Wooley Colliery

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents

Five ignitions of gas were reported causing injuries, in some cases only slight, to 10 persons.

Three occurred in coal mines in the county of Durham, and two in the ironstone mines of Cleveland.

One occurred at the Wooley Colliery near Crook on the 15th May. A hewer went into his place and commenced to work when he ignited some gas with his naked light. The bord in which he worked was rising about one in 18, and the gas had accumulated in the face near the top. The barometer was very low at the time, and the deputy, who examined the place in the morning before the men went in, asserts strongly that he found no gas there. Lamps have been substituted for naked lights.

Source: 1899 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 134), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.