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The inquests started three days after the explosion, but were adjourned as more bodies were recovered and were not completed until 8 July the following year. Accidental death verdicts were recorded on all 76 victims. The colliery owners argued that there had been no gas in the pit despite gas having
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An explosion occurred just after 5pm in No 1 Pit, shortly after the night shift began. Most of the men below ground at the time were shot-firers and maintenance workers. The explosion happened in the area known as the Four Feet mine. Colliery manager Arthur
Rushton reported that when some distance
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Rescue parties were organised immediately and led by the general manager John
Knowles. After two days, attempts to locate survivors and recover bodies were abandoned when fire broke out underground. The pit was flooded to quell the fire. The last bodies were not recovered until 1917.
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which had taken over the pit from the Moss Hall Coal
Company in 1907. The miners were mainly drawn from the local area but also included a large number of workers who had moved to the area from
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It was initially reported that 75 men had been working in the pit at the time. Three survivors were working in the Seven Feet mine, a different
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241:. A memorial to the men who died was erected in the churchyard. The memorial was rededicated on the centenary of the disaster in 2008.
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been reported on the day before the explosion. The coroner concluded that the cause of death had been an explosion of
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sent a telegram expressing his sympathy towards those who suffered as a result of the disaster.
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was largely destroyed and the fan house, which provided ventilation, was badly damaged.
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on 18 August 1908, when an underground explosion occurred at the
Maypole Colliery, in
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away he heard a rumble and saw a cloud of dust rising from the pit shaft. The
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Postcard published in 1908 to raise funds for the victims of the disaster
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In this part of
Lancashire a coal seam is referred to as a mine and the
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which contained numerous coal mines. Maypole
Colliery was owned by the
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367:"Past Forward- 100th Anniversary of the Maypole disaster"
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1908 mining disaster that occurred in North-West
England
199:, not the Four Feet mine where the explosion occurred.
237:Many of the victims of the disaster were buried at
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384:"Maypole Colliery Disaster- The King's Sympathy"
218:and coal dust ignited by permitted explosives.
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161:Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company Ltd
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179:The chimney of Maypole Colliery in 2005
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372:. Wigan Heritage Service. August 2008.
344:"Abram remembers pit disaster victims"
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250:List of mining disasters in Lancashire
239:St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram
232:St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram
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323:"Memories of the Maypole disaster"
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455:Coal mining disasters in England
147:. The final death toll was 75.
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121:Maypole Colliery disaster
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22:Maypole Colliery disaster
440:Coal mines in Lancashire
230:The Maypole memorial at
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42:18 August 1908
112:St John's Church, Abram
321:Joe Mullarkey (2004).
301:"Maypole Pit Disaster"
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450:1908 mining disasters
276:as a colliery or pit.
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157:Lancashire Coalfield
460:1900s in Lancashire
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416:53.5096°N 2.5938°W
388:Wanganui Chronicle
348:Wigan Evening Post
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145:North West England
84:Coal mine disaster
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390:. 24 August 1908.
350:. 20 August 2008.
307:. 22 August 1908.
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434:Categories
404:53°30′35″N
255:References
151:Background
141:Lancashire
74:Lancashire
46:1908-08-18
407:2°35′38″W
284:Citations
274:coal mine
222:Memorials
203:Aftermath
197:coal seam
186:head gear
171:Explosion
76:, England
245:See also
216:firedamp
94:firedamp
62:Location
131:, near
44: (
123:was a
108:Burial
100:Deaths
370:(PDF)
260:Notes
143:, in
133:Wigan
129:Abram
89:Cause
70:Wigan
66:Abram
57:17:10
119:The
81:Type
54:Time
39:Date
139:of
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