LOVERS LANE PIT DISASTER

COPIED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR { IAN WINSTANLEY } AND THE

“  NORTHERN MINE RESEARCH SOCIETY “ 

LOVERS LANE COLLIERY

Lovers Lane Howe Bridge

The lovers lane shafts were the first deep pits in Atherton,  dating from the 1840s. They were the most northerly of the collieries operated by the Fletcher family in Howe Bridge, and, also the deepest, reaching the Wigan Six Foot Mine at 900 feet in depth.

In 1872 a “ firedamp “ explosion in the five foot mine killed 27 men & boys, at the time it was  the worst single accident in any of the Atherton Pits.

Lovers Lane Colliery closed in 1898.

Below is the report of the disaster and the Coroners report

LOVERS LANE COLLIERY EXPLOSION { ATHERTON, MANCHESTER }

MARCH 28TH  1872

The colliery was the property of John Fletcher and others and was about 200 Yards from Chowbent station on the Lancashire and North Western Railway,  two miles from Leigh and seven miles from Wigan.

The mine was 300 yards deep to the Gibfield Coal which had been worked for about 27 years and the workings were extensive towards Tyldesley on one side and Hindley on the other, there were two shafts, one at Gibfield and one to the west.

Upwards of 100 men and boys Were employed in the part of the mine where the explosion occurred, 400 yards from the pit eye in the 5 feet mine. A part of the workings near a fault became fouled with gas since the source was too small for good ventilation. Th air had to pass through 6 iron pipes, about a foot in the area to reach the place.

The ignition of the gas was caused by a shot that blew out the stemming, the report of the blast was heard up to 2 miles away and news spread quickly through Atherton and Leigh.

Mr Ralph Fletcher Jnr was quickly on the scene and organised a rescue party to go down, a man soon returned with the news for the waiting anxious crowds that the workings in the immediate vicinity of the shaft were greatly damaged and that there would be great difficulty in releasing the victims

The survivors from the Gibfield mine were sent to the surface one by one, some of them seriously injured, A lot had died in the explosion and the bodies were laid out in the Lamp room and other pit buildings.

 THE MINERS WHO DIED WERE NAMED AS,

 Ralph Holcroft,     aged 34 yrs      Deputy Underlooker

James Hilton          aged 12 yrs      Hooker-on

William Crank        aged 12 yrs      Pony Driver

Thomas Walker     aged 19 yrs      Collier

James Farrington  aged 12 yrs      Drawer

Leigh Farrington    aged 35 yrs      Collier   { Father of James }

George Hunt          aged 15 yrs    Pony Driver

Thomas Hunt          aged 22 yrs      Drawer  { Brother of George }

Joseph Halliday      aged 14 yrs     Drawer

Allan Howcroft       aged 16 yrs     Drawer

Thomas Schofield aged 13 yrs    Drawer

Peter Halliwell         aged 20 yrs     Dataller

Robert Shaw           aged 32 yrs   Dataller

Robert Smith           aged 24 yrs     Collier

John Lee                                       Collier

John Hodgson         aged 38 yrs    Collier

Jacob Worthington aged 13 yrs     Drawer

Peter Pemberton     aged 28 yrs     Collier { Married for 2 weeks only }

Thomas Whittle      aged 19 yrs      Drawer

James Day             aged 33 yrs    Collier

Thomas Barlow       aged 17 yrs    Drawer

Thomas Morris        aged 18 yrs     Apprentice Surveyor

Thomas Wainwright aged 20 yrs    Collier

Thomas Prescot       aged 37 yrs      Collier

James Rothwell       aged 16 yrs     Wagoner

Job Greenhough     aged 20 yrs    Collier    

{ had also been injured in the Queen Pit explosion in Haydock }

William Grundy was the 27th victim of the explosion, William died two days after the explosion from the burns he suffered during the blast.

THE MINERS WHO WERE INJURED WERE NAMED AS,

Joseph Ainsworth                      Collier

Joseph Clarkson                        Collier

Benjamin Banks                        Drawer

William Gregory                       Collier 

Enoch Alldred                           Collier

John Casey Dodds                    Drawer

James Mather                            Drawer

Richard Beaver                          Collier

Henry Halliday                          Drawer

John Whittle                              Drawer

James Banks                              Drawer

Ralph Cowburn                          Drawer

John Clarkson                            Drawer

Edward Harrison                       Drawer

 The inquest into the disaster was opened in Atherton Town Hall by the Coroner for Atherton { Mr J B Edge } the mining engineer { Herbert Fletcher } tld the court that he went down the pit with Roger Yates & Richard Morris ??

They found a door blown out and then went down the tunnel with the air ? when three men came out, groping their way towards them in the dark, they were all injured and shouting for help.

 ttle further up the tunnel they came across the body of  James Farrington and a little further found three men rolling about shouting,  apparently suffering under the influence of the “ afterdamp “

They lifted the men into the airway and then carried on walking further in to see if there was anyone else who needed help, finding no more they returned to the three men, one of the three was dead so they helped the remaining two out of the pit.

Herbert Fletcher then retuned  Below and heard a lad shouting that he could go no further and that his Master was below him, they helped them and retuned to the top, they met Moses & Richard Morris and others and went to “ Williams Brow “ where they found four bodies lying together. Was cutting

Collier, Thomas Cowburn, was cutting at the far end of the tunnel at the time of the explosion, there was a great wind but he did not lose his light, then, there was shaking but no sign of fire, they met ip with some others but were driven back by smoke when they tried to leave the pit, but, they eventually managed to get to the main brow where they met Thomas Gregory who guided them out of the pit.

He told the court of the “ afterdamp “ and that he had seen the “ shothole “ in Lee`s place.

Ralph Fletcher Jnr told the court that the workmen fired their own shots unless there were orders to  the Coroner summed up and  the jury brought in a verdict that the contrary and he had dismissed the “ underlooker “ about two years before for allowing men to work were there was gas.

The only report of the state of the mine in the morning of the explosion was a verbal report from Roger Yates who had received information from  “ Holcroft “ that all was right.

After hearing all the evidence, the Coroner summed up  and then the jury brought in a verdict that.

Ralph Halliday and twenty six others came to their deaths by the Ignition of gas at the mine caused by he shot in John Lee`s place.

We also find that the gas had accumulated through insufficient ventilation and the attention as much as was possible   Wainwright`s place had impaired it NOT,  improved it.

The inspector recommended that double roadways and cut-throughs should be used instead of Single drifts and Long Piping, he also requested that the proprietors to stop the use of Gunpowder as much as practicable and that Firemen fired all the shots in future