Bradford Colliery
Encyclopedia
Bradford Colliery was a coal mine
on the Central Manchester Coalfield
in Bradford, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire
, England. Although part of the Manchester Coalfield
, the seams of the Bradford Coalfield correspond more closely to the Oldham Coalfield. The Bradford coalfield is crossed by a number of fault lines, principally the Bradford Fault, which was reactivated by mining activity in the mid-1960s.
Coal has been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the area around the pits was largely rural. It became increasingly built-up and industrialised as nearby Manchester expanded during the 19th century. Coal was transported from the colliery by canal and railway, but most was consumed locally by the adjacent Bradford Ironworks. In the mid-20th century a 469-yard (420 m) underground tunnel was dug to supply coal directly to the Stuart Street Power Station
.
Damage to buildings in the area around the colliery caused by subsidence led to it becoming uneconomic despite its sitting on large reserves of high-quality coal, and it was closed in 1968. The site was cleared and is now occupied by the City of Manchester Stadium
.
; its coal seams, laid down in the Carboniferous
period, dip at an average of 1 in 3 towards the south and correspond more closely with those of the Oldham Coalfield
. The Upper Coal Measures
above the Worsley Four Foot mine horizon were worked at Bradford, where the Worsley Four Foot is known as the Parker mine. The Two Foot, Doctor, New, Yard, Bradford Four Foot, Three Quarters and Charlotte mines, above the Parker mine, are known as the Bradford Group; the Charlotte mine is closest to the surface. The Openshaw mine, above the Charlotte, was worked for fireclay. Below the Bradford Group and the Parker mine are the Top, Middle and Deep mines, and 60 feet (18.3 m) below them, the Roger mine. The Top, Middle and Deep mines correspond to the Major, Bland, and Ashton Great mines in the Oldham Coalfield. The Crombouke mine in the western coalfield corresponds to the Roger mine at Bradford Colliery. In total the workable seams contained 310 million long tons (347 million short tons) of coal.
The Bradford Coalfield is crossed by a number of fault lines, principally the Bradford Fault. The extraction of coal caused that fault to reactivate in the 1960s, resulting in a scarp
that seriously damaged Crompton Hall, a residential complex built in the early 20th century. The building was subsequently demolished.
, built in 1797, and north of Ashton New Road. A short arm of the canal, now filled in, was built to the colliery from between Lock No. 6 and Lock No. 7, Beswick Lock.
Coal has been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the endeavour could be very profitable albeit with significant financial risk. Thomas Charnock is recorded as having invested £300 in his Bradford Colliery during the reign of King James I
(1603–1624) (equivalent to more than £500,000 as of 2009,) which may go some way to explaining his "heavy debts and land sales" under James's successor, Charles I
. At about that time the seams at Bradford were producing about 10,000 long tons (11,200 short tons) of coal a year, and probably an average of 20,000–30,000 long tons (22,400–33,600 short tons) a year over the course of the 17th century. The early mines were shallow, exploiting seams close to the surface of what was a largely rural area until the growth of nearby Manchester. Colliery records date from 1740, when Oswald Mosley
of Ancoats Hall granted a 200-year lease of mining rights. The first shaft
for a deep colliery was sunk in 1840. By 1856 the colliery was in the ownership of Thomas Livesey, and had two 18 feet (5.5 m) diameter shafts to the Parker mine at a depth of 540 yards (493.8 m), providing ventilation.
The colliery became known as the Bradford Colliery Company, and by 1896 employed 404 underground and 125 surface workers producing house coal and coal for manufacturing from the Parker mine. The high price of coal at the end of the 19th century persuaded the newly created Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association
to mitigate the effects on its members by purchasing the colliery in 1900.
was built over the downcast shaft and a twin-cylinder vertical winding engine
, built by Robert Daglish of St Helens, installed in the engine house. Coal tubs holding 10 cwt
of coal were wound, six at a time in double-deck cages. The upcast shaft was used for winding men and had a smaller horizontal winding engine. An earlier shaft at the Forge pit was 155 yards (141.7 m) deep and used for pumping water from the workings. A windlass
was used for winding at this shaft.
