Often when I am travelling and come across a disused mine I find that the experience promotes different emotions. I am happy that men do not have to work in the dreadful conditions that often shortened their lives but I am sad that yet another feature of our industrial past has vanished. Most of us have never been down a mine so can only imagine the conditions experienced by the men who descended underground on a daily basis.
Until recently when the dangers of mining were fully realised, it was likely that even if you were not killed or maimed in an accident, a mining related disease would inhibit your life and slowly kill you. I watched a documentary recently which dealt with the awful Senghenydd Colliery disaster that happened on the 14th of October 1913 in which 439 miners died. It is still the most deadly of all mining accidents recorded in the United Kingdom and all the more tragic as only twelve years previously 81 miners died at the same colliery in a series of explosions.
Whilst the cause of the 1913 disaster is unknown, (it is thought that a spark from underground signalling equipment might have ignited whatever firedamp was present) it was just another in a long list of disasters that hit the Welsh collieries alone. I was shocked to read the list of these disasters when researching this article ranging from the Cymmer disaster in 1856 (114 dead) to the Wattstown disaster of 1905 (119 dead). And whilst these disasters were caused by a variety of factors, it just brought home to me how savage the occupation actually was.
If you lived in a miningtown then it is likely that you would follow your father and grandfather underground. There was very little alternative and whilst some of the mines were well run with considerate owners others were not. Indeed, one of the most astonishing facts about the Senghenydd Colliery disaster was that negligence charges were brought against Edward Shaw (the colliery manager) and the owners of the mine.It appears that safety checks were rushed and that more thorough inspections were considered to be time consuming.
Senghenydd had been instructed to implement improvements as dictated by the Coal MinesAct of 1911 but the deadlines had been missed. Shaw was fined just £24 and the owners £10 (this works out to about five and a half pence for every victim). Looking at this through modern day eyes you just cannot believe what you are reading.
The Senghenydd disaster as bad as it was pales into insignificance when one reads about the Courrieres Mine disaster of the 10th of March 1906 which claimed 1009 victims. This was not only France’s worst mining accident but to date, the worst in Europe and its toll is only exceeded by the death toll of the world’s worst min
ing disaster which occurred at the Benxihu Colliery in China on the 26th of April 1942 and claimed 1549 victims.
One of the causes of the Courrieres accident was the ignition of methane by the naked flame of a miner’s lamp. It appears that workers in that mine were using lamps with naked flames as the Davy Lamps were considered too expensive! It was an accident waiting to happen!
When I was in Penzance a couple of years ago, I chanced upon the statue of a certain Humphry Davy (1778-1829) who is best remembered for his invention of the Davy Lamp. Everybody has heard of the Davy Lamp but how many people know the story behind the invention. Well the first thing you need when you are underground is light because it is pretty dark. A naked flame is probably not the best solution for obvious reasons. But this is what the original miners used and this was the cause of countless disasters throughout the years.
Davy recognised this although the actual safety lamp had been invented by William Reid Clanny (1776-1850). His invention was basic consisting of a candle enclosed by a glass surround. Under the candle was a water trough from which air was forced via a pair of bellows. Fumes bubbled out through another water chamber above or a least this in my understanding of the invention. This was a step forward and his paper On the Means of procuring a Steady Light in Coal Mines without the Danger of Explosion was read before the Royal Society in May 1813.
Davy took the idea further conceiving the use of iron gauze to enclose the flame of the lamp. This would prevent the methane inside the lamp from becoming associated with the general mine atmosphere and the dangers that presented. The actual design did have its drawbacks though, as the gauze inhibited the light produced and in the wet conditions of the mines they often rusted causing the lamp to become less safe.
George Stephenson (1781-1848) was also heavily involved in the development of the miner’s lamp. His invention of the Geordie Lamp worked on different principles to the Davy Lamp, but both suffered from their fragility which in the harsh working environment of coal mines presented problems. Another hazard was that when these lamps were damaged, miners might use naked flames to reboot them or incorporate Heath Robinson repairs and cause further problems for themselves.
The basic requirements of a safety lamp were threefold
1/ To provide an adequate and safe light source
2/ That this illumination is safe and does not increase the danger of explosion
3/ That they warn if the atmosphere becomes dangerous
The real answer was of course the use of electrical lamps but this method was not patented until 1859 by a certain William Clarke. This type of lamp did not really come into the reckoning until 1881 with the Swan Lamp and by 1893 the Sussmann Lamp,after its introduction into the UK, began to become widely used.
