Penllwyngwent Colliery runaway journey, 1910

Early on Wednesday 9 February 1910, as the night shift walked up the steep 'B' drift of Cory Brothers' new Penllwyngwent Colliery at Ogmore Vale, a runaway journey of empty trams crashed into another journey below them. Matthew Wilson was killed outright, Thomas Meyrick died being carried home, and Richard Williams was seriously injured.

Cause

A journey of empty trams came loose from the endless haulage rope and ran away down the drift.

Contributing factors

The men were walking up the drift while the haulage was running, against the colliery's rules.

What happened

Penllwyngwent was Cory Brothers and Company's new colliery at Ogmore Vale, a drift descending at varying gradients to the steam-coal measures, worked by endless-rope haulage with journeys of four or five trams clipped to the rope by a 'bogey' tram. On the morning of Wednesday 9 February 1910 the night-shift colliers had finished and were walking out up the very steep 'B' drift when a runaway journey of empty trams came down on them and crashed into another empty journey lower down. Matthew Wilson was killed outright and Thomas Meyrick so badly hurt that he died while being carried home; Richard Williams was seriously injured and others narrowly escaped. The clipper, Arthur Perkins, told the inquest he had fixed and examined the clip on the last journey sent down at about 5.25 that morning.

Investigation & inquiry

The coroner, S. H. Stockwood, held the inquest at Ogmore Vale on 10 February, hearing the clipper, the rider and the bogey rider on how the journeys were clipped to the rope. The verdict was accidental death; the jury regretted that the men had not kept strictly to the rule against ascending the drift while the machinery was in motion, and recommended that an official be stationed at the bottom of the drift to enforce it.

Changes to practice & legislation

The jury recommended that the management place an official at the bottom of the drift to see that the rule against walking up it while the haulage was running was kept.

Recorded claims

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

• On 9 February 1910 a runaway journey of empty trams in the drift at Penllwyngwent Colliery killed Matthew Wilson and Thomas Meyrick. ^1,2,3
• Richard Williams was seriously injured and others slightly. ^1,3
• The inquest returned accidental death, the jury regretting that the men had ascended the drift while the machinery was in motion and recommending an official at the bottom of the drift. ³
• The colliery belonged to Cory Brothers and Company. ³

Related terminology

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

• Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named 8 times in this record, first in the summary: “…9 February 1910, as the night shift walked up the steep 'B' drift of Cory Brothers' new Penllwyngwent Colliery at Ogmore Vale, a…”
• Endless Rope Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the cause: “A journey of empty trams came loose from the endless haulage rope and ran away down the drift.”
• Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “The men were walking up the drift while the haulage was running, against the colliery's rules.”
• Journey (contextual relationship)
  Named 8 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Cory Brothers' new Penllwyngwent Colliery at Ogmore Vale, a runaway journey of empty trams crashed into another journey below them. Matthew…”
• Tub (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Penllwyngwent Colliery at Ogmore Vale, a runaway journey of empty trams crashed into another journey below them. Matthew Wilson was killed…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines fatalities, 1910 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) 'Trams run wild at Ogmore: two men killed', The Glamorgan Gazette, 11 February 1910 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) 'Drift disaster at Ogmore Vale: journey of trams runs wild', Rhondda Leader, Maesteg, Garw and Ogmore Telegraph, 19 February 1910 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

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