Search

  • Home
  • Memorial
    • Memorial
    • Walking Together
    • Supporters
    • Timeline of Markham Colliery & Markham Vale
    • The Disasters
  • Stories
    • Stories
    • Mining
    • Home
    • Leisure
    • Family
    • Disasters
  • Latest
  • Contact
  • Cookie Policy
  • Search
Logo
Logo Logo
  • Home
  • Memorial
  • Stories
  • Latest
  • Contact
  • Search

Search here for Markham stories.

All Mining Home Leisure Family Disasters

‘Workers in Coal’ – Song by Steve Haywood

Elaine Tidd

Ian Pyatt

Julia Haywood’s Story

Steve Haywood’s story of mining life at Markham

Page 1 of 0

    Unearthing and sharing stories

    from Markham Colliery

    Do you have a story, memory or fact to tell?

    contact Us
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    Facebook Posts

    Join us on Facebook

    This content isn't available right now

    ... See MoreSee Less

    This content isn't available right now

    When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.
    8 months ago
    View on Facebook

    The Disaster

    At about 5.35 a.m. on Monday 30th July 1973, the day shift winding engine man R.W. Kennan, arrived at the No.3 winding engine house as the last of the night shift men were being wound to the surface. Some 20 minutes later Kennan operated the winding engine to wind the first day shift men into the mine and by about 6.20 a.m. 105 persons had been lowered. The overlap rope cage on the Bolsover side was then loaded at the surface with 15 men on the top deck and 14 on the bottom. The underlap cage on the Roadway side was empty. The wind proceeded normally until the cages had passed the mid point of the shaft when Kennan began to retard the engine and out of the corner of his eye saw sparks under the brake cylinder and heard a bang. He immediately moved the control level towards the 'off' position to increase the breaking effect and simultaneously pulled the brake lever towards the 'on' position. The operation of the brake lever felt the sameas 'picking up a pen' and had no effect on the speed of the winding drum. Kennan continued moving the control lever towards the 'off' position but it appeared to him that this had little effect on the drum speed so he pressed the emergency 'stop' button. He expected to see the drum brought to a sudden stop but nothing happened and as a last resort he switched off the motor for the hydraulic pump which supplied the 'ungrabbing' gear. This had no effect on the winding engine and the next thing Kennan remembered was bricks falling around him. The ascending cage was detached from the underlap rope by the operation of the detaching hook in the headframe bell but continued to ascend until it struck the roof girders of the airlock structure where it broke the surrounding concrete and brickwork.

    As there were no shaft catches in the headframe the cage then dropped back until it was hanging by it's suspension chains from the detaching hook. The descending cage carrying the men crashed into on the pit bottom with such force that it fractured nine of the 17 wooden landing baulks. Although the power had been cut off before the crash, the momentum of the winding system unwound spare coils of overlap rope and the sword capel with part of the drum side and brake path was torn away. The rope and capel were pulled over the headgear pulley and then it fell down the shaft on top and alongside the cage containing the men. The drum continued to rotate and the flailing capel of the underlap rope seriously damaged the winding engine house and an adjoining workshop.

    It was immediately obvious to the men at the bottom of the shaft that a serious accident had occurred and the onsetter entered his cabin to telephone the surface the winding rope was still falling down the shaft. He was unable to obtain an answer to his emergency call on the automatic telephone but spoke to the surface operator on a magneto phone. The mine emergency organisations were brought into operation with a control centre at the surface.

    On the north side of the pit bottom some of the tangled winding rope had to be moved and there was difficulty in opening the cage gates because their vertical rods had been distorted in the crash but once the gates were open, the removal of the casualties proceeded quickly. Morphia injections were given to the very seriously injured as they lay in the pit bottom before they were transported to the surface. Some were brought out through the nearby No.2 shaft and to minimise the delay others were carried out down a steep drift to No.4 shaft about 700 yards away. The last casualties arrived at the medical centre about two hours after the accident.

    In the early stages of the recovery there was some delay in getting the injured to hospital but the situation improved as the County Authority sent more ambulances.

    The mobile emergency winding engine from the Mansfield Rescue Station was in position alongside the No.3 shaft about 80 minutes after the disaster. During the rescue operations, one of the workers was badly injured. J. Maxwell who had started work at the pit only that morning was in the pit bottom at the time of the accident and was seriously injured when he fell from the top deck platform while assisting in the recovery.

    ... See MoreSee Less

    11 months ago
    View on Facebook
    Thanks so much to Markham Vale Environment Centre and Walking Together mining memorial: Markham Vale Heritage Group. Yesterday, we were able to remember our Dad, Father-in-Law, Grandad and Great-Grandad, as well as all of those who died with him 50 years ago in the Markham Colliery disaster. It was so nice to have all the family together and we’re so grateful to the team at Markham for making it happen 🥰 We followed the memorial by laying some yellow roses at Grandad Charlie’s grave. And then had a very rare big meal together.

    Thanks so much to Markham Vale Environment Centre and Walking Together mining memorial: Markham Vale Heritage Group. Yesterday, we were able to remember our Dad, Father-in-Law, Grandad and Great-Grandad, as well as all of those who died with him 50 years ago in the Markham Colliery disaster. It was so nice to have all the family together and we’re so grateful to the team at Markham for making it happen 🥰

    We followed the memorial by laying some yellow roses at Grandad Charlie’s grave. And then had a very rare big meal together.

    ... See MoreSee Less

    11 months ago
    View on Facebook

    Latest

    Read the latest news here about commemoration and remembrance projects and activities for Markham Colliery.

    Lynne Barton

    Steve Rhodes

    Netherthorpe School & Springwell Community College

    Do you have a story, memory or a fact to tell?

    Get in touch to find out more about The Story Mine, to share a story, memory or information or to find out more about the Walking Together Mining Memorial project.

    We are always looking for people to join our friendly project working group and volunteer team. Let us know if you'd like to get involved. Contact us

    • Home
    • Memorial
    • Stories
    • Latest
    • Contact
    • Cookie Policy

    CONTACT US

    We'd love to hear from you!

    Facebook
    Twitter

    © 2024 The Story Mine

    Site by Harper Creative

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Read More
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _GRECAPTCHA5 months 27 daysThis cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
    viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _mailmunch_visitor_idneverMailmunch sets this cookie to create a unique visitor ID for the Mailmunch mailing list software.
    mailmunch_second_pageviewneverMailmunch sets this cookie to manage subscription service to mailing lists.
    sb2 yearsThis cookie is used by Facebook to control its functionalities, collect language settings and share pages.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    CookieDurationDescription
    _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
    _gat_gtag_UA_68169427_291 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
    _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
    CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    CookieDurationDescription
    fr3 monthsFacebook sets this cookie to show relevant advertisements to users by tracking user behaviour across the web, on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
    VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
    YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
    yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
    yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
    yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
    yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    Powered by CookieYes Logo