Entombed by water and moss

A sudden inrush of peat swamped and flooded the Stanrigg pit at 10.30am on Tuesday, July 9, 1918, leading to the loss of the 19 miners in “the most dreadful accident in [the area’s] mining history”.

Two weeks of continuous rain caused moss overlaying the mine workings, located outside Plains, to collapse inwards while more than 70 men were working below the surface.

All those who died had been working in the colliery’s higher “humph” section, “about 11 fathoms down”, which was quickly overwhelmed with nearly nine feet of water and subsiding moss, blocking the escape routes.

The Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser of July 13, 1918, carried the headline: “Nineteen miners in a death trap; terrible accident at Stanrigg”.

It read: “The bleak moor to the east of Whiterigg and above Plains and Caldercruix was the scene of the most dreadful accident in mining history in this district, both in the number of men who lost their lives and in the awfulness of their death.”

With rescue efforts beginning immediately, the report told how, the following day, “water ... [and] evidence of the presence of deadly black damp.

“The bore which was through showed that the moss and water were still rising in the workings, and by midday Thursday it was estimated there must be over nine feet of water at the highest part of the pit.”

By the Thursday evening, “the worst fears were confirmed that it was impossible that any of the men could be alive”.

The Advertiser continued: “The moor above the subsidence presents an extraordinary appearance, fully six acres being affected, and the subsidence is still continuing.

“All around the hollow caused by the sinking are great fissures which have filled with water, and the whole moss is most unstable, moving with the least pressure.”

Six thousand people attended a memorial service at the colliery site the following Sunday afternoon, July 14. It was led by four church ministers from across Airdrie, and those present contributed the sum of more than £100 for the bereaved families.

Young mine drawer John McCabe, a 17- year- old from Longriggend, was awarded the Edward medal for his bravery in raising the alarm, returning inside the mine for a quarter of a mile to warn workers in other parts of the pit, who were then able to escape.

The Advertiser of the time – also carrying reports on World War 1 and death notices honouring local soldiers killed in action – noted that “all the 19 who lost their lives come from the villages surrounding the pit”, and included three brothers from the Gilchrist family.

Reports read: “One of the lads lost [James Sneddon, 14] had only started work from school two days before, and he was the only support of the family at home, his father being in France.

“Two fathers and their sons were among the entrapped workers; there were three of the men – George Templeton, Robert Campbell and William Williamson – married to three sisters, relations of the proprietors of the pit.”

Eight of the miners’ bodies were recovered in an operation lasting until late September; but 11 bodies were never recovered and remain entombed below the ground.

Stanrigg memorial committee member Peter Downie previously told the Advertiser: “This is sacred ground, as the men’s bodies remain below ground and the memorial is on that site; the area was blessed after the disaster and hasn’t to be opened or touched.”

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