Hamstead Colliery
Encyclopedia
Hamstead Colliery in Hamstead
, England, was operated by the Hamstead Colliery Company and produced coal between 1878 and 1965.
. In 1928, due to boundary changes, it became part of West Bromwich
. In 1876 the Hamstead Colliery Company bought land at Hamstead from G.C. Calthorpe of Perry Hall and began to sink mine shafts. The first coal was not extracted until after 1878 due to unexpected geological problems and water ingress. The coal was at a very deep level of almost 2000 feet. It still produced coal profitably until 1965 when the mine closed and housing built on the site of the colliery and surrounding area.
, this enhancing the growing co-operation in science and technology between the two countries.
, made many attempts to reach the entombed men. It took a week after the fire for the mine to clear of the fumes. On the 11 March, 14 bodies were recovered, and 6 more were recovered the following day. One of the victims was a member of the rescue team from Altofts, John Welsby. A memorial was created at Hamstead village in 2008 and there is a small museum display at the local library in the Tanhouse Centre, Great Barr.
Hamstead
Hamstead can refer to:* Hamstead, Isle of Wight* Hamstead, West Midlands**Hamstead railway station* Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire, England.**Hamstead Lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal- See also :*Hampstead *Hempstead...
, England, was operated by the Hamstead Colliery Company and produced coal between 1878 and 1965.
Background
It was situated on the north west border of BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. In 1928, due to boundary changes, it became part of West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
. In 1876 the Hamstead Colliery Company bought land at Hamstead from G.C. Calthorpe of Perry Hall and began to sink mine shafts. The first coal was not extracted until after 1878 due to unexpected geological problems and water ingress. The coal was at a very deep level of almost 2000 feet. It still produced coal profitably until 1965 when the mine closed and housing built on the site of the colliery and surrounding area.
World's deepest colliery
At one point the mine was the deepest in the world. The experience gained by the mining engineers was put to good use in the English mining industry and their expertise was so world renown that the American Government requested assistance from the engineers that had solved many of Hamstead Colliery's problems, to establish deep coal mining in AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, this enhancing the growing co-operation in science and technology between the two countries.
Mining disaster of 1908
The disaster of 4 March 1908 was a national tragedy with 26 men killed in one day.. When the fire broke out there were 31 miners in the pit, 6 escaped before poisonous fumes built up in the roadways. Rescue teams from Hamstead, Tankersley and Altofts in YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, made many attempts to reach the entombed men. It took a week after the fire for the mine to clear of the fumes. On the 11 March, 14 bodies were recovered, and 6 more were recovered the following day. One of the victims was a member of the rescue team from Altofts, John Welsby. A memorial was created at Hamstead village in 2008 and there is a small museum display at the local library in the Tanhouse Centre, Great Barr.
External links
- http://www.dmm-pitwork.org.uk/html/hamstead.htm
- http://www.b43.co.uk/cms/
- http://miners.b43.co.uk/history.html