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Lan (Pentych Brickworks Colliery).

Lan (Llan) Colliery - Gwaelod y Garth, Pentyrch.

This mine supplied coal from several seams, including the Black, Forked & Wing Veins, the Hard Vein and Brass Vein, to the then adjacent Pentyrch Iron Works and the Melingriffith Works.

Coal had been worked here on a small scale since the 18th. century and by 1838-1840 was a fairly substantial concern but was extended as the New Lan colliery in 1872 under the ownership of T.W. Booker & co. Ltd.

On 6th. December 1875 the mine suffered an explosion that killed 12 men and boys immediately and some three or four who died in the following week or so.

The inquest concluded that the workings in the Brass Vein had probably breached a coal barrier against old workings with the resulting release of gas being ignited by an open flame.

With about 150 workers in the mine at the time perhaps things could have been worse. This mine was affected by the fluctuating fortunes of the Pentyrch Iron Works and in 1879 the West of England Bank failed and the Booker Co. went with it. The Iron Works closed down and attempts to form a new company came to nought and in 1888 the property was sold off.

In 1896 this mine was listed as owned by Messrs. Owens & Watkins - Pentyrch Brickworks with 5 men working Manufacturing coal and fireclay.

The mine however was also providing coal and fireclay for the close- by Pentyrch Brick Works and continued, albeit on a much reduced scale, to supply this until about 1898/1900.

1903 - A Plan of Pentyrch Brickworks Colliery for Mr. Owens - shows the workings had recently encountered disturbed ground - one fault indicating a 13 yard throw.

From a list 1908, owned by Evan Owens and Co. Ltd. employing 19 men.

By the start of WW1 all rails had been lifted although the Brickworks continued in production for some years after.

It therefore looks as if this mine, as with so many others in this area, faded into oblivion with a whimper during the years leading up to WW1 when men transferred to work in the newer deep mines of the Rhondda and Cynon valleys.

Lan Colliery Disaster - Further notes from contemporary accounts which give an insight into working - and social -conditions of the time.

Monday 6th. December 1875, with heavy snow falling following a week of very cold and inclement weather across the country which had disrupted train services, a large group of villagers from Pentyrch, Gwaelod and Taff's Well gathered outside the New Drift entrance awaiting news of this calamity.

The mine employed some three hundred men and boys altogether with about 150 working on this shift when, at about 9.30 in the morning, men and boys started rushing out of the drift to inform the startled surface workers of an explosion – "this distressing intelligence was spread with marvellous rapidity, an apt verification of the proverb that Ill news flies fast”

"But a short time elapsed before several over-men and firemen from adjacent pits were on the spot displaying the energy so characteristic of Welsh colliers when such an accident occurs”
"Headed by Mr. J. Seymour of Pentyrch - the colliery manager - a band of brave men entered the drift to begin the search for those affected while men, women and children came from the adjacent villages and hamlets, eager, yet dreading, to learn the true state of affairs"

"The party found that a great deal of after-damp remained in that part of the drift where the gas had fired and had to proceed with caution lest the noxious vapour overpower them. The pit itself had suffered but little damage with no serious obstructions to impede the explorers; consequently both the dead and injured were got out within 4 or 5 hours time”
Two local Doctors - Dr. F.G. Evans and Dr. Edwards "were not content to wait until the sufferers had been brought up the incline but that they entered the drift and rendered what assistance they could give at the earliest possible moment, undeterred by the sad sights and sounds which came under their observation. Some of the corpses were dreadfully burned whilst others – where after-damp had exerted its fateful influence – were not disfigured in any way” (it was later established that Dr. Evans gave assistance at the bottom of the drift whilst Dr. Edwards attended to injuries at pit-bank)

Following the removal of the dead and injured from the mine they were conveyed to their homes by "willing hands, on crudely made appliances covered with mine cloth (brattice) followed by their distraught families and friends whereupon the crowd largely dispersed to remain outdoors in small groups in their subdued villages to discuss the event”

"The local ferry woman told me, in her simple way, that all the men were held in high esteem and, with tears in her eyes, that Abraham Phillips (Over-man) "was a very tidy man"- this observation indicating to those familiar with the idioms of the Welsh peasantry much more than any words expressed by me" (Reporter)

Mr. Thomas Errington Wales, Government Inspector of Mines, visited the mine later that day to commence his investigation.

