Bedwas Navigation Colliery shaft accident, 1911

Two sinkers were thrown from the bowk and fell to their deaths in the North Pit sinking at Bedwas on 15 July 1911, after improper signalling took the bowk past its landing.

Cause

Careless and improper signalling let the bowk be wound past the lodge-room landing into a byatt, throwing two men out.

What happened

On the evening of Saturday 15 July 1911 three sinkers in the North Pit sinking at Bedwas, Thomas Bagley, William John Thomas, 43, and John Stack, were being raised in the bowk from a walling stage to a lodge room 70 yards above, carrying a hammer for signalling and a hook to draw the bowk in at the landing. Through careless and improper shouting and signalling the bowk was wound up past the lodge room and struck a byatt. Bagley and Thomas were thrown out and fell to the bottom of the shaft; Stack was found unconscious in the bowk with serious head injuries.

Recorded claims

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

• On 15 July 1911 two sinkers, Thomas Bagley and William John Thomas, 43, were killed in the North Pit sinking at Bedwas Colliery when they were thrown from the bowk and fell down the shaft. ^1,2
• They were being raised in the bowk with a third man from a walling stage to a lodge room 70 yards above; through careless and improper signalling the bowk was raised past the lodge room and struck a byatt. ²
• The third man, John Stack, was found unconscious in the bowk with serious head injuries. ^1,2
• The shaft being sunk was 20 feet in diameter. ²
• The sinking was for the Bedwas Navigation Colliery Co. Ltd. ²

Related terminology

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

• Kibble (contextual relationship)
  Named 7 times in this record, first in the summary: “Two sinkers were thrown from the bowk and fell to their deaths in the North Pit sinking at Bedwas on 15…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Bagley and Thomas were thrown out and fell to the bottom of the shaft; Stack was found unconscious in the bowk with serious head injuries.”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “Two sinkers were thrown from the bowk and fell to their deaths in the North Pit…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1911 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Accident record: Thomas Bagley, Bedwas Navigation, 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Accident record: Thomas Bagley, Bedwas, 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026