By the end of the 19th century the colliery site had become crowded, and included a brickworks that used fireclay and shale
spoil from the pit. It was surrounded by housing and factories in what was one of the most industrial parts of Manchester. The ready supply of coal encouraged the development of Manchester's chemical industry around the colliery and in the northeast of the city generally. A factory producing carbolic acid from coal tar
was established in 1857, and sulphuric acid and napthalene were produced from 1865 in nearby Blackley
, later the site of ICI
's Dyestuff's Division.
Coal was transported by canal and a railway connection to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
's Beswick branch built in the early 1900s, but most of the coal produced was used locally by the adjacent Bradford Ironworks. The company bought a 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive, Bradford, from the Avonside Engine Company
in Bristol in 1928 to shunt wagons to the colliery siding. Much of the coal used locally was transported by road using horse and carts and motor lorries.
. It had large reserves of high-quality coal in the Roger mine below the seams already exploited, and although the mines dipped steeply, was a dry and relatively gas-free pit. Manchester Collieries initially improved coal screening but had plans to develop the colliery and maximise output to 4000 long tons (4480 short tons) per day, involving the complete replacement of the surface works. The Parker shaft was deepened to 955 yards (873.3 m) between 1944 and 1948 and winding installed to take 12-long ton (13.44-short ton) capacity skips. Haulage underground was improved by the installation of three-ton mine cars hauled by a battery locomotive and a system of conveyors. A 200 feet (61 m) reinforced concrete winding tower was built to house a Koepe-type friction wheel built by Metropolitan Vickers.
A new headgear and winding engine were built at the Deep pit shaft; ventilation was by means of two axial-type fans installed in an underground chamber. After 1947 a 460 yards (420.6 m) tunnel 55 yards (50.3 m) below ground level was driven to the Stuart Street Power Station
, to provide coal direct from the colliery. A conveyor within the tunnel delivered 200 long tons (224 short tons) of small coal an hour to the power station's bunker. Most of the developments begun by Manchester Collieries were completed after nationalisation in 1947 by the National Coal Board
(NCB). After modernisation and reconstruction, coal was extracted by longwall mining
using coal cutting machinery and conveyors. This type of mining creates a void or goaf into which the roof is allowed to collapse. At Bradford, which had no spoil heap, the goaf was infilled with spoil or waste. As there was insufficient spoil to fill the void, some was brought from other pits. The NCB incorporated the takes, or coal reserves, of Moston and Ashton Moss Collieries into the redeveloped Bradford Colliery. Moston was closed, but the shafts of Ashton Moss were retained for winding men and equipment.
, where in 1962 eleven council house
s were so severely damaged they had to be demolished. The government approved an order restricting mining operations and ordered an enquiry to determine whether mining should continue unhindered, and if not whether compensation for loss of production should be paid; for the first time, the NCB required planning permission to mine under the city of Manchester. The NCB gave evidence to the enquiry in 1966 stating that for each ton of coal extracted from the colliery 5s 2d had to be paid out in compensation for surface damage – the highest for any pit in the region – contrasted with a national average of 6d per ton. The NCB's plans for the colliery included extending the mines beneath Collyhurst
, Cheetham, and Ancoats
, but the risk of causing yet more subsidence proved to be unacceptable. Therefore, despite sitting on "vast reserves of premium coal", Bradford Colliery was closed in 1968 as being uneconomic. In its final year of operation the 1500 workers employed produced 530,298 long tons (593,933 short tons) of coal. The 17 acres (6.9 ha) site, renamed Eastlands, was cleared and its two deep shafts capped with reinforced concrete in a scheme costing £8 million before redevelopment. Part of the site is now occupied by the City of Manchester Stadium
.
. In 1907 a miner died in a shotfiring incident, when gas exploded as a fuse was lit. In 1924 a number of tubs transporting miners being hauled to the surface derailed and dislodged a pit prop, causing a roof collapse, known locally as a crump; three men were killed and nine injured. A fire in the main winding engine house in 1953 caused the winding cables to snap because of the heat, sending two coal-carrying cages crashing to the bottom of the main shaft and trapping 350 men underground. All managed to reach a smaller shaft 40 yards (36.6 m) away and were subsequently brought safely to the surface.
