A glaciated lake filled with liquid peat and moss flooded pit workings trapping more than a hundred miners underground. The inrush of liquid rushed back down the incline filling miles of underground workings and sealing off all escape routes to the surface.

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The old mine was full of deadly carbon monoxide gas.

My granny and granta lived beside the Pit Head near the Black Dam and granta brought me down the mineshaft when I was a little boy.

There were 116 survivors and 13 men were missing. It was heavy, cumbersome and required training. 5.0 out of 5 stars Knockshinnoch Disaster. Submit your details to receive the media kit. There were old mine workings not too far away. Andrew McDickens age 93 pictured at the memorial cairns at New Cumnock for the miners who died in the Knockshinnoch mine disaster that happened on the 7th September 1950. All rights reserved.

They were good solid British Labour people, who disliked the “Tartan Tories” of the Scottish National Party, and I loved them very much. 5 Heading could not be reached.

The new pit attracted many miners from Lanarkshire. ( Log Out /  The inrush occurred at the point where the No. He was a miner through and through. Memorials to the miners who died in the Knockshinnoch disaster. At the time of the disaster, Knockshinnoch employed approximately 700 men. The Scotland midfielder returned to the fold with a superb performance in the middle of the park. The 13 men trapped close to No. The 13 miners who died were not the only victims of Knockshinnoch. Here the team fitted and instructed the exhausted miners  on the use of the apparatus , before sending them out and back along the chain. ( Log Out / 

In 1947 the mine had been taken over by National Coal Board (NCB), Scottish Division. Drastic measures were required.

At the time of the disaster coal production was in the region of 4.5–5000 tons per week, extracted mainly from two seams known locally as the ‘Main Coal’ and the ‘Turf Coal’.

He was no pen-pusher. A policy of advanced mechanisation was employed by the owners and the ‘Castle’ was one of the best equipped and most productive collieries in the Ayrshire coalfield.

This delicate lifeline proved crucial.

A service was held yesterday, the 6th September 2020, to mark the 70th Anniversary of the disaster. They knew nothing about the situation below ground... and then the phone rang; the phone from the pit. Monday, 7 September 2009

They would have been appalled by the degeneration of the modern Labour Party into Blairite meritocratic Labouralism, pseudo-socialists trapped in nationalist ideologies. The men were eventually reached, being rescued by being led through the old disused gas-filled Bank No.

A memorial stands on the site of the old mine, and there is a small cairn which points to the place where the peat and sludge collapsed into the mine.

A chain of heroic unwavering rescue brigade men stretched the length of the gas-filled Bank roadway passing Salvus breathing apparatus to a rescue team now based in the Knockshinnoch workings.

© MRS TRAINING AND RESCUE. Change ). In fact, the last man out of the pit was David Park. This was for a Christmas present for my husband and he loved it very good reading,once he started reading,he just kept on going till it was finished,a very good book. Ryan Jack lifts lid on Rangers and Liege’s full-time rammy as star reveals Kemar Roofe 'hard time'. Arthur Morris and his fiance, Iris Wyllie worked with the Salvation Army. For several days rescue teams worked non-stop to reach the trapped men. But they made no difference. There were 129 men working underground at the time – six working close to the pit bottom managed to escape, reaching the surface by way of the shaft before the inrush sealed their exit.

These seams were unknown in the Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery Area until a few years before the disaster and the existence of the Main Coal was only finally proved in 1938. To add to that, there simply were not enough Salvus sets in Scotland, not even in the UK.

It was mostly extracted from two seams known locally as the ‘Main Coal’ and the ‘Turf Coal’. BiFab engineering firm at risk of 'insolvency' according to leaked government document. There was joy for the families of the 116 men, but for 13 other families there was despair. Toxic gasses filled the tunnel between the rescuers and the trapped miners. The colliery also boasted a great welfare programme for its employees including a new canteen and pithead baths (which had opened during the first week of September 1950). The river Afton, made famous by the British bard Robert Burns , ‘flows gently’ approximately 300 yards to the east of the site, and here we bathed together. Our. Below is video footage of a news report on the disaster from British Pathe. Ayrshire’s mine rescue station was based in Kilmarnock and by the time the first teams arrived at Knockshinnoch, local volunteers were already there.

