Aspen Colliery inrush, 1909

Water from old workings burst into Aspen Colliery, Oswaldtwistle, on the afternoon of 30 April 1909, cutting off men in the Belthorn End for hours; all struggled out except a thirteen-year-old drawer, who drowned.

Cause

An inrush of water from old workings through the coal into a recently abandoned place.

What happened

On the afternoon of Friday 30 April 1909 water from old workings broke through the coal into a place at Aspen Colliery that had been given up two days earlier. Some eighty men and boys were in danger, among them a party of about twenty-five in the Belthorn End, some two miles from the shaft, who were cut off for several hours before they crawled out through the higher workings.

The collier James Kenyon, working next to the burst, ran for the roadway and was knocked down by the water. Struggling on with only inches of air beneath the roof, he met the drawer James Redmayne, thirteen, crying for his mother, and told him to stick close. When the water threw Kenyon down again both their lamps went out, and feeling at his legs for the boy he found only a lump of shale. Kenyon was found by a search party; Redmayne's body was found many hours later, washed against the underground ginney.

Rescue & recovery

A search party found Kenyon; the men in the Belthorn End escaped after hours of crawling through the higher workings. The boy's body was recovered many hours later.

Recorded claims

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

• On 30 April 1909 water from old workings broke into Aspen Colliery, Oswaldtwistle; all escaped except a thirteen-year-old drawer, James Redmayne, who drowned. ^1,2
• About eighty men and boys were endangered. ¹
• Twenty-five miners in the Belthorn End, about two miles from the shaft, were cut off for several hours. ²
• The collier James Kenyon, swept along with the boy in water up to the roof, lost hold of him and told the inquest how he was separated from him. ^1,2
• The colliery belonged to Oswaldtwistle Collieries Ltd. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “An inrush of water from old workings through the coal into a recently abandoned place.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Water from old workings burst into Aspen Colliery, Oswaldtwistle, on the afternoon of 30 April 1909, cutting off men…”
• Inrush (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “An inrush of water from old workings through the coal into a recently…”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Belthorn End for hours; all struggled out except a thirteen-year-old drawer, who drowned.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…of about twenty-five in the Belthorn End, some two miles from the shaft, who were cut off for several hours before they crawled out through…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Accident record: James Redmayne, Aspen, 30 April 1909 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) A colliery flooded: miners' wonderful escape (The Rhos Herald, 8 May 1909) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026