Warwickshire Coalfield (inc. pit accidents)

All that remains of Newdigate Colliery where I worked. The winding wheel in Bedworth's Miners' Park. Thank you Maggie I suppose that I had it easy at the pit as I was a shotfirer but I do know what it's like to swing a shovel. As I had qualifications in first aid I applied for a job with the ambulance service and spent 28 years working for the service. I often missed the special comradeship that one only found amongst miners and often thought about going back. Never did. Lethargy I suppose. Emotionally the ambulance service was much harder than mining.

Just came across this topic by accident. 1931 there was an accident at 6s north at Newdigate Colliery when a faulty and illegal plug started to arc and ignited methane (fire damp). This caused an explosion that killed 13 miners. Although the report states that all bodies were recovered that is not true as three were left in the workings, because of heat and after damp that is highly toxic made it impossible to retrieve all the casualties. Number 6 was stanked off and remained so until I left Newdigates in 1963. I have the full report of that incident. I was a shot firer at Newdigate from 1951 to 1963, during that time there was a total of eight killed including three that died on a man riding train accident. I was also on that train but will say no more about it as there may still be people alive connected to the fatalities and the injured. A totally erroneous report of the train incident here.

Hi Norm Did you know Bobby, Ted & Fred Bidgood?

Hello all My great granddad Thomas Henry Morson worked as a miner all his life. Towards the end of his life he was responsible for saving the lives of many men by holding up a mine shaft with his arms (so the legend goes). Sadly the injuries that he sustained led to his early death at 58. This accident must have happened in the 1930s because he died in 1932. Does anyone know of any accidents that occurred at this time? I only have this story that was handed down by my grandmother, I'm not sure if it has been exaggerated over time. I don't even know the name of the colliery. My great grandfather lived on Windmill Road if this helps? Thanks in advance.

Hi Philip When I was at Newdigates there was about 750 underground workers. As the pit worked three shifts, two stripping and the afternoon shift cutting, boring and packing, the afternoon shift taking more than a third of the work force. The remaining workers split between the two stripping shifts. So, the shift that I worked the work force would be divided by four, about a quarter worked the haulage while the remainder worked the three main faces. I worked at North 11s and on that face were about twenty miners taking 120 yards of coal face. The South 5 and west 3 were both about five miles from 11s so I never saw any of those except for a few minutes at change of shift. I made several good friends at Newdigate but they were mostly in 11s North or 8s heading so the probability of me knowing anyone else in the mine was very slim. So the answer to your question is "No".

Mod's note: I've taken the liberty of amending the title of this thread, as it includes mines from parts of the Warwickshire coalfield other than Coventry [it seems sensible, however, to retain it within 'Coventry Topics'] It may be that this thread will develop into wider discussion on the mines in the area - I'm sure there are a host of stories and memories our members have, some of which have already cropped up in other threads on the forum - in which case the title may need to be amended again From "Wikipedia", the Warwickshire coalfield included: Binley Colliery Craven Colliery Wyken Colliery Alexandra Colliery Exhall Colliery Coventry Colliery Newdigate Colliery Griff No 4 Colliery Griff Clara Colliery Stockingford Colliery Haunchwood Colliery Ansley Hall Colliery Daw Mill Colliery Dexter Colliery Baddesley Colliery Kingsbury Colliery Birch Coppice Colliery North Warwickshire Colliery (formerly Pooley)

I am sure Arley had a working colliery when I worked in the village in the late 1960s. The pit was in Old Arley where the trading estate now is - is not the remaining old building the pit offices??? Or was it known by a different name?

Quite correct, Harrier - Arley Colliery is now on Wikipedia's list

There was also Wood End Colliery near Birch Coppice. It was the first pit in the UK that had electric winding gear. It also had a conical winding drum but I'm not sure exactly how that worked. At Newdigate the winding drum, about six feet diameter was flat and had five turns of rope around the drum to prevent slip.

Hi & thank you Norman. Fred Bidgood died underground in a mishap Feb 1963. He was my wife's uncle.

Hi Philip What you said in your last post is rather odd. Yes I do remember the accident. Because of an incident in the North 11s district I had to go and see Bill Morse the manager as soon as I got up the pit. Bill wouldn't see me, he told me that there had been a fatality in South 5s and was to busy to see me. I know that was early '63 as the weather was bitterly cold and there was deep snow. I left the pit shortly after that.

Hi Norman, It was a Sunday shift too.

There was a fatal accident at the Coventry Colliery probably in 1970. My next door neighbour was a member of the rescue team and it was months before he returned to something like his old self. A terribly sad time for the family of the miner.

Did you live in Keresley End, Harrier?