St George's Colliery roof fall, 1910

A fall of roof nine yards long in the main haulage brow of St George's Colliery, Tyldesley, killed three young men walking out at the end of their shift on 13 June 1910.

Cause

Settlement of the roof displaced the bars carrying the brow roof on its propped side.

What happened

On the afternoon of Monday 13 June 1910 four young men were walking out along the main haulage brow of St George's Colliery, one of the Astley and Tyldesley company's pits, at the end of their day's work. Without warning a length of roof nine yards long, three yards wide and three feet thick came down, bringing five seven-inch bars with it. The drawer Albert Bond, the lasher-on John France junior and the collier Michael O'Dea were killed and the fourth man was badly hurt.

The bars had been set on props on one side and let into the rock on the other. An earlier settlement of the roof had cut up the propped side, and a further movement disturbed the bars and let the hard rock roof fall.

Recorded claims

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

• On the afternoon of Monday 13 June 1910 a fall of roof in the main haulage brow at the Astley and Tyldesley company's St George's Colliery killed Albert Bond, John France junior and Michael O'Dea as they were leaving the mine, and badly injured a fourth young man. ^1,2
• The fall was 9 yards long, 3 yards wide and 3 feet thick and brought down five bars. ¹
• Settlement of the roof had cut up the side on which the bars stood on props; a further settlement disturbed them and let the hard rock roof down. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…fall of roof nine yards long in the main haulage brow of St George's Colliery, Tyldesley, killed three young men walking out at the end of their…”
• Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of roof nine yards long in the main haulage brow of St George's Colliery, Tyldesley, killed three young men…”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…feet thick came down, bringing five seven-inch bars with it. The drawer Albert Bond, the lasher-on John France junior and the collier…”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A fall of roof nine yards long in the main haulage brow of St George's Colliery,…”

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - St. Georges Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Lancashire pit mishap (The Cardiff Times, 18 June 1910) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026