Date:1905
Description:Hamstead Colliery circa 1905. . It was the evening of the fourth of March, 1908. On Monday 2nd March the winding engine for the downcast shaft had broken so the shaft was closed. Normally there would be 250 men below ground, but only a few men had gone down the upcast (ventilation) shaft to tend to the ponies, and carry out repair work. The underground manager had died in a roof-fall four days before, so there was no manager at the coal pit bottom. The pit will forever be remembered for the disaster of 1908 when 26 men lost their lives. Welsby Avenue nearby is named after the hero who tried to save the men.
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In 1875 the Hamstead Colliery Company purchased the Hamstead estate to look for coal; the colliery, ...
It was the evening of the fourth of March, 1908. On Monday 2nd March the winding engine for the downcast ...
The deaths of 29 miners in the disaster shocked the local community. Funds were raised in a variety ...
All rescue attempts had been frustrated by lack of oxygen. It took three days to dig a shaft and improve ...
The inquest on March 28th, reported in the Handsworth Herald, listed 24 men: Abner Williamson (44), ...
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Image courtesy of: Local Studies And History
Donor ref:LSH/ Hamstead Colliery (21/3200)
Source: Local Studies And History
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