overcame them. The remaining 53 men attempted in vain to extinguish the fire, with the timber supports ablaze and threatening roof collapse, the overman ordered the stone dust to be dumped and spread about as near to the fire as possible. These efforts also proved futile and so the men retreated further back and took a roll call - revealing the absence of Hystead and Stanton. By now the fire had taken hold and the two men were feared lost.
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