Rishton Colliery roof fall, 1925

A fifteen-hundredweight stone fell from the roof of a chain road at Rishton Colliery on the evening of 30 November 1925 as the fireman tested it after firing shots, killing him and an eighteen-year-old drawer.

Cause

A large stone loosened from the roof by shotfiring while the road was being heightened.

What happened

On the evening of Monday 30 November 1925 Joseph Alfred Jones, the fireman in charge of the No. 1 West dip district at Rishton Colliery, fired two shots in the roof of the main chain road, which was being made higher. He went back to examine the place, followed by the drawers John Whittle and John Bury with a tub. Remarking that the roof was bad, Jones was sounding it when, without warning, a stone of about fifteen hundredweight fell, pinning him and Whittle to the ground. Bury's arm was caught. The assistant fireman, Robert Nowell, raised the alarm, but both men were dead when the stone was lifted.

The deputy had found the roof sound at one o'clock that afternoon. At the inquest at Rishton police station, attended by the inspector H. A. Steele, the coroner called it an accident of a kind that happens even under the best regulations, and the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Investigation & inquiry

Inquest before the district coroner D. N. Hazlewood, attended by the inspector of mines H. A. Steele: accidental death.

Recorded claims

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

• At about 6.45 p.m. on 30 November 1925 a stone of about 15 hundredweight fell from the roof of the main chain road in the No. 1 West dip district at Rishton Colliery, killing the fireman and shotfirer Joseph Alfred Jones, 35, and the shale drawer John Whittle, 18. ^1,2
• Jones had fired two shots in the roof to raise the height of the road and was sounding it when the stone fell without warning. ²
• The inquest before the district coroner D. N. Hazlewood at Rishton police station returned a verdict of accidental death. ²
• The colliery belonged to P. W. Pickup Ltd. ²

Related terminology

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

• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the alarm, but both men were dead when the stone was lifted. The deputy had found the roof sound at one o'clock that afternoon. At the…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…road at Rishton Colliery on the evening of 30 November 1925 as the fireman tested it after firing shots, killing him and an eighteen-year-old…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “Inquest before the district coroner D. N. Hazlewood, attended by the inspector of mines H. A. Steele: accidental death.”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…tested it after firing shots, killing him and an eighteen-year-old drawer.”
• Tub (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the place, followed by the drawers John Whittle and John Bury with a tub. Remarking that the roof was bad, Jones was sounding it when,…”

Sources

1. (primary) Rishton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Accident record: John Whittle, Rishton, 1925 (with the Accrington Observer inquest report) — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026