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
on the Central Manchester Coalfield
Manchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
in Bradford, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England. Although part of the Manchester Coalfield
Manchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
, the seams of the Bradford Coalfield correspond more closely to the Oldham Coalfield. The Bradford coalfield is crossed by a number of fault lines, principally the Bradford Fault, which was reactivated by mining activity in the mid-1960s.
Coal has been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the area around the pits was largely rural. It became increasingly built-up and industrialised as nearby Manchester expanded during the 19th century. Coal was transported from the colliery by canal and railway, but most was consumed locally by the adjacent Bradford Ironworks. In the mid-20th century a 469-yard (420 m) underground tunnel was dug to supply coal directly to the Stuart Street Power Station
Stuart Street Power Station
Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated at Bradford, Greater Manchester in North West England.-History:The station was built in 1900, and was fitted with generating equipment from companies including Babcock and Wilcox, Yates and Thom, and the Electrical Co. Ltd...
.
Damage to buildings in the area around the colliery caused by subsidence led to it becoming uneconomic despite its sitting on large reserves of high-quality coal, and it was closed in 1968. The site was cleared and is now occupied by the City of Manchester Stadium
City of Manchester Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England – also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship purposes– is the home ground of...
.
Geology
The Bradford Coalfield is isolated from the rest of the Manchester CoalfieldManchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
; its coal seams, laid down in the Carboniferous
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
period, dip at an average of 1 in 3 towards the south and correspond more closely with those of the Oldham Coalfield
Oldham Coalfield
The Oldham Coalfield is the most easterly part of the south Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early...
. The Upper Coal Measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
above the Worsley Four Foot mine horizon were worked at Bradford, where the Worsley Four Foot is known as the Parker mine. The Two Foot, Doctor, New, Yard, Bradford Four Foot, Three Quarters and Charlotte mines, above the Parker mine, are known as the Bradford Group; the Charlotte mine is closest to the surface. The Openshaw mine, above the Charlotte, was worked for fireclay. Below the Bradford Group and the Parker mine are the Top, Middle and Deep mines, and 60 feet (18.3 m) below them, the Roger mine. The Top, Middle and Deep mines correspond to the Major, Bland, and Ashton Great mines in the Oldham Coalfield. The Crombouke mine in the western coalfield corresponds to the Roger mine at Bradford Colliery. In total the workable seams contained 310 million long tons (347 million short tons) of coal.
The Bradford Coalfield is crossed by a number of fault lines, principally the Bradford Fault. The extraction of coal caused that fault to reactivate in the 1960s, resulting in a scarp
Fault scarp
A fault scarp is the topographic expression of faulting attributed to the displacement of the land surface by movement along faults. They are exhibited either by differential movement and subsequent erosion along an old inactive geologic fault , or by a movement on a recent active fault...
that seriously damaged Crompton Hall, a residential complex built in the early 20th century. The building was subsequently demolished.
Early history
The colliery was situated south of the Ashton CanalAshton Canal
The Ashton Canal is a canal built in Greater Manchester in North West England.-Route:The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing through Ancoats, Holt Town, Bradford-with-Beswick, Clayton, Openshaw, Droylsden,...
, built in 1797, and north of Ashton New Road. A short arm of the canal, now filled in, was built to the colliery from between Lock No. 6 and Lock No. 7, Beswick Lock.
Coal has been mined at Bradford since at least the early 17th century, when the endeavour could be very profitable albeit with significant financial risk. Thomas Charnock is recorded as having invested £300 in his Bradford Colliery during the reign of King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
(1603–1624) (equivalent to more than £500,000 as of 2009,) which may go some way to explaining his "heavy debts and land sales" under James's successor, Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. At about that time the seams at Bradford were producing about 10,000 long tons (11,200 short tons) of coal a year, and probably an average of 20,000–30,000 long tons (22,400–33,600 short tons) a year over the course of the 17th century. The early mines were shallow, exploiting seams close to the surface of what was a largely rural area until the growth of nearby Manchester. Colliery records date from 1740, when Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
of Ancoats Hall granted a 200-year lease of mining rights. The first shaft
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
for a deep colliery was sunk in 1840. By 1856 the colliery was in the ownership of Thomas Livesey, and had two 18 feet (5.5 m) diameter shafts to the Parker mine at a depth of 540 yards (493.8 m), providing ventilation.
