Colliery Accidents at Cwmamman

The following are examples of some of the accidents at Cwmamman collieries:

Cawdor Colliery

1957:

Garnant Colliery

1847:

A gas explosion at Garnant Colliery resulted in the death of William Thomas. 23 others were injured in the accident on 16th April, 1847.

1879:

Isaac J. Thomas died at the yard of Garnant Colliery on November 20th, 1879.

1882:

William Griffiths was killed after being hit by a tram whilst on the slant. This happened on the 4th of November 1882, on his first day of work at Garnant Colliery.

1884:

The worst accident to occur at Cwmamman took place on the 16th of January 1884, when 10 lives were lost. The rope which supported the cage containing the men, broke and fell 225 feet (75m) to the bottom of the shaft. The names of the victims are as follows:

• David Enoch Roberts - 37
• Thomas Bevan - 33
• John Evan Jones - 31
• William Lake - 30
• Thomas Michael - 25
• John David James - 22
• Evan Roberts - 16
• Thomas Roberts (Brother to Evan, above) - 14
• Daniel Rees (Williams) - 14
• Edward Morgan - 14
  

Gellyceidrim Colliery

1852:

The 9th of April 1852 edition of the Cambrian newspaper reported that Evan Thomas was burnt in an explosion at Gellyceidrim Colliery.

1922:

William Phillips of Glanamman was found dead in the cooling pond of Gellyceidrim Colliery on the 11th of December, 1922. The post mortem revealed that he had not drowned and there were no sign of any bruises or injury to the body. The verdict at the inquest is that death was due to syncope (fainting) as the result of deceased falling on his own lamp. It was suggested that the blow caused him to stop breathing before he fell into the pond of lukewarm water which was two or three feet deep.

1924:

Two men were hit by a carriage when the spake carrying the nightshift to the surface became derailed, on Thursday the 18th of December 1924. Glanmor Bevan of Glanamman was sent "spinning like a top" and sustained stomach and leg injuries. Morgan Jones of Garnant had a nasty leg injury. The list of casualties could have been worse as there were about 30 or 40 men standing nearby at the time.

1926:

Whilst the men of the afternoon shift were being lowered in the spake on the 11th of January 1926, there was a roof fall which buried several of the men in the carriages. David James of Pontamman Road sustained nasty head and leg injuries. The rest of the men were more forunate.

1927:

On the 18th of February, 1927; David Idris Thomas of Brynlloi Cottages, Glanamman, met with an accident while using a drilling machine to bore a hole at the coal face. A tram broke loose and caused a terrific blow to his hand, fracturing several fingers. He did not hear any warning, due to the loud sound of his machine.

Only a day later, on the 19th of February, 1927; Philip Roberts of Mountain View, Glanamman, was injured when a slip of coal and clod fell on his leg while he was working at the coal face. He died on the 10th March, 1927.

1929:

Stanley Walters of Glanamman received back injuries when timber fell on him whilst he was fixing it into position in March 1929.

1933:

In January 1933, Llewelyn Roberts of Glanamman, who worked as a surface haulier at the Gellyceidrim Colliery was struck by the horse which he was driving. The creature became startled by some unknown cause and lashed out with its hind legs and injured Llewelyn Roberts on his hip. After the local doctor had tended to him, he was taken home in the ambulance car. It was considered lucky that Llewelyn Roberts was not standing further away from the horse, otherwise he would have taken the full force of the kick on his body.

In November 1933, William Davies of Glanamman received serious injuries to his head and body by a fall of stone. After receiving first aid underground, he was taken to Swansea Hospital.

1936:

Overman David Llewelyn became caught and pinned beneath a tram on Wednesday the 16th of December, 1936. It was towards the end of his shift that a full journey of trams became derailed, causing the accident. He was taken to Swansea Hospital with two fractured legs.

Glanamman Colliery

1936:

Monday the 6th of January 1936, saw two accidents at Glanamman Colliery. Eli Morris of Garnant was caught by a fall of clod and fractured his leg. He was taken to Swansea Hospital, where he was detained.

One of the men who escorted Eli Morris to the pit head after his injury was 49 year old Daniel Matthews from Llandybie. He was a repairer at the colliery and soon after returning to his place of work at the lower vein, was killed by a roof fall. Further roof falls hindered his rescuers and 18 tram loads of debris was removed before he could be reached 2½ hours later. Cause of death was given as suffocation from being buried face downwards and the only injury to his body was two fractured fingers. Although a repairer's job was generally dangerous, Daniel Matthews was regarded as a most efficient workman.

Mountain Colliery

1935:

William Lewis and Tom Thomas, both of Glanamman, were involved in an explosion at a disused colliery slant known as old Mountain Colliery on Saturday the 23rd of February 1935. The two unemployed men had entered the slant to pick coal in the early hours of the morning. The violent explosion woke the inhabitants of the houses in the vicinity of the Gellyceidrim Colliery. The old Mountain Colliery was directly linked to the Gellyceidrim No. 1 slant and it was considered fortunate that the explosion forced its way outward, blowing out ventilation doors at the mouth of the old slant.
On hearing the explosion, the brother of Tom Thomas rushed to the scene and managed to drag both victims from the mine, despite the fact that the old slant was a raging inferno. A local doctor was passing at the time and immediately attended to the men, accompanied by a local policeman. The severely burnt men were taken to Swansea Hospital where they both lay in a critical condition. William Lewis died early on Sunday morning, leaving a widow and six children.

North Amman Colliery

1916:

William Rees of Raven Row, Garnant was walking up the slant at aproximately 9pm on Friday the 11th of February 1916, when he was overtaken and hit by a journey of trams. The 38 year old died almost instantly and left a widow and four children.

Raven Colliery

1922:

On Monday the 13th of February 1922, Glanville James of Creigiau Farm sustained severe injuries to his left foot while working at the Raven Colliery. He was known locally as "Gran" and was a well known amateur boxer who had competed at the most recent boxing tournament held at the Drill Hall.

1935:

Glyn Sims of Garnant was the 25 year old chairman of the Ravenswood Cricket Club who worked at the Raven Colliery as a night shift pumpsman. On Wednesday the 23rd of January 1935, he received fatal injuries at the Raven Colliery. On the instructions of the overman, two repairers; Edward Evans and David Thomas were working near the pumphouse, removing a projecting stone in order to make room for an arch when the young victim came along. The stone fell out and knocked down some timbers. A heavy roof fall ensued which buried both David Thomas and Glyn Sims. Edward Evans of Betws escaped with bruises, but David Thomas of Garnant received a considerable injury to the back of his head and Glyn Sims was crushed beneath a large stone. At the inquest, the overman said that the roof was quite sound and was timbered a few feet from where the arch was being put. The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death on Glyn Sims.

Much of the information on this page was taken from "The Carmarthen Journal", "The Cambrian" and "Amman Valley Chronicle" newspapers.