Pelton Colliery cage fall, 1932

A cage carrying four men caught on a girder in the second-outlet shaft of Pelton Colliery on 28 June 1932, hung for up to a quarter of an hour, then fell to the sump, killing three; the fourth climbed out.

Cause

The cage and its two rope guides swayed as the men boarded at the inset, and at the slow winding speed the cage's top hoop caught the lower flange of a girder below the inset with a four-inch clearance.

What happened

In June 1932 Pelton Colliery, reopened about three and a half years earlier by new owners, the Mid-Durham Coal Company, was idle for slack trade, and only officials and horsekeepers were going down. The No. 2 shaft, an old pumping shaft fitted as the second outlet, was 182 yards deep to the Busty seam with one inset at the Hutton seam, 106 yards down. Its single-deck cage ran on two rope guides, wound by an ancient single-cylinder engine at about 130 feet a minute. Beneath the Hutton inset a heavy girder left a clearance of only four inches at one point.

At about 7.40 a.m. on 28 June the undermanager, Robert Redpath, and two other officials asked to go on to the pit bottom, and David York, the master shifter in charge at the inset, loaded them and rode down with them. As the cage left, the corner of its top hoop caught the bottom flange of the girder and held. The engineman, unaware, went on paying out rope, which coiled down the shaft past the cage. York squeezed between the hoop and the girder and climbed about seven feet back to the inset, then ran 150 yards to telephone the surface. The others dared not move. After ten to fifteen minutes the cage slipped and fell to the bottom with the slack rope. Redpath and Thompson were pinned in the wreck in the sump; Foster was found unconscious and brought out alive, but died soon after reaching bank. The shock of the fall broke a drum pedestal and a pinion tooth on the engine and tore the remaining coils of rope off the drum.

Rescue & recovery

Two pitmen working underground, George Harvey and James Wilson, reached the men first. A rescue party went down by the emergency shaft; the bodies of Redpath and Thompson took four hours to recover from the sump.

Investigation & inquiry

The Inspector of Mines found that cage and guides had swayed as the men got in and the hoop had caught the girder. He advised at least three guides, or other precautions, where clearance was small. The cage was shortened by six inches and four 25-foot guiding skeets fitted at the Hutton inset. York was awarded the Edward Medal in bronze.

What's uncertain

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

• Robert Redpath was 61. (disputed) ¹
• Robert Redpath was 63. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• On 28 June 1932 three men were killed when the cage fell down the No. 2 shaft at Pelton Colliery. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Robert Redpath, undermanager, Christopher Thompson, 42, chief horsekeeper, and Thomas Foster, 29, storekeeper. ^1,2,3
• Robert Redpath was 61. (disputed) ¹
• Robert Redpath was 63. (disputed) ²
• The cage's top hoop caught the lower flange of a girder beneath the Hutton seam inset, where the clearance was four inches, and hung for ten to fifteen minutes before falling. ^1,2
• David York, master shifter, climbed out of the hanging cage to raise the alarm and was awarded the Edward Medal in bronze. ¹
• The colliery was owned by the Mid-Durham Coal Co. Ltd. ^2,3

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: “A cage carrying four men caught on a girder in the second-outlet shaft of…”
• Horsekeeper (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Coal Company, was idle for slack trade, and only officials and horsekeepers were going down. The No. 2 shaft, an old pumping shaft fitted as the…”
• Inset (contextual relationship)
  Named 7 times in this record, first in the cause: “The cage and its two rope guides swayed as the men boarded at the inset, and at the slow winding speed the cage's top hoop caught the lower…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…28 June 1932, hung for up to a quarter of an hour, then fell to the sump, killing three; the fourth climbed out.”
• Undermanager (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…of only four inches at one point. At about 7.40 a.m. on 28 June the undermanager, Robert Redpath, and two other officials asked to go on to the pit…”

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Pelton Fell, 28 June 1932 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Chester-le-Street Chronicle, 1 July 1932: Pit Shaft Accident at Pelton Fell — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: C. Thompson, Pelton, 1932 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Pelton Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026