The colliery became known as the Bradford Colliery Company, and by 1896 employed 404 underground and 125 surface workers producing house coal and coal for manufacturing from the Parker mine. The high price of coal at the end of the 19th century persuaded the newly created Fine Cotton Spinners and Doublers Association
Fine Spinners and Doublers
Fine Spinners and Doublers was a major cotton spinning business based in Manchester, England. At its peak it was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.-History:...
to mitigate the effects on its members by purchasing the colliery in 1900.
Expansion
The new owners embarked on a programme of expansion and installed one of the earliest electrical plants at any colliery in 1900. A sirocco-type ventilation fan made by Hick, Hargreaves that could be powered by either electricity or steam was provided. Deepening the downcast shaft to access the Deep mine at 902 yards (824.8 m) started in 1903 and coal was reached in 1906. A massive timber headgearHeadframe
A headframe is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft. Modern headframes are built out of steel, concrete or a combination of both...
was built over the downcast shaft and a twin-cylinder vertical winding engine
Hoist (mining)
In underground mining a hoist or winder is used to raise and lower conveyances within the mine shaft. Modern hoists are normally powered using electric motors, historically with direct current drives utilizing solid-state converters , however modern large hoists utilize alternating current drives...
, built by Robert Daglish of St Helens, installed in the engine house. Coal tubs holding 10 cwt
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
of coal were wound, six at a time in double-deck cages. The upcast shaft was used for winding men and had a smaller horizontal winding engine. An earlier shaft at the Forge pit was 155 yards (141.7 m) deep and used for pumping water from the workings. A windlass
Windlass
The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt...
was used for winding at this shaft.
By the end of the 19th century the colliery site had become crowded, and included a brickworks that used fireclay and shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
spoil from the pit. It was surrounded by housing and factories in what was one of the most industrial parts of Manchester. The ready supply of coal encouraged the development of Manchester's chemical industry around the colliery and in the northeast of the city generally. A factory producing carbolic acid from coal tar
Coal tar
Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of extremely high viscosity, which smells of naphthalene and aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal tar is among the by-products when coal iscarbonized to make coke or gasified to make coal gas...
was established in 1857, and sulphuric acid and napthalene were produced from 1865 in nearby Blackley
Blackley
Blackley is an area of the city of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of Manchester city centre, by a meander of the River Irk. Further north is Middleton...
, later the site of ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
's Dyestuff's Division.
Coal was transported by canal and a railway connection to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
's Beswick branch built in the early 1900s, but most of the coal produced was used locally by the adjacent Bradford Ironworks. The company bought a 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotive, Bradford, from the Avonside Engine Company
Avonside Engine Company
The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.-Origins:...
in Bristol in 1928 to shunt wagons to the colliery siding. Much of the coal used locally was transported by road using horse and carts and motor lorries.
Later years
In 1935 the colliery was acquired by Manchester CollieriesManchester Collieries
Manchester Collieries was a coal mining company formed in 1929 with headquarters at Walkdenfrom a group of independent companies operating on the Manchester Coalfield. The Mining Industry Act of 1926 attempted to stem the post-war decline in coal mining and encourage independent companies to merge...
. It had large reserves of high-quality coal in the Roger mine below the seams already exploited, and although the mines dipped steeply, was a dry and relatively gas-free pit. Manchester Collieries initially improved coal screening but had plans to develop the colliery and maximise output to 4000 long tons (4480 short tons) per day, involving the complete replacement of the surface works. The Parker shaft was deepened to 955 yards (873.3 m) between 1944 and 1948 and winding installed to take 12-long ton (13.44-short ton) capacity skips. Haulage underground was improved by the installation of three-ton mine cars hauled by a battery locomotive and a system of conveyors. A 200 feet (61 m) reinforced concrete winding tower was built to house a Koepe-type friction wheel built by Metropolitan Vickers.
