Braichycymmer Colliery roof fall, 1907

At about midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1907 a big fall in a new drift being driven at Pontycymmer to win the Victoria seam buried three men. Joseph Toman was killed; the contractor David Davies was dug out alive after about twenty hours of dangerous rescue work but died soon after; John Maloney was freed injured.

Cause

A fall in the newly timbered drift. The inspector judged the timbers, set three feet apart, too widely spaced and the collars too small for ground subject to settlement.

Contributing factors

The drift ran at an angle to the surface through broken ground, so the timbers took uneven pressure; it had been timbered only temporarily, to be arched later.

What happened

The Braichycymmer Colliery Company was driving a new drift at Pontycymmer to win the Victoria seam, with three shifts of three men at the face. At about midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1907 a big fall buried the contractor David Davies and the colliers Joseph Toman and John Maloney. Maloney was pinned and injured but freed within half an hour; Toman's body was recovered a few hours later.

Davies lay pinned on the other side of the fall with only his head and shoulders free, in a space where the broken stone and timbers had formed a rough arch. Aware that the rescuers' work was disturbing the roof, he warned them of the danger. They went on through the night and all the next day in drizzling rain, propping the stone and taking out the loose clay a small panful at a time, while his aged father waited at the drift mouth. He was released at eight on the Wednesday evening after some twenty hours' entombment, and died about four hours later.

Rescue & recovery

Miners worked through Tuesday night and all Wednesday to reach David Davies, propping the stone and removing loose clay a small panful at a time under a roof that threatened to fall again. He was freed at 8 p.m. on Wednesday after about twenty hours and died four hours later.

Investigation & inquiry

The adjourned inquest at Pontycymmer, before S. H. Stockwood, coroner for the manor of Ogmore, and Howell Cuthbertson, coroner for Neath, heard the manager, David John, say that timbers were set every yard and the place appeared safe. H.M. Inspector Dyer Lewis, called at the jury's wish, said the timbers should have been no more than two feet apart, with larger collars, and that the drift should have been arched within a few yards of the face. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Recorded claims

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

• A fall at midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1907 in a new drift at Pontycymmer killed Joseph Toman, and David Davies died after being rescued. ^1,2,3
• David Davies was released alive after about twenty hours' entombment. ^2,3
• H.M. Inspector Dyer Lewis said the timbers should have been no more than two feet apart, not three. ³
• The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. ^3,4

Related terminology

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

• Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “At about midnight on Tuesday 25 June 1907 a big fall in a new drift being driven at Pontycymmer to win the Victoria seam buried three…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Mining fatalities, 1907 - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) 'Entombed in a drift: exciting rescues at Pontycymmer', The Cambrian, 28 June 1907 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) 'The drift disaster: Pontycymmer miners' death, H.M. Inspector and cause of accident', Evening Express, 4 July 1907 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) 'Pontycymmer accident' (verdict), Evening Express, 4 July 1907 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026