Brayton Domain Colliery

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents

On November 14 (1 p.m.), at Brayton Colliery, in the first working of the bord and pillar system in the Yard Band, two persons were burned. This accident was reported as due to gunpowder alone, and this may have been so, but the balance of probability is that fire-damp was present. A shot near the roof of the seam, which is 5 feet 4 inches thick and lies nearly level, was charged with lb. of compressed gunpowder, and stemmed with clay at the face of a solid place, 9 feet wide (bratticed to within a few feet of the face). The shot was fired from a deputy's safety lamp by means of a heated wire, touch paper and squib; the deputy and a hewer retired about 5 yards from the shot and round a corner. When the shot, which did its work and did not blow the stemming, exploded, they were both burned, but were not struck by anything from the shot. The deputy states he examined the place before lighting the shot and found no gas. The surroundings were damp and free from dust.

Source: 1903 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2119), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.