Durham Mining Museum - Newspaper Articles (original) (raw)

21st December 1905

Fatal Accident At Croft Pit, Whitehaven

On Tuesday night, a sad fatality occurred at Croft Pit, Whitehaven, when John Gribbins, 55 years of age, who resided at 81, Church Street, Whitehaven, was almost instantly killed. It appears that Gribbins left his working place between seven and eight o'clock on Tuesday evening, and was proceeding to the pit bottom to leave for home, when he was knocked down and run over by a sett, and, as stated, killed instantly. The deceased's body was, as soon as possible, conveyed to his home in Church Street.

Mr. Gordon Falcon, coroner for West Cumberland, held the inquest at the Indian King Hotel, Whitehaven, on Thursday afternoon. There were present: Mr. Abott, H.M. Inspector of Mines; Mr. A. Sharp, miners' agent, Maryport; Mr. J. Hanlon, miners' agent, Whitehaven; and Mr. Steele, manager of the colliery. Mr. Ormrod, solicitor, watched the proceedings on behalf of the Whitehaven Colliery Company.

Robert Henry Gribbins, 6, Barker's Buildings, Rose Mary Lane, Whitehaven, stated that the body the jury had seen was that of his father, John Gribbins, 55 years of age, coalminer, who was employed at Croft Pit, Whitehaven.

Mr. Blair, surveyor for the Colliery Company, produced a plan of the scene of the accident. There was an endless rope, with both a travelling and haulage road. There were eight bogies, but only some of these had gone over the deceased. There was a clutch bogie in front, but no sett rider. The incline was 1 in 15. He examined the place afterwards, but could not find out if the deceased had been dragged — there were no marks.

By the Coroner: The same bogie that broke away took the same sett up afterwards. The bogie was all right. It was possible that the clutch might not have been screwed tight on the rope. The sett would have travelled about 500 yards. It had about a mile and a half to go. Both the bogie and the rope and everything about it were in proper working order.

By the Inspector: The speed of the sett was about 3 miles an hour. He did not know if the empty sett was met by the full sett. Harry Smith and McMillan were the first to get to the sett after the accident. The bogies were examined periodically.

Mr. Steel said they were examined daily. The two incline men signed for all machinery, bogies included.

By Mr. Sharp: The whole sett went down, bogies and all. Nothing had broken about the clutch bogie. There was no clutch bogie on behind, just one in front.

Joseph McMillan, 25, North Row, Kells, stated that he was travelling out-bye on the 12th inst., about half-past seven in the evening, when he passed Gribbins. Witness was with a man named Smith. Deceased was walking on the full roadside. Witness and Smith passed deceased on the empty side. They had passed the deceased about 200 or 250 yards when they heard the sett coming down. They thought at first it was an empty sett, and sided off on to the full side to allow it to go by. Before they had got very far they thought the sett was coming faster that it should as the rope was just going slow. They got into a manhole. At that time the sett was coming at a good speed, and it was impossible to count the tubs. Smith knocked "hold" on the wire for the sett to be stopped. The reason he did that was so that the people who were travelling could better hear the sett coming than if the rope was running. Knowing that there was a full sett on behind this one, Smith shouted to witness to go below and disconnect the wires so that when the rope stopped no one could start it again. He heard the next sett come chock into the one that had gone amain. After the rope was stopped they went back to inspect the tubs to see what was wrong, and as to the damage. In coming back they saw that there was a whole sett of bogies, consisting of 13 full tubs, a water barrel, and clutch bogie. The last three tubs on the sett were twisted from the full road right across the empty road. He examined all the tubs and looked underneath them, and under the eighth or ninth tub he found the deceased. He shouted to his mate that there was a man under the sett. He tried to shake the deceased to see if there was any life in him. They afterwards let the tubs off the deceased. James and Joseph Bethwaite assisted them with this work. When deceased was got out he was quite dead. The rope was clean out of the clutch. The clutch was off and the "striker" was down. The "jockey" was off. He thought the concussion of the collision might have caused the "striker" and "jockey" to go off. The "jockey" itself was in working order, and there was nothing wrong with the rope. He thought 14 tubs was the usual sett.

By Mr. Ellwood: (juryman): Can you tell us why there is no clutch bogie on behind the full sett when there is one on the empty sett.

Witness said they took 40 empty bogies in and divided them.

By the Inspector: The empty sett that met the full sett was all right. He did not know who fastened the bogie to the rope.

By Mr. Sharp: Fourteen tubs was the maximum they ran. He could not form any idea as to what made the clutch slip, but if it struck one of the rollers it might slip.

Dixon Ferguson, Lingydale, stated that he worked at Croft Pit, and was a haulage hand. He put the tubs on at a place called the "mushroom." He saw Gribbins, McMillan, and Smith pass him. About a quarter of an hour before they passed he sent a full sett away. No one assisted him. The sett consisted of about 12 tubs and a water barrel. The rope was going when they put the sett on. It was level where he was standing. He screwed the clutch down as hard as he could get it. This particular one was as tight as he could get it. The rope was good at the place, and he did not notice any splicing on the rope. It would be half an hour after that he heard something was wrong. He had seen the sett go amain after he had screwed them down. The rope might get behind a roller, and when it went up it might rive it out of the clutch.

By the Inspector: This was the first bogie that had slipped in three weeks that he knew of.

Thomas Smith, Raven Hill, overman at Croft Pit, said he was on duty at the pit on Tuesday evening, when he heard of the mishap. He found that the deceased had been got out by McMillan and others. He asked if they had done anything to the bogies and they said "No." He examined the bogie and found it was all right. The same clutch took all the bogies, except three that were damaged, back into the pit. All was in order.

By Mr. Ellwood: It would be a preventative if anything happened if there was a clutch bogie on behind. There would be two clutch bogies then instead of one.

The Coroner said so far as anyone could see everything seemed to be in perfect order. The rope was good, and the clutch bogie seemed to be all right. Whether two bogies would be better than one, he was not an expert, and he knew nothing about that. He complimented the witness McMillan on the way he had given his evidence. He did not think there was any negligence on the part of anyone, and he did not think there was anyone to blame.

The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."

Newspaper transcript kindly provided by
West Cumbria Mines Research.