This said, it was noted in 1910 that only 25% of all safety lamps used were electric. Obviously this improved and more than more mines adopted the much safer electric lamps. Initially these were hand held but soon the familiar helmet lamps came into operation. The flame lamps however continued to be used to detect methane and blackdamp although this method was later superseded by the use of gas detectors.
Electrical lamps were not without their problems as a spark caused by the electricity could cause an explosion so obviously they had to be well sealed. If one goes into a mine today obviously everything is electric and the environment is safe as it can be. Sadly a number of these improvements came after great loss of life in mining accidents.
This said, as the demand for coal grew then production was increased. Unworkable targets were drawn and because of that corners were cut and a by-product of this was that some the mines became less safe. You can have all the safety equipment and rules in place but as in any industry, if these are ignored or become flabby then problems will occur. Indeed man was not designed for digging underground and working in hostile environments. One still hears of mining accidents in the developing world or in countries where labour is cheap and expendable. Even with all the safety advances that have occurred coal mining or mining of any description will never be 100% safe. That is a fact, just like flying accidents will happen.
But what as I sometimes ask has this got to do with the antiques trade?
To be truthful I have never seen a miner’s lamp for sale in the Arcade or elsewhere. Perhaps I have not really looked. However, that is not to say that you cannot purchase an original miners lamp as there are lots for sale on the internet. What did surprise me was that there are also collector’s societies. I would imagine that if you take an interest in collecting the lamps then these guys would be happy to help you. Again, the details of these societies are easily found on the internet. There are also some rather good videos on the subject on You Tube.
In this article I have concentrated on miner’s lamps but there is also plenty of mining memorabilia to be found. One must remember that collieries like the railways were a treasure trove of items to collect.When an item became redundant it was usually thrown out without ceremony. This is obviously good news for the collector. These items will vary from the very small to the rather large. One could collect miners pit check tokens or the once common strike badges. You could collect the soap trays from the showers or the masses of paperwork that accompanied the daily running of the mines. Miner’s helmets are also fun to collect and I have seen these for sale over the years as well as very tired picks and shovels Really the list is endless and I cannot really give any ideas on price as I am quite ill-informed on this subject.
One must use their common sense and gut feeling when considering a purchase. Whilst the check tokens and strike badges are reasonably cheap and quite easily found some of the prices quoted for other mining memorabilia on the internet just seemed just too good to be true. It is really down to your own judgement.It occurs to me that there are a large number of retro items around also.
Recently I was in Radstock a small ex mining town not far from Bath, and I was amazed how much it had changed. I used to visit the town in the early 1960s when I was a small child and remember how the town exhibited its mining heritage. The much missed Somerset & Dorset railway cuts through the town and its origins obviously went hand in hand with the industry of the area. Radstock was indeed a mining town although it was not harsh to look at as some were.
The golden days of the Somerset Coal Fields were coming to an end and Radstock like many other towns and villages in the area was coming to terms with this. It was returning to its rural origins. Although not harsh is not a beautiful town and rather plain but if you visit it today and are interested our mining heritage then it is a good place to start. As I noted, it has changed but the town and the area around it does exhibit its history. There are no great scars on the landscape but one can see the areas industrial past.
Peasedown St John which is quite near Radstock is one of the largest villages in Somerset. It is also an interesting example of a coal mining village. It came into being with the Industrial Revolution although there were a couple of small hamlets in the area (Red Post & Carlingcott). With the sinking of the Braysdown Colliery in 1845 it was obvious that accommodation would be required and because of this Peasedown grew rapidly in size. If one walks through the village (ignoring the modern developments) much of its mining history is evident. The village retains many of its original buildings and is also notable for the large number of Low Churches and Chapels. This reflects the rapid progress of non-conformist religious worship throughout in the area in the nineteenth century.
Another place of interest to visit in the area is the Somerset Coal Canal which roughly existed between 1796 and 1898. It is best seen at Limpley Stoke either near the Dundas Aqueduct or just outside of the village towards Bath where a short section was restored in the 1980s. The section is just past the viaduct and the sports ground and can be seen from the railway halfway up a hill.
The remains of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway can also be seen at Limpley Stoke which served Camerton a village that was in the heart of the Somerset Coalfields. The line which closed to passenger traffic in 1925 remained open for goods trains until 1951. It is forever etched in our memories as The Titfield Thunderbolt was filmed along the line shortly after its closure. The line can also be seen to its advantage at Midford running under the long dead Somerset & Dorset railway. The effect in stunning and reminded me of the etchings of Piranesi.
