Wigan