The horse was killed by the rider escaped. They said that it was too dangerous.I had terrible nightmares at the time imagining he was still alive and struggling to get out. As the train moved into No8 siding pushing the 13 loaded coal trucks in front, Mr Ward who was walking along side, saw to his horror a gaping hole had opened under the rails which the first five trucks were passing. . Email : coalmining@raleys.co.uk. She still lives in the same house in May Avenue, Abram, in which she and her husband, Joe, were living at the time of the tragedy.The house is next door but one to the house in which her father and mother lived for many years. [3] Little trace of the colliery or its railway survive. A man made hazard, combined with the forces of nature were to lead to the death of Ludovic Berry in an incident which must rate as one of the most strange and horrifying ever to occur in this part of the country. The northern part of the coalfield between Colne and Blackburn has a number of papers and monographs covering its history and geology. [3] In 1930, Pearson & Knowles merged with the Wigan Coal and Iron Company and others and their collieries became the property of the Wigan Coal Corporation. Only after the depression following the 1st world war and the miners strikes of the 1920’s did coal mining start to decline in the Wigan area. Coal was taken via the Leeds and Liverpool canal and later by rail to power factories and to heat homes in the region and also nationally. © The Coalmining History Resource Centre from Raley’s Solicitors, the accident claim specialists. Of course the question in everyone’s mind was what had caused the hole to appear. One day a man was riding a horse through the wood when the ground opened and he fell down a forgotten pit shaft. [1] It was the largest coal mine on the Lancashire Coalfield north of Wigan. Mr Ward ran in horror towards the engine screaming for Mr Berry to jump clear, Mr Hindley, who thought there had been a derailment, also shouted to Mr Berry. Later colliers let themselves down the shaft and cut rum steaks off the dead horse. What made it worse was that they would not even attempt to get dad out of there. There were certainly no doubts in the mind of Mr Ward and Mr Hindley that there friend and workmate had stayed in the cab of the engine, holding onto the brakes until it was too late to save himself. Then in 1932 it was sealed with 8000 tons of pit debris and the ground was used for storing coal stocks. This is an interactive map, point to a location with your mouse to see basic information, click to go to that page. This wok will probably be done towards the back end of the year after inquiries have been made about a contribution to the cost from the Coal Board and any other derelict area grant which may be obtained. By then the weight of the first wagons were dragging the rest of the wagons and the train faster and faster towards the gaping hole in the ground. The others were filled in with colliery waste as was a shaft near Scouts Hill in Whitley Fields. He was a loving father and grandfather and even today friends and ex-workmates remember him as a “nice bloke.” The said they were sure Mr Berry would have been killed instantly and any efforts to rescue would needlessly put other lives in danger. The menace of derelict mine shafts is to be tackled in Wigan. This information is provided pursuant to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 ("EIR"), and subject to the exemptions therein. Mr Ward went to the edge of the shaft, but could see nothing for the clouds of steam which rose and hung like a shroud over the hole in the ground which was to be Ludovic Berry’s last resting place. Asked to explain what had caused the subsidence Mr Oswald O’Nions then agent for the Junction Low Hall and Mains Collieries, said there were many factors to be considered. Lives for local families revolved around the mining industry, with men and boys from the same family working underground while girls a… The spot where the train disappeared is now lost in a tangle of long grass. The wagons and Dolly, with Mr Berry still on board, had disappeared. At the inquest held by Mr Cornelius Bolton at Abram Council Offices on May 18th it was revealed that the hole had been the shaft of No7 Brookside Colliery, known as New Zealand Pit. A new headgear and screens replaced the original structures and a coal washery was added. A concrete raft is to be constructed over the mouth of this shaft and other work carried out to remove the threat of danger. Sealed [4] More than 1,000 people were employed there in 1933 and more than 300,000 tonnes of coal were produced annually.[3]. The menace of derelict mine shafts is to be tackled in Wigan. Ludovic had worked for Wigan Coal Corporation for 35 years. Mr Ward heard the brakes being applied nit even as they were, the weight of the first trucks broke the unsupported rails and the wagons plummeted into the abyss. The last pit shafts to be filled in Wigan were the shaft of the Old Alliance Colliery which is on what is now the Crompton Street car park and one in Walkden Avenue before the road was laid down and a third on: the adjoining waste land. It crippled me at the time. But there was nothing to be done. The number of shafts sunk to gain coal number several thousand, for example, in 1958, Wigan undertook a survey of old shafts and located 500. It was the quality of bravery and that quality cost him his life. But Mrs Bate has a small locket with a tiny picture of her mother and father inside. That was the last time she ever saw him. An unknown shaft lay in the Taylor Pit Wood at Standish. Coal from Wigan helped to power the industrial revolution. Then a locomotive and thirteen wagons plunged down an old pit shaft-known as the No.7 Brookside Colliery or New Zealand Pit at Bickershaw. That shaft was sunk 400 yards in 1885, coal production stopped in 1919 and after that it was used as a pumping and ventilation shaft for nearby workings.