GRESFORD. Wrexham. Denbighshire. 22nd September 1934.
The Gresford Colliery was owned by the United Westminster Wrexham Collieries Limited and was at the village of Gresford about two and a half miles to the north of Wrexham. The mine had two shafts the downcast, which was known as the Dennis and the upcast, which was called the Martin. Coal was wound at the Dennis and materials down the Martin shaft. Men were raised and lowered in both shafts. The Sinking of the shafts started in 1908 and coal was it first wound in June, 1911 so she was not 'newly opened' within the provisions of the Coal Mines Act, I 91 1 and the provision that there must be two intake roadways in each seam did not apply to the colliery.
The mine employed about 2,200 persons, 1,850 below ground and 350 at the surface. Three seams were worked at the colliery. The Main, Crank and Brassey but by the time of the explosion the workings in the latter were idle. The Dennis section of the Main Seam in which the explosion occurred, was made up of five districts each worked on the longwall system.
These sections were known as 20's, 61's, 109's (which included 92's), 14's and 29's and employed 280 men on the day shift 240 on the afternoon shift and 195 on the night shift.
Coal was got and wound on the morning and afternoon shifts and some coal was wound on Friday and Saturday nights. The packs and faces were moved during the night shift. The weekly output of coal from each of the Districts during the ten weeks prior to the explosion were 928 tons from the 20's, 732 from 61's, 8 I 3 from 109's, 1,617 from 14's, and 1,340 from 29's
Mr. William Bonsall, the manager had occupied that position since 1917 and for three years previous to that he had been assistant manager to Mr. Groves. Previous to that he had been a deputy for three years, an overman for three years and undermanager for two years at Swanwick Colliery, Derbyshire. Before that he had worked for nine years as a filler, holer and contractor at Pinxton and Cotes Park Collieries and for four years as ma haulage hand at Birchwood Colliery, all in Derbyshire.
Until two years before the explosion there was also an agent, Mr. T.H. Cockin but that office had not been filled and Mr. Bonsall was left to work the mine without guidance from any technically informed official. He visited the several districts in the Dennis Section from time to time but before the explosion, he had spent most of his time in the South-East Section where belt conveyors were being installed. He had been underground during the night shift but it was so long ago, that it emerged at the inquiry, he could not remember when it was.
For many years Mr. Thomas Hughes was undermanager, but in 1933, he fell sick and Mr. Edward Alan Roberts acted in his place. After January I 934, there were two undermanagers, Mr. Edward Alan Roberts and Mr. Andrew Williams. Mr. Roberts supervised the South-East and No.1 Section of the Main Coal Seam and the Crank and Brassey Seams and Mr. Williams the Dennis Section of the Main Coal Seam. Since 1914, Mr. Roberts had been employed as an overman at the colliery. Before 1934, Mr. Williams was not employed at the colliery but, up to nine years before he had been employed at the Hafod. During the time he was not in the North Wales Coalfield he was the manager of the Blaenhirwaun Colliery in Carmarthenshire. Supervising only the Dennis Section, Mr. Williams was underground daily but not at night. He arrived at the pit about 5 a.m. each day and left about 5.30 p.m. but very often returned to see that repairers working on 142's deep and on the night-shift of the 7th. August he visited the face of the 14's district to see how a newly installed coal-cutting machine was working.
Electrical power was used for coal cutting and conveying and the chief electrician at the colliery was Mr. Josiah Ernest Hague. Mr. Sydney Erwin Hayes was the Colliery surveyor and he was assisted by Mr. William Idris Cuffin who was also given additional duties under the managers directions for taking air measurements and the collection of dust samples. There were three overmen on each shift but only one of these, Mr. Fredrick John Davies on the night-shift, exercised any supervision in the Dennis Section and that only occasionally. Previous to the explosion, the last time he had been at the face of any of the workings in the Dennis Section was on the 21st. August when he went along the face of the 14's District. Some time during August he had been along the face of 29's district and on the 19th. August he was in 20's district but did not visit the face. In June he had been in 23's face and 109's district and in March he went round the 95's district and in two or three faces on the 20's district.
