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Howe Bridge Mines Rescue Station was the first
Howe Bridge Mines Rescue Station was the first mines rescue
Mine rescue or mines rescue is the specialised job of rescuing miners and others who have become trapped or injured in underground mines because of mining accidents, roof falls or floods and disasters such as explosions.
Background
Mining la ...
station on the Lancashire Coalfield
The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British Coalfield#Great Britain, coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.
The Rom ...
opened
in 1908 in Howe Bridge
Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton, Greater Manchester, Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within Lancashire, it is south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old Turnpike trust, turnpike ...
, Atherton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England.
Before Britain's first mines rescue station opened at Tankersley in Yorkshire in 1902, pit managers and volunteers were usually the first untrained mines rescuers. They fought fires, rescued victims and recovered bodies in the collieries in which they worked. Rescue stations were recommended in a Royal Commission
A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
in 1886 but were not compulsory until after the 1911 Coal Mines Act was passed. In 1906 the Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Owners Association formed a committee which decided to provide a mines rescue station in Lovers Lane Atherton.
The first rescuers were provided with Siebe Gorman Proto
The Proto is a type of rebreather that was made by Siebe Gorman. It was an industrial breathing set and not suitable for diving. It was made from 1914 or earlier to the 1960s or later. (Distinguish from "Proton", which is another sort of Siebe ...
breathing apparatus which was selected by competition. A team from the rescue station was tasked with training rescue teams from each colliery, and provided emergency assistance to collieries throughout the Lancashire Coalfield
The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British Coalfield#Great Britain, coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.
The Rom ...
.
Teams from the rescue station attended disasters at the Maypole Colliery in Abram
Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...
in 1908 and the Pretoria Pit Disaster
The Pretoria Pit disaster was a mining accident on 21 December 1910, when an underground explosion occurred at the Hulton Colliery Bank Pit No. 3, known as the Pretoria Pit, in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashi ...
in 1910.
The station closed in 1934 when Boothstown Mines Rescue Station
Boothstown Mines Rescue Station which served the collieries of the Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Owners on the Lancashire Coalfield opened in November 1933 on a site in Boothstown, close to the East Lancashire Road. The mines rescue station is G ...
, the central rescue station for the coalfield, became operative.
See also
*List of mining disasters in Lancashire
This is a list of mining accidents in the historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire at which five or more people were killed. Mining deaths have occurred wherever coal has been mined across the Lancashire Coalfield. The earlies ...
References
Bibliography * {{coord, 53.517, -2.5104, display=title, region:GB_type:landmark Mining in Lancashire Rescue Mine safety Atherton, Greater Manchester