Listing of victims as of 6th. December 1875.
Killed

Abraham Phillips, 53, married, Pentyrch
Thomas Llewellyn (Sen), 45, married, Pentyrch
Thomas Llewellyn (Jun), 16, single, Pentyrch
William Llewellyn, 29, married, Pentyrch
David Reece, 14, Pentyrch
Henry Sant, 51, married, Pentyrch
William Peters, 33, married, Taff's Well
Robert Taylor, 21, single, Taff's Well
Moses Llewellyn, 12, Morganstown, Radyr
Daniel Evans, 28, married, Tongwynlais
John Thomas,18, single, Pentyrch
John Pritchard, 16, single, Pentyrch

Injured

Shadrach Davies, married, Gwaelod-y-garth
John Flym, single, Gwaelod-y-garth
Evan Howell, married, Llan Colliery – Old Level Houses
William Harding, single, Pen-y-garn – Pentyrch
Charles Mills, single, Pen-y-garn – Pentyrch
William Llewellyn, married, Radyr
Morgan Morgan, married, Pentyrch
William Morgan, married, Pen-y-garn, Pentyrch
Evan Davies, single, Pen-y-garn, Pentyrch
Abraham Williams, Tongwynlais
Samuel Evans, single, Tongwynlais

(Within a week of the disaster, William Morgan, 18, together with his father Morgan Morgan, 48, had also succumbed to be followed within a few days by Evan Howell and William Harding bringing the total number of deaths to sixteen.)

Wednesday, 8th. December –The coroner's inquest opened at the Junction Hotel, Walnut Tree (Lower Taff's Well) headed by Mr. E.B. Reece, District Coroner and, in spite of the weather, the jury were commanded to accompany the court officials in visiting the homes of all the deceased which involved a walk of considerable distance and elevation to formerly view the bodies at their homes prior to issuing consent for burial.

During the Inquiry, which concluded on 21 December, evidence emerged of lax attention to ventilation at the mine particularly with regard to inadequate sealing of old workings – some of which dated back some 35 to 80 years – and the lack of upkeep of return airways – all of which contributed to the build-up of gas pockets.

The seams being worked at the time were the Hard Vein, Brass Vein, Forked Vein and Wing Vein – the explosion occurred in the Brass Vein workings where naked lights were allowed, as they were in the other seams except for the Forked Vein which was "fiery”
Evidence was given to show that the Brass Vein workings had been driven to make contact with "broken coal" adjacent to the "windway" (return airway) and in at least one instance a few days prior to the explosion the pillar had been pierced - to be patched up with straw to prevent the return air short-circuiting!

On the day of the explosion, Evan Davies, who had made that hole, was sitting nearby "close to the straw" smoking his pipe (permitted) when the explosion happened and miraculously survived though badly burned – the flame passing over his face. It was not thought, however, that this was the ignition source – this was attributed to a naked candle lamp

Also criticised was the practice of "brushing out" pockets of gas from the stalls by the use of jackets etc. to displace it - this was illegal - together with failure to enter all gas inspections in the register.
Mr. Seymour, the manager, was mildly criticised for not having ensured inspection of the return airways as required to do so under the Mines Act whereupon he commented that he had only been in that post for some five months – but when questioned agreed that he had been the Mine Surveyor for nine years previous.

The deceased over-man, Abraham Phillips, was alleged to have instructed his fore-men to overlook some of the ventilation and inspection problems telling them "remember, I am your master”

Some sad accounts by survivors were related to the court - of the lad Moses Llewellyn who died having been playing "hide and seek” to relieve the boredom of his duties as door-boy. Abraham Phillips having just enough time to implore his men, in Welsh, to "stay calm boys" Another young lad who, instead of running away, went into the area where his father had been working - rescuers found him lying unconscious alongside his dad, who had perished, with his arms around him.
Men were heard crying "Arglwydd, achub fi nawr"– "Lord, save me now"

Daniel Evans of Tongwynlais had planned to visit New Tredegar on the Monday afternoon to visit his wife's relatives who had lost loved ones in that disaster which occurred on the previous Saturday morning "instead of which he was himself brought home, the victim of a like catastrophe"

The verdict of the jury was inconclusive in that the exact cause of the explosion could not be identified but that there "was a deficiency in the ventilation and maintenance of the airways and recommended greater vigilance in future"
Also remarked upon was the opinion by the Mines Inspector, Mr. Wales, that the presence of "much small coal in the gob was a factor in fuelling the blast furthermost from the initial fire"
As a number of the jurors were employed at the Lan colliery it is not surprising that such a lenient verdict was passed - this was common practice in those days when mine owners could wield influence over mining jurors who feared retribution by the employers.

The Families

Nine families had been left without fathers including :
Abraham Phillips, "leaves a widow and six children”
Thomas Llewellyn "leaves a widow and four children”
William Llewellyn "leaves a widow and three children”
Henry Sant "leaves a widow and five children”
William Peters "leaves a widow and two children”
Daniel Evans "leaves a widow and one child”

None of the men were in the Miner's Union – the Federation -had they been then their widows would have received a small pension of 9shillings a week plus one shilling for each child.
Without this the families, with no other breadwinner, were destitute and were condemned to Parish Relief and the infamous Work-house with it's harsh regimes and the splitting up of the families - a plea was made "that this be made known to the benevolent"

This tragedy and it's aftermath was apparently keenly felt for many years afterwards in this area and I, myself, am mindful of it when I walk past the Lan drift, particularly at this time of the year, when all those years ago the anticipation of Christmas and it's associated family gatherings was cruelly swept away in an instant for those families.

Information supplied by Reg Malpass