The Disaster

On 21 Dec 1910, 344 men and boys lost their lives in what is known to be the third largest mining disaster in British history. The disaster occurred at the No3 shaft Bank Pit, Hulton Colliery, Westhoughton, which was also known as No 3 Pretoria Pit.

The explosion at 7.50 in the morning could be felt miles away. The cage down to the mine was broken in the blast and Alfred Tonge, the General Manager of the Hulton Collieries, gave instructions for it to be repaired. In the meantime he and five other men descended into the shaft. Debris in the mine halted any attempts at an early rescue.

 
Rescuers came from miles around to help in the search for the injured although there was no real hope that anyone from No3 pit had survived due to the gas, fumes and after-damp. People remained waiting at the pit head for news of their loved ones for days afterwards.

 

Many local people lost members of their families and in some cases more than one.  According to the Bolton Evening News, a Mrs Tyldesley lost her husband, four sons and two brothers that day. In one street in Westhoughton close to the pit, Brancker Street, everyone lost a member of their family.  A coffin of a victim was laid in each of the sixty-four  houses. Burials took place over the Christmas period including Christmas Day.

For families that had lost male relatives the disaster was not only a personal tragedy but also caused financial hardship. The Mayor of Bolton, Joseph Tyas Cooper, set up a disaster relief fund together with the Mayors of Manchester and Liverpool to collect money from the public. King George V and Queen Mary donated £650 to the fund. Over £138,000 was collected and monies from the fund were still being paid out in 1973 when the last beneficiary died at the age of 96.

Not all the bodies could be identified so a tomb was built in Westhoughton Cemetery to contain the twenty-four unknown victims.

Alfred Tonge, General Manager, in the aftermath of the explosion took charge of the rescue efforts and took the first party of rescuers down in the cage. He also made sure that workers in the other seam were brought up safely to the surface.  He distinguished himself not only by his bravery in being in the first rescue party down the mine but in his organisation and leadership of the rescue effort. Alfred Tonge was awarded The Edward Medal, The Life Saving Medal of the Order of St John and the Bolton & District Humane Society Medal for his efforts in the rescue attempt.

Members of the Howe Bridge Rescue team from Atherton and members of the St John Ambulance Brigade were also involved with the rescue and awarded medals.

The Enquiry

An official enquiry into the disaster was held at the Carnegie Hall, Westhoughton, began on 20th February 1911, only six days since the last victim had been brought out of the pit. The enquiry found that the explosion was due to an accidental ignition of gas and coal dust when a roof collapsed in the North Plodder seam, probably due to weakness.

The Pretoria Disaster

Three hundred miners, brave and bold,
Martyrs true as those of old,
Saw not as they walked along the road
That death on his pale horse grimly rode;
Nor, saw as passed they, through the cage door,
One go with them too, ne’er seen before.

Which of these men had he come to call?
Not one or two, he had come for all,
One whistled as he thought of wife and home,
One smiled to think of the home to come,
And sturdy lads thought in pride and glee,
Of the Christmas Day so soon to be.

Not one of them knew that never on earth
They should greet the day of the Saviour’s birth,
Nor thought that the dark and gloomy mine,
Was the gateway to the Life Divine,
Till God’s voice rang out in mighty tone,
Come men, come up unto My throne.

On Jordan’s banks, when god spake, they said
To one another, “It thundered.”
So these, when they heard the explosion’s din,
Said, “Run for your lives, ere the roof fall in.”
Yet out of these three hundred men,
But one saw the light of day again.

Only one saved to tell the story,
How the others heard the call to Glory,
But the angles saw Heaven’s gates flung wide,
As the victorious army trooped inside-
Martyrs, not to the beast or stake,
But to daily work for duty’s sake.

But Lord we cry, can’st Thou hear the moan,
Of the lonely ones left here alone?
Canst Thou hear, from thy throne on high,
The orphan’s sob, the widow’s cry?
Can’st Thou not see from Thy throne, on high,
Hearts that are broken with agony?

The sound of grief has gone through onr land,
And sympathy stretches forth her hand,
But only Thou, who hast dealt the blow,
Can comfort give; this, Lord, we know.
Thon, who hast caused this blow to fall,
Do Thou, in thy mercy, help them all.

by Ella Connor (c1910).