Stuart Street Power Station
Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated at Bradford, Greater Manchester in North West England.-History:The station was built in 1900, and was fitted with generating equipment from companies including Babcock and Wilcox, Yates and Thom, and the Electrical Co. Ltd...
, to provide coal direct from the colliery. A conveyor within the tunnel delivered 200 long tons (224 short tons) of small coal an hour to the power station's bunker. Most of the developments begun by Manchester Collieries were completed after nationalisation in 1947 by the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
(NCB). After modernisation and reconstruction, coal was extracted by longwall mining
Longwall mining
Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice . The longwall panel is typically 3–4 km long and 250–400 m wide....
using coal cutting machinery and conveyors. This type of mining creates a void or goaf into which the roof is allowed to collapse. At Bradford, which had no spoil heap, the goaf was infilled with spoil or waste. As there was insufficient spoil to fill the void, some was brought from other pits. The NCB incorporated the takes, or coal reserves, of Moston and Ashton Moss Collieries into the redeveloped Bradford Colliery. Moston was closed, but the shafts of Ashton Moss were retained for winding men and equipment.
Closure
By the mid-1960s it was apparent that considerable subsidence was being caused by mining in the built-up area of Manchester around Bradford Colliery. Many buildings were affected, particularly in Bradford village and Miles PlattingMiles Platting
Miles Platting is an inner city district of Manchester, England. It is east-northeast of Manchester city centre, along the course of the Rochdale Canal and A62 road...
, where in 1962 eleven council house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
s were so severely damaged they had to be demolished. The government approved an order restricting mining operations and ordered an enquiry to determine whether mining should continue unhindered, and if not whether compensation for loss of production should be paid; for the first time, the NCB required planning permission to mine under the city of Manchester. The NCB gave evidence to the enquiry in 1966 stating that for each ton of coal extracted from the colliery 5s 2d had to be paid out in compensation for surface damage – the highest for any pit in the region – contrasted with a national average of 6d per ton. The NCB's plans for the colliery included extending the mines beneath Collyhurst
Collyhurst
Collyhurst is a locality in Manchester. It is 1½ miles northeast of Manchester city centre, on Rochdale Road and Oldham Road. The River Irk passes through the area...
, Cheetham, and Ancoats
Ancoats
Ancoats is an inner city area of Manchester, in North West England, next to the Northern Quarter and the northern part of Manchester's commercial centre....
, but the risk of causing yet more subsidence proved to be unacceptable. Therefore, despite sitting on "vast reserves of premium coal", Bradford Colliery was closed in 1968 as being uneconomic. In its final year of operation the 1500 workers employed produced 530,298 long tons (593,933 short tons) of coal. The 17 acres (6.9 ha) site, renamed Eastlands, was cleared and its two deep shafts capped with reinforced concrete in a scheme costing £8 million before redevelopment. Part of the site is now occupied by the City of Manchester Stadium
City of Manchester Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England – also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship purposes– is the home ground of...
.
Incidents
Francis Taylor is the first recorded fatality at the colliery, killed by a roof fall at "Bradford coal pitt" in 1622. Although the mines were relatively gas-free, there were nevertheless some gas-related incidents. One collier, working by the light of a candle in 1874, died from burns received in an explosion of firedampFiredamp
Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. It is the name given to a number of flammable gases, especially methane. It is particularly commonly found in areas where the coal is bituminous...
. In 1907 a miner died in a shotfiring incident, when gas exploded as a fuse was lit. In 1924 a number of tubs transporting miners being hauled to the surface derailed and dislodged a pit prop, causing a roof collapse, known locally as a crump; three men were killed and nine injured. A fire in the main winding engine house in 1953 caused the winding cables to snap because of the heat, sending two coal-carrying cages crashing to the bottom of the main shaft and trapping 350 men underground. All managed to reach a smaller shaft 40 yards (36.6 m) away and were subsequently brought safely to the surface.