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Maypole Colliery disaster

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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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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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1908 mining disaster that occurred in North-West England
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Index


Abram
Wigan
Lancashire
firedamp
St John's Church, Abram
mining accident
Abram
Wigan
historic county
Lancashire
North West England
Lancashire Coalfield
Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company Ltd
County Mayo

head gear
coal seam
King Edward VII
firedamp

St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram
St John the Evangelist's Church, Abram
List of mining disasters in Lancashire
coal mine


"Maypole Pit Disaster"
Liverpool Mercury

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