MineArchiveLyme Pit explosion, 1930
At about 6.15 p.m. on 26 February 1930 a shot fired in the Wigan Four Foot seam of the No. 2 Lyme Pit, Haydock, ignited firedamp on a longwall conveyor face. Five men were killed outright and eight more died of their burns; it was the worst disaster in the Haydock Collieries since Wood Pit in 1878.
| Date | 1930 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Haydock Colliery |
| Region | Lancashire |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 13 (Thirteen: five killed at once, eight who died later in hospital. Wikipedia's Lancashire list gives five.) |
| Injuries | Over twenty burned, some with broken limbs. |
| Context | During active mining |
Cause
Firedamp ignited by shotfiring in the Wigan Four Foot seam.
Contributing factors
The seam gave off firedamp freely; the first heavy weighting of the new conveyor face had already driven out a volume of gas that overpowered the ventilation. The No. 2 pit had been without an undermanager for five months, and afternoon shots in the rippings were fired by firemen.
What happened
Forty-five men had gone down at 3.10 p.m. Arthur Burrows, knocked back by the blast, crawled two hundred yards over wrecked tubs to the telephone and raised the alarm. Survivors covered their mouths with their caps and struggled towards the brow in single file, carrying the burned. The dead included John Hennigan, whose brothers searched the hospitals for four hours, and Kenneth Forshaw, 17. Over a thousand people waited at the pit head as the stretchers came up.
Rescue & recovery
The general manager F. B. Lawson led a rescue party in gas masks with oxygen; two small fires were put out and the mine cleared by 11 p.m. Dr Winifred Bridges, a local doctor, went underground for the first time in her life with Dr Dowling and splinted fractures by lamplight for an hour and a half.
Investigation & inquiry
Unknown.
Legal & regulatory aftermath
Unknown.
Changes to practice & legislation
Unknown.
Memorials & commemoration
Unknown.
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 Lancashire list gives five dead in the underground explosion of 26 February 1930. (disputed) 3
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Five were killed in the initial explosion and eight more died of their injuries, a final toll of thirteen. 1
- The Lyme Pit disaster of February 1930 killed 13 men. 2
- The Lancashire list gives five dead in the underground explosion of 26 February 1930. (disputed) 3
- Dr Winifred Bridges went down the pit with Dr Dowling and tended the injured underground for about an hour and a half. 1
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Breathing Apparatus (rescue/recovery concept)
The rescuers wore gas masks and oxygen. - Firedamp (direct cause)
Firedamp ignited. - Longwall (contextual relationship)
The face was a longwall conveyor face. - Ripping (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…without an undermanager for five months, and afternoon shots in the rippings were fired by firemen.” - Shot-firing (direct cause)
A shot fired the gas.
Sources
- (secondary) Lyme Colliery Explosion - Haydock - 1930 — Northern Mine Research Society
- (secondary) Haydock Collieries — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
- (secondary) List of mining disasters in Lancashire — Wikipedia
Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026