I have described this area as I was brought up near Bath (Bradford on Avon) and much of my childhood was spent exploring the area on my bicycle. On my travels, I have visited South Wales where perhaps there is more to see but the Somerset Coal Fields remain close to my heart. It is a piece of my personal history which had already faded by the time I had started my wanderings in the 1960s.
I do not collect miner’s lamps or any mining memorabilia but if you are interested then please do so.It is a rewarding pastime. You may have originated from a mining area or just have a general interest in our industrial past. Even though we are nearing the end of 2016 there is still plenty to collect and a great deal of our mining heritage still exists. You may even find found objects when exploring as I often find things when walking along disused railways.
If like me you found Mr Davy quite an interesting chap then his statue is quite easy to find in Penzance. What I was not aware of was that apart from being a brilliant chemist and inventor, he was also a poet much praised by Coleridge. I have not read any of his work (was it ever collected I ask?). But if it was, I look forward to the day when I am wandering around the Hungerford Arcade and I find a book of his poems. I might just take it with me when I next visit the Somerset Coal Fields or other mining communities around the country.
Often when I am travelling and come across a disused mine I find that the experience promotes different emotions. I am happy that men do not have to work in the dreadful conditions that often shortened their lives but I am sad that yet another feature of our industrial past has vanished. Most of us have never been down a mine so can only imagine the conditions experienced by the men who descended underground on a daily basis.
Whilst the cause of the 1913 disaster is unknown, (it is thought that a spark from underground signalling equipment might have ignited whatever firedamp was present) it was just another in a long list of disasters that hit the Welsh collieries alone. I was shocked to read the list of these disasters when researching this article ranging from the Cymmer disaster in 1856 (114 dead) to the Wattstown disaster of 1905 (119 dead). And whilst these disasters were caused by a variety of factors, it just brought home to me how savage the occupation actually was.
grandfather underground. There was very little alternative and whilst some of the mines were well run with considerate owners others were not. Indeed, one of the most astonishing facts about the Senghenydd Colliery disaster was that negligence charges were brought against Edward Shaw (the colliery manager) and the owners of the mine.It appears that safety checks were rushed and that more thorough inspections were considered to be time consuming.
The Senghenydd disaster as bad as it was pales into insignificance when one reads about the Courrieres Mine disaster of the 10th of March 1906 which claimed 1009 victims. This was not only France’s worst mining accident but to date, the worst in Europe and its toll is only exceeded by the death toll of the world’s worst min
When I was in Penzance a couple of years ago, I chanced upon the statue of a certain Humphry Davy (1778-1829) who is best remembered for his invention of the Davy Lamp. Everybody has heard of the Davy Lamp but how many people know the story behind the invention. Well the first thing you need when you are underground is light because it is pretty dark. A naked flame is probably not the best solution for obvious reasons. But this is what the original miners used and this was the cause of countless disasters throughout the years.
George Stephenson (1781-1848) was also heavily involved in the development of the miner’s lamp. His invention of the Geordie Lamp worked on different principles to the Davy Lamp, but both suffered from their fragility which in the harsh working environment of coal mines presented problems. Another hazard was that when these lamps were damaged, miners might use naked flames to reboot them or incorporate Heath Robinson repairs and cause further problems for themselves.
This said, it was noted in 1910 that only 25% of all safety lamps used were electric. Obviously this improved and more than more mines adopted the much safer electric lamps. Initially these were hand held but soon the familiar helmet lamps came into operation. The flame lamps however continued to be used to detect methane and blackdamp although this method was later superseded by the use of gas detectors.
Recently I was in Radstock a small ex mining town not far from Bath, and I was amazed how much it had changed. I used to visit the town in the early 1960s when I was a small child and remember how the town exhibited its mining heritage. The much missed Somerset & Dorset railway cuts through the town and its origins obviously went hand in hand with the industry of the area. Radstock was indeed a mining town although it was not harsh to look at as some were.
Another place of interest to visit in the area is the Somerset Coal Canal which roughly existed between 1796 and 1898. It is best seen at Limpley Stoke either near the Dundas Aqueduct or just outside of the village towards Bath where a short section was restored in the 1980s. The section is just past the viaduct and the sports ground and can be seen from the railway halfway up a hill.
The remains of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway can also be seen at Limpley Stoke which served Camerton a village that was in the heart of the Somerset Coalfields. The line which closed to passenger traffic in 1925 remained open for goods trains until 1951. It is forever etched in our memories as The Titfield Thunderbolt was filmed along the line shortly after its closure. The line can also be seen to its advantage at Midford running under the long dead Somerset & Dorset railway. The effect in stunning and reminded me of the etchings of Piranesi.