Colliery disaster claimed lives of 112 men and boys
Nearly 130 years ago, a south Wales colliery disaster widowed 60 women and left 153 children without a father. Corrie David looks back at a devastating moment in the history of the Valleys
PARC Slip Colliery, in Tondu, near Bridgend, first began producing coal around 1864.
By the 1890s around 300 tons of coal were being produced daily by a workforce of fewer than 200.
But it was the events of Friday, August 26, 1892, that Parc Slip would be remembered for, one of the many bleak moments that litter the region’s mining history.
Around 146 boys and men set off for work in the underground mine. But they had barely got through the morning before disaster struck.
At 8.20am, it is believed, a faulty miner’s lamp sparked an explosion that engulfed the colliery in smoke and flames.
Rescue efforts began but huge roof falls preventing the flow of air hindered the operation.
The first seven victims were found but ventilation needed to be restored before further evacuations could begin.
In total, the rescue effort, which lasted several days, managed to bring 39 trapped miners to the surface.
But 112 men and boys lost their lives, the youngest of whom recorded was a 13-year-old named Thomas Bowen.
David Bowen, 15, and James Bowen, 46, were also named on the death roll, although it is not recorded if they were related.
Local historian Neville Granville’s grandfather, John, was among the last of the men to be rescued alive.
“The explosion happened at 8.20am on the Friday morning and he was brought out just before midnight on the Saturday,” said Mr Granville in an interview at a previous memorial event.
The former Cornish copper miner, 32, returned home to his wife and seven children and lived to have five more. However, the disaster widowed 60 women and left 153 children without their fathers.
“It was not something he talked much about but newspaper reports mention the horrible conditions,” said Mr Granville.
Mr Granville explained that a local doctor, Frederick Twist, went into the underground mine despite the risk of a further collapse.
There, he tended the injured and stayed with them until they were all brought out.
“He was in his twenties and showed real courage,” said Mr Granville.
“He went back up only when all the men had been brought back up. He and my grandfather had a lifelong friendship.
“Everybody
‘Fifteen of the horses that died underground were also brought out – there was only one which was too difficult to reach’
Local historian Neville Granville at the Parc Slip disaster memorial. His grandfather John was among the last of the men to be rescued
was eventually brought to the surface.
“Fifteen of the horses that died underground were also brought out – there was only one which was too difficult to reach.
“That’s how carefully they went about it. It had a deep effect on this community and so it’s important for us to remember.”
In 1992 the Parc Slip Memorial Committee was formed, to mark the centenary of the disaster, and a number of the casualties’ descendants gathered to pay their respects.
The pit eventually closed in 1904, but remained as a derelict area of old coal tips until the 1960s, when British Coal Opencast began removing the old coal tips and mining the remaining coal reserves.
In the 1980s, restoration of the land began and today it is the site of a nature reserve with a fountain memorial for those lost in the tragedy.
Every year since 1992 a memorial service takes place at the fountain at 8.15am on August 26 to remember those affected.
Councillor Stuart Baldwin, cabinet member for communities, said: “The Parc Slip Colliery disaster was a tragic event in south Wales’ history and it is important that we continue to commemorate it and pay tribute to those men and boys who lost their lives.”