At the inquiry Mr. Davies stated that he devoted his time to the South-East Section of the Main Coal Seam and only went into the Dennis now and again. This meant that, except for the time that Mr. Andrew Williams, undermanager of the Dennis Section, was underground, 15 deputies supervised that section of the mines. They were Richard Owen, T.B. Tune, and William Salisbury in the 20's, J.T. Jones, W. Swinnerton and William Salisbury agent, in the 61's, N. Parry, R.T. Edwards and S. Matthews in the 109's, J.H. Thomas, H. Amos and R. Jones in the 14's and H. Thomas, W. Davies and D. Jones in the 29's on the Day, Afternoon and Night-shifts respectively.
The remaining deputy, Edwin Chester was employed on the nightshift when he supervised men in the drift at the inbye end of the Dennis main haulage road beyond the 'clutch' and travelled and reported on that haulage road and the Martin return airway.
Three phase current at 3,300 volts was taken down the Dennis shaft to two transformers at the bottom of the shaft where the voltage was reduced to 570 volts to work the haulage engines, coal cutting machines and conveyors, each transformer was connected to a separate switch board. The lighting at the pit bottom was supplied from a small transformer at 110 volts. There was one main cable installed in the Dennis main intake airway, which carried the whole of the current inbye for the section. The cable was controlled at its origin by a switch and fuse. Some of the coal-cutting machines and conveyors were certified flameproof but others of another design were used which were supposed to be flameproof. The bells were certified flameproof but the magneto telephones were neither intrinsically safe nor in flameproof casings.
The haulage in the Dennis Main Intake and 142's Deep was by endless rope driven by an electric motor placed near the Dennis shaft bottom. The districts generally had main and tail rope haulage driven by electricity and compressed air.
The mine was generally dry but water was pumped from the Dennis shaft sump to the Martin shaft sump lodgement pump at 500 feet from the surface between the two shafts and a small pump emptied the Martin sump into tanks in the cages in the shaft and wound to the pit bank.
The electricians used thirty electric lamps but most of the lamps were flame lamps of the Prestwich Patent Protector type. The ventilation was produced by a double inlet Walker fan placed at the surface and steam driven. There was no proper air lock at the top of the upcast, Martin shaft. Platforms called 'butterfly boards' or 'policemen', raised by the cages as they came up were relied on to prevent the air from flowing directly from the surface to the fan.
The explosion occurred shortly before 8 a.m. on Saturday when there were 480 men at work. News of disaster became known only early on Saturday morning and relatives of the night-shift men rushed to the colliery. Rescue men from Gresford and Llay Main Collieries rushed to the colliery to fight the fire and doctors and nurses, St. John Ambulance men and Wrexham Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene. A party went down the mine including Mr. T. Boydell, the Divisional Inspector and District Inspector when it was found that the location of the explosion was about three-quarters of a mile from pit bottom and that fire and smoke were intense.
Within a short time seven bodies had been recovered and brought to the surface and rescue parties under Mr. H. Herbert, superintendent of the Rescue Station at Wrexham, equipped with gas masks and apparatus, were working underground.
There was continual activity at the pit head with cages being raised and lowered at frequent intervals containing the rescuers and large quantities of sand in paper bags, then in sacks, then loads of stone-dust and dozens of fire extinguishers. One of the rescuers described the scene underground as 'a blazing wall of fire '. Rescue appliances were rushed from Lancashire and batches of men arrived from various parts of the country to offer their help.
Lorries loaded with sand continually drove into the pit yards and were unloaded at the pithead into sacks by a host of volunteers including the Vicar of Rhosddu, the Rev. G.R. Davies. Dozens of these sacks were taken underground but the bulk of them remained at the surface to underline the seriousness of the situation. The pile of sacks led to rumours that the mine was to be sealed but this was denied by management.
