The Louisa - Morrison Colliery Disaster
Many of the coal mines were nationalised on 1st January 1947. Three of those collieries, formerley owned by the South Moor Coal Co were,. South Moor William, Stanley Louisa, and the Morrison North. All three collieries had acces to the district underground known as "The 4th North"
The Morrison North and the William worked between them, The Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton. These mines had a centrally situated upcast shaft. The Louisa Colliery was served by three downcast shafts, the Louisa, the Morrison North and the William. In 1947, they employed between them 1, 480 men underground, and 350 surface workers. The three collieries between them worked the 4th North District which had a history of flooding, and had only recently been reopened. Nearby, in the Low Main, there had been a fire in 1929 which was still burning, with the fire held back at that time by a brick wall. For a while, this section (4th North) had been classed as a safety lamp area, while the Morrison North was classed as open light (non gassy). This caused some confusion so it was decided that all miners who worked the 4th North would come uinder the Louisa Lodge and that the district would be classed as a gassy pit (Safety Lamp) area.
On the night of 22nd August 1947, 24 men had come back to do progress work, and generally tidy up in the 4th North District. It had been tested for firedamp just a few hours before and found clear. Even 15 minutes before the explosion the area was classed as normal, although blacksmith Ted Errington had stated that the air was very hot and humid with poor quality air. The first two men went down from the Louisa at 7.00pm. The remainder of the men went down in stages from the Morrison North. The last to arrive, only minutes before the explosion, was Deputy Estelle. He had made the handover with the other deputy at the surface. This meant the men had been unsupervised for some time. Deputy Estelle just arrived as the explosion occured at 11.55pm. Three deputies were working on the nearby firewall when the explosion occurred. They at once proceeded to the 4th North without a thought of their own safety, and with an overman who was called to the explosion, they worked tirelessly in rescuing several men. These four men were later awarded the Edward Medal for their bravery. It was later discovered non of the men carried flame gas detectors even though this was procedure. the lampman later said he was aware of this, but his job was only to give out what was requested. Deputy Estelle carried a flame safety lamp. The explosion eventually claimed the lives of 22 men, two of which were Bevan Boys. Two survived, although they never ever fully recovered.
The Official Cause Of The Explosion
An emission of firedamp from the strata below the Hutton Seam created an inflammable mixture of firedamp and air on the East Gate Line and the Straight East Gate. That, shortly before midnight, a Lucifer Match was struck about the Loading Point on the Straight East Gate for the purpose of lighting a cigarette. This ignited the mixture and initiated a very mild firedamp explosion which developed additional force as it progressed and was propogated by coal dust along the mechanical roadways, both existing and unused throughout the district, and that the explosion was finally extinguished by the stone dust on the South Heading of the Mani Drift.
A search later discovered several of the men were carrying cigarettes and matches which was illegal. They had supposedly been searched on their way down the mine. The disaster was listed as happening on Saturday 23rd August 1947, and due to the men all being in the Louisa Lodge, the official title was The Louisa Colliery Disaster, although locally it was named the Morrison Disaster. Apart from the lighting of the cigarette,which was the cause of the explosion, this would very probably have only been a mild explosion but for the many infringements in colliery procedure all of which made the explosion many times greater than it would have been.
Fifty years to the day of the disaster, a Memorial Service and Stone Laying Ceremony took place at St Aidans Church, Annfield Plain much to the delight of the surviving widows and relatives who had always believed their men had been forgotten. the church was filled to capacity and songs were sung by Annfield Plain Gleemen, the service by Bishop David Jenkins and Music by Lanley Park Colliery Band.. A very moving service.
AS described earlier, this is only a brief account, and a small book is available of the disaster by contacting jackhair@tiscali.co.uk
or - check your local library.
The Morrison North & South
I have many photos of the collieries of Stanley & District in my collection. Please text for details. There is also a dvd of Coal Mining in Stanley & District with over 260 narrated slides.