Lofthouse Colliery Disaster

[ncbnik]

Please spare a moments thought for the seven men who died 50 years ago in the early hours of tomorrow morning 21st March.
Frederick William Armitage, Colin Barnaby, Frank Billingham, Sydney Brown, Charles Cotton, Edward Finnegan, Alan Haigh.
Picture is of the memorial service at the seven sided obelisk positioned over the site where six of the seven lie. (yesterday)

 

[tomferry]

Lofthouse Colliery Disaster, Wakefield 1973 - Northern Mine Research Society

LOFTHOUSE. Wakefield, Yorkshire. 21st. March, 1973. The Lofthouse Colliery was in the North Area of the National Coal Board and was about 2 miles to the north of Wakefield on the western fringe of the workable coalfield. Production began at the colliery in 1877 and at the time of the...

www.nmrs.org.uk

More information here .

 

[ncbnik]

And, back in the day it looked like this

 

[tomferry]

It’s a truly interesting history to learn I believe .

 

[Wayland Smith]

If you would like to read up on facts on some of the mining disasters then the
Durham mining museum site has a lot of reports from all over the UK.
Many of these are official reports from the mining inspectors and give first-hand accounts of the rescue attempts.
Durham Mining Museum.

For tales of life at the rescue stations see the "Healey Hero" site.
Healey Hero

 

[undead crow]

Restored video about the disaster

 

[ncbnik]

Many thanks for posting that; I'd not seen it before.

 

[petejackson]

The Mines Inspectors report about the disaster has some clear photos of the damaged workings. Shows what happens when a vast volume of water breaks into a mine.