Aldwarke Main Colliery shaft accident, 1904

At 5.20 a.m. on 23 February 1904 the winding rope broke as eight men were being lowered down the No. 2 Parkgate shaft at John Brown and Company's Aldwarke Main Colliery, near Rotherham. The cage fell some 50 yards to the bottom; seven men died and the eighth, Arthur Ramsden, recovered after months in hospital.

Cause

Breakage of the winding rope, weakened by wear and hidden internal corrosion, probably under a sudden jerk.

Contributing factors

Steam and slightly salt water in the upcast shaft; corrosion inside the rope that daily examination could not see.

What happened

The No. 2 Parkgate shaft was used only for men going to and from the Parkgate inset, 406 yards down. It was an upcast, and also carried the exhaust steam from the underground hauling engines. The men were riding in the top deck of a two-decked cage on the third run of the morning when, about 50 yards from the bottom, the rope snapped six yards below the surface and the cage fell with some 400 yards of rope after it. The lower deck was telescoped into the upper. One man was killed outright, five died soon after they were freed from the wreckage, and two died later that day in Rotherham Hospital.

The dead were the colliers Martin Marsh, Mark Dyson, Peter Rockett and Thomas Ramsden, and the trammers Henry Wright, W. Downing and Albert Kent. The rope, of improved plough steel, had been in use eighteen months and had been examined at 3 p.m. the day before and passed. Its breaking strain should have been 56 tons; the load on it when it failed was under three and a half.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector W. H. Pickering examined the rope and shaft within hours. Tests at the Sheffield Testing Works found the weakest part would break at 15½ tons. Pickering concluded the rope had been weakened to less than a third of its strength by wear and internal corrosion, and that the engineman must have jerked it, probably with the brake; the engineman, John Walker, swore he had not used the brake. The metallurgist J. E. Stead found no fault in the rope.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The inquest before the deputy coroner J. Kenyon-Parker at the Station Hotel, Aldwarke, found that the men died through the breaking of the rope, with insufficient evidence to prove why it broke, and recommended that ropes in the upcast shaft be changed more often.

Changes to practice & legislation

Pickering recommended that winding ropes be re-capped every six months.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The rope broke on 23 February 1904 and seven of the eight men in the cage died. ^1,2,3
• The inspector was satisfied the rope had been weakened to less than a third of its strength by wear and internal corrosion, and that the engineman must have put a jerk on it. ^1,2
• The jury found there was not sufficient evidence to prove why the rope broke and recommended that ropes in the upcast shaft be changed more often. ^1,2
• The rope had been in use for eighteen months and was examined and passed the afternoon before. ^1,2
• It was the most disastrous accident of the year in the inspector's district. ²

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…John Brown and Company's Aldwarke Main Colliery, near Rotherham. The cage fell some 50 yards to the bottom; seven men died and the eighth,…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the No. 2 Parkgate shaft at John Brown and Company's Aldwarke Main Colliery, near Rotherham. The cage fell some 50 yards to the bottom; seven…”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s aftermath: “The inquest before the deputy coroner J. Kenyon-Parker at the Station Hotel, Aldwarke, found that…”
• Downcast Shaft and Upcast Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “Steam and slightly salt water in the upcast shaft; corrosion inside the rope that daily examination could not see.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…rope broke as eight men were being lowered down the No. 2 Parkgate shaft at John Brown and Company's Aldwarke Main Colliery, near Rotherham.…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Aldwarke Main Colliery Accident - Rotherham - 1904 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Aldwarke Main Shaft Accident (Mines Inspector's report, 1904) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Aldwarke Main, 23 February 1904 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026