Thank you Elizabeth, My maternal grandfather James Riddall (Speed) was trapped and my paternal grandfather Sam Cunningham was involved in the rescue party. Verified Purchase. The Knockshinnoch disaster was a mining accident that occurred in September 1950 in the village of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. MRS Training & Rescue, known as the Mines Rescue Service at the time, were part of the rescue teams who attended to save the trapped men.

In pictures: Knockshinnoch Colliery mining disaster at BBC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knockshinnoch_disaster&oldid=970375256, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 July 2020, at 22:48. Popular Perth children's facility under threat of closure due to coronavirus pandemic, Noah’s Ark soft play has been closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, The One Show viewers stunned as Debbie McGee has Paul Daniels' 'stuffed head in a jar'.

Fire crews race to huge blaze at derelict building in Greenock. The fuming First Minister hit out at the cash boost which was hailed by Tories as 'blockbuster support'.

The liquid matter burst into the pit, rushing down the steeply inclined heading, filling miles of underground workings and sealing off all escape routes to the surface. But it is Black Avalanche that tells the story of those involved and it is a story of ingenuity, heroism and comradeship in a small Ayrshire community. Knockshinnoch Castle Colliery, which was situated at New Cumnock, was managed by New Cumnock Collieries Ltd. Its shaft was sunk in 1942 on the site of an older pit that had been abandoned almost 60 years earlier. The phone line was the flimsiest thing in the pit. Arthur Morris and his fiance, Iris Wyllie worked with the Salvation Army. The shaft was sunk in 1942 on the site of an older pit that had been abandoned almost 60 years earlier. 5 Heading (or Drift) was being driven towards the surface at a gradient of 1 in 2.

Below ground there was momentary chaos. On retirement my grandparents came to live in Bangor, County Down and then back to New Cumnock beside the Sweet Afton. Most were eventually rescued three days later, but 13 died. The Knockshinnoch disaster was a mining accident that occurred in September 1950 in the village of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.

A public service of remembrance was held this week to commemorate the 70 th anniversary of the Knockshinnoch mining disaster and rescue.. Watchdog may force Viagogo to sell StubHub over £3.2bn tie-up. 5 Heading was being driven towards the surface at a gradient of 1 in 2, breaching the outcrop of the seam directly beneath superficial deposits and a glaciated lake filled with liquid peat or moss. Scots care homes treated 'unequally' in Covid-19 death review, industry chief says.

It’s incredible to think of both your grandfathers being involved at either side of such an unforgettable rescue. The pit brought prosperity back to a local mining community that had been in decline. 6 mine suffered a gut-wrenching set back as the percentage of  firedamp gas in the working became deadlier by the minute. You can unsubscribe at any time. 13 red stones also stand at the site of the old mine to represent each of the men who were lost that day. Stuart Gibson targets Rangers 'Chinese money' as Ibrox backer makes Manchester United and Liverpool claim. 5 Heading at the time of the inrush were unaccounted for. Extinction Rebellion activists block Ineos petrol-chemical plant in surprise morning protest. In the darker moments we grieve for the 13 men that lost their lives after moss, peat and water engulfed Knockshinnoch Castle…

Torrential driving rain had swept across the fields. Dad forced to carry ID everywhere as people think his name is coronavirus prank. Scottish Care chief executive Donald Macaskill said the process was “distressing” for staff. Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. This year marks 70 years since the Knockshinnoch Disaster, a mining accident which claimed the lives of 13 men. The collapse resulted in tonnes of peat and sludge rushing into the mine.

Glasgow Herald 11 September 1950 3. They died in a road accident on their way home. All Rights Reserved.

The force of this was reported to be so strong, that men close to the collapse were thrown to the ground by the force of the air inside the mine being pushed by the sludge. The project brought new prosperity to what had been considered a dying area by the local mining community, attracting many miners from Lanarkshire to the village with the promise of employment. Does anybody know Patrick Loy or have any photos of him. Arthur Morris and his fiance, Iris Wyllie worked with the Salvation Army. Jackson was one of the first rescue teams include.