Relays of rescue workers were going down the pit in teams of four and grim realisation of what had happened came to hundreds of silent men, women and children on pit banks when bodies of two of rescue men were brought to the surface. They were taken to the ambulance room where artificial respiration was tried for half an hour before they were pronounced dead and removed to the temporary mortuary.
They were Daniel Hughes, Second Avenue, Llay and William Hughes, Jackson's Cottages, New Rhosrobin, both members of Llay Main Rescue Team and were in the first party to descend after the explosion. To add to the bitterness, news came that a member of the same party, John Lewis of Railway Terrace, Cefnybedd, was missing and had not been recovered.
The 'Leader' reported of the scenes at the temporary mortuary:-
"What a tragic sight; a scene which brought tears to the eyes of many while a comrade sat silently weeping in the rescue station."
Writing about these rescue men the 'Leader' reporter said:-
"I was standing near the ambulance room not far from the pit head on Saturday morning just at the time when the ambulance men and the doctors were trying to revive the two rescue party who had been overcome whilst engaged below. Dr. J.E.H. Davies of Wrexham, the veteran St. John officer was in charge and men were working for all they were worth, trying to revive them. News soon came out, however that they were dead. They had sacrificed their lives for their friends. There was scarcely time to realise the tragic nature of the announcement before another party of rescuers with their masks and apparatus could be seen coming on their way to the pit bottom again, there to continue to fight for the men entrapped below. Few who saw these things will forget the courage of these rescue parties returning to the scene of death and passing near the building in which the dead bodies of their comrades in the Rescue Brigade were lying.
The rescuers shook their heads when asked for news of any progress. All they would say was, "Things are pretty bad." The state below was reflected by the strain that showed in their faces.
Very little information was available apart from the fact that an explosion had occurred in the Dennis District and parts of the Main Dennis Road were on fire. Rumours were rife and it was not until 10 a.m. that the colliery management issued an official statement:-
"The managing director, Mr. H. Dyke Dennis wishes to state that it is feared there has been an explosion at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham in the main district. As far as can be ascertained the number of men involved is approximately 100 and the Inspectors of mines and colliery officials are present underground."
Almost immediately after the explosion it became known that about half the men who were not working in the district where the explosion occurred, had reached the surface safely but there was great uncertainty as to the number trapped in the mine. At an early stage, the number given was 102 but it was not until Sunday evening that an official figure of 261 was announced.
Mr. H. Dyke Dennis, the managing director of the colliery explained how the original estimate of 102 men missing came to be made. He said:-
"In the early confusion many lamps were missing, but it was discovered later that some of the men to whom they belonged were safe, having thrown lamps away in the rush to escape. It was because of this that that the first estimate of about 100 had perished, this estimate was made in good faith, and in honest belief that it was accurate."
Men women and children were waiting in the drenching rain. The men, many of whom knew better than others the prospects which confronted their comrades, and in some cases their own fathers, sons and brothers bravely consoled the women. Time passed slowly and anxiety increased but hope remained and a ceaseless vigil was kept.
Mr. William Jones, a rescue worker and one of the most experienced miners at the pit said:-
"I have just come back from facing a wall of flame through which we cannot break. At the moment there are 100 men in the fire-fighting party near the main shaft. We made little progress. We attacked the fire with extinguishers and by throwing sand against the flames. We were able to advance about twenty yards but we could go no further. We came across a number of bodies and sent them up."
As the morning wore on the work went on but the fire was burning fiercely with timber at the sides of the roads ablaze. It was hoped that three firemen with the trapped men, have gathered them where the air was breathable. Volunteers came forward in increasing numbers and men went down the pit in relays.
During Saturday afternoon Sir Henry Walker, H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines arrived at the colliery and at 6 p.m. the following official Statement was issued: -
"The fire on the main road which is preventing exploration of the mine has been fought throughout the day and the latest report is that it is being overcome. It may be that beyond the fire men may be found alive and it is with this hope that no effort is being spared but in any event the death toll will be heavy."
Continued.
Information obtained from Coal Mining History & Resource Centre. Ian Winstanley's web site (and Picks Publishing).
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