Maindy Colliery cage accident, 1909

On the morning of 6 April 1909 a cage lowering men down the Maindy Colliery shaft at Ton Pentre swung, struck a garland curb and canted, throwing two men some 200 yards to their deaths.

Cause

The descending cage oscillated and its corner struck a garland curb in the shaft walling, canting the cage and throwing two men out. The clearance between cage corner and walling was 5 to 10 inches.

What happened

Maindy Colliery at Ton Pentre belonged to the Ocean Coal Company. The night's winding had gone without a hitch, and on the morning of Tuesday 6 April 1909 a cage of men was being lowered to the Two Feet Nine seam, whose landing lay about half-way down a shaft some 400 yards deep. The cage bumped in the shaft, and close to the landing it swung against the wall with a jolt that threw nearly everyone to the floor. John Hughes and William Evans were thrown out and fell about 200 yards on to the planks over the sump. One young man, David Jones, was saved when his clothing caught on the 'scotch', and another man was pulled back into the cage by a companion. The engineman, who felt a catch about seven yards above the landing, stopped at once, waited for a signal and then lowered the cage to the bottom. Hughes and Evans were buried together at Treorchy Cemetery on 10 April with Evan Evans, who had died suddenly in the mine the day after the accident; the funeral procession was nearly a mile long.

Rescue & recovery

The two men's bodies were recovered from the sump. Work at the colliery was suspended for the day.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector's report for 1909 found that the corner of the cage struck a garland curb owing to oscillation, with a clearance of only 5 to 10 inches to the walling, and that the reason for the extra oscillation was not sufficiently ascertained.

Recorded claims

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

• On 6 April 1909, owing to oscillation, the corner of the descending cage struck a garland curb, canted the cage and threw William Evans (27), repairer, and John Hughes (49), collier, into the shaft; the reason for the extra oscillation was not sufficiently ascertained. ¹
• The men were being lowered to the Two Feet Nine seam about half-way down a shaft about 400 yards deep; Hughes and Evans fell about 200 yards on to the planks protecting the sump. ²
• David Jones was kept from falling when his clothing caught on the 'scotch'; Alfred Harry and David J. Jones were injured, neither seriously. ²
• The combined funeral of John Hughes, W. R. Evans and Evan Evans, who died suddenly in the mine the following day, was nearly a mile long, on its way to Treorchy Cemetery. ³

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 9 times in this record, first in the summary: “On the morning of 6 April 1909 a cage lowering men down the Maindy Colliery shaft at Ton Pentre swung,…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “On the morning of 6 April 1909 a cage lowering men down the Maindy Colliery shaft at Ton Pentre swung, struck a garland curb and canted,…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…morning of 6 April 1909 a cage lowering men down the Maindy Colliery shaft at Ton Pentre swung, struck a garland curb and canted, throwing two…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…were thrown out and fell about 200 yards on to the planks over the sump. One young man, David Jones, was saved when his clothing caught on…”
• Water Garland (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…men down the Maindy Colliery shaft at Ton Pentre swung, struck a garland curb and canted, throwing two men some 200 yards to their deaths.”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Maindy Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Ton-Pentre men's fate: jerked from cage - Evening Express, 6 April 1909 — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) Ton Pentre mine victims - Evening Express, 12 April 1909 — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026