Gellyceidrim Colliery runaway journey, 1897

On 7 July 1897, as a journey of twelve loaded trams was being hauled up the slant at Gellyceidrim Colliery, Glanamman, the rope broke and the trams ran back down the incline. Two men walking up after their shift, the collier Rees Jenkins and John Lloyd, could not reach a manhole in time and were killed. A runaway after another broken rope had killed a thirteen-year-old door boy on the colliery's slant the year before.

Cause

The haulage rope broke while a journey of twelve trams was being drawn up a slant rising six inches to the yard, and the trams ran back.

Contributing factors

The men were walking up the haulage road while a journey was being drawn up, and could not reach a manhole in time; a rope had broken on the colliery's slants in the same way the year before.

What happened

Gellyceidrim was an anthracite colliery at Glanamman worked by slants, inclined roadways up which journeys of trams were hauled by rope. On 7 July 1897 a journey of twelve loaded trams was being drawn up a slant rising six inches to the yard when the rope broke and the trams ran back down the incline. Rees Jenkins, a collier of 29, and John Lloyd, 28, a haulier in the Inspector's return and a collier in the Welsh Coal Mines list, were walking up the slant behind the journey, their shift over. They could not reach a manhole in time and the trams went over them; both were killed. It was the second such death at the colliery in fifteen months: on 14 April 1896 a rope had broken on the return slant and the runaway journey had killed a door boy of thirteen, David Williams, who was walking up what was not the proper travelling road.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The Durham Mining Museum gives John Lloyd as a haulier; Welsh Coal Mines' 1897 list gives him as a collier. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• On 7 July 1897 a journey of twelve trams being drawn up a slant rising six inches to the yard broke its rope and ran back; Rees Jenkins, 29, collier, and John Lloyd, 28, walking up after their shift, failed to reach a manhole and were killed. ^1,2
• The Durham Mining Museum gives John Lloyd as a haulier; Welsh Coal Mines' 1897 list gives him as a collier. (disputed) ^1,2
• On 14 April 1896 David Williams, a door boy of thirteen, was killed walking up the return slant by a runaway journey after its rope broke; it was not the proper travelling road. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Anthracite (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “Gellyceidrim was an anthracite colliery at Glanamman worked by slants, inclined roadways up which…”
• Haulier (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the incline. Rees Jenkins, a collier of 29, and John Lloyd, 28, a haulier in the Inspector's return and a collier in the Welsh Coal Mines…”
• Journey (direct cause)
  A journey of twelve trams ran back.
• Slant (contextual relationship)
  The accident happened on the slant.
• Tub (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 7 July 1897, as a journey of twelve loaded trams was being hauled up the slant at Gellyceidrim Colliery, Glanamman,…”

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Gellyceidrim Colliery — Durham Mining Museum, from the Lists of Mines
2. (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1897 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026