Weetslade Colliery	Index	Weetslade Colliery

Location:	Weetslade 5½ miles [8 km] N of Newcastle
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ258722, 55° 2' 37" N, 1° 35' 46" W
Maps:	1951 map from the Guide to the Coalfields (Colliery Guardian)
Opened:	1903
Closed:	1966
Pits:	Lizzie Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ259721, sinking: 06 Aug 1900
	Shaft details for Lizzie Pit
Owners:	1910's - Burradon & Coxlodge Coal Co. Ltd.
	1940's - Hazlerigg & Burradon Coal Co.
	1947 - National Coal Board (N.C.B.)
Output:	1947 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing, Steam. (160,000 tons)
	1950 - Coal: Household, Steam.
	1955 - Coal: Household, Steam.
	1960 - Coal: Household, Steam.
	1961 - Coal: Household, Steam.
	1964 - Coal: Household, Steam.
Employment:	Year  Pit   Total  Below  Above 1940 1,170 825 345 1940 Burradon & Weetslade combined 1945 483 309 174 1947 521 350 171 1950 555 379 176 1955 612 439 173 1960 638 488 150 1961 638 488 150 1964 896 780 116
	NCB Employment Figures
	Colliery Management (prior to 1955)
Seams Worked:	1950 - Bensham
	1955 - Low Main
	1960 - Low Main
	1961 - Low Main
	1964 - Beaumont, Low Main

Description

Weetslade Colliery is situated about seven miles to the North of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and adjoins Burradon Colliery, with which its workings are connected, but the two mines have separate systems of ventilation and are separately managed. Sunk in 1903, it is served by a shaft and a surface drift which are 200 yards apart. The former, which is the downcast, is 12 feet in diameter and is sunk to the Beaumont Seam at a depth of 1,140 feet, the coal winding level being at the Bensham Seam inset at a depth of 800 feet. The surface drift, which is the upcast, is provided with an Aeroto Fan passing 67,750 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gauge of 44 inches.

Mines Inspectors Report into an accident in 1951

Disasters (5 or more killed)

1st

Oct

1951

Explosion, firedamp, ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery, 5 lives lost (Show Names)

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Armstrong, Frederick, 1946, [approximate date]
						Ashurst, James, 1946, [approximate date]
						Charlton, Matthew, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 30, Loader Operator, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Davison, John, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 58, Pumpman, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Dunn, John George, 09 Aug 1946, (accident: 12 Nov 10), aged 47, Buried: Dudley Cemetery
						Fisher, John, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 33, Driller, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Gourley, Isaac, 1940, [approximate date]
						Hankin, Nelson, 1942, [approximate date]
						Martin, William C., 1941, [approximate date]
						Mason, Nichol, 1934, [approximate date]
						Patterson, Thomas, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 54, Timberman, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						Sales, Henry J., 1941, [approximate date]
						Smith, James William, 09 Feb 1904, aged 31, Wagon Driver, owing to a congestion of wagons deceased was using his horse to draw three empty chaldron wagons down a slight decline back on to the main line along which they had come; when nearly far enough, and at a point where two rails crossed, he was in the act of unhooking the horse's chain when his foot was caught in the angle formed by the junction of the two rails and he was knocked down by the first wagon and it and the one following passed over his leg. The angle between the rails was not filled up, as is desirable by a wood block; he was sent off to the Newcastle Infirmary but died on the road
						Whitney, Thomas, 01 Oct 1951, 6:45 a.m., aged 56, Deputy, killed in the 1951 explosion (ignition caused by fusion on the shuttle car battery) [More information ...]
						14 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

For those names marked the text of the Mines Inspectors report into the incident is available online. Click on the icon to display the report.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

  more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Weetslade Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Weetslade Colliery

Credits

Sources:

Related Links:

	On this site
	Newspaper articles
	Text of the Mines Inspectorate Report into an accident in 1951

Further Reading:

• Mines Inspectors Report into an accident in 1951 (Cmd. 9614)

Further Research:

  Research Notes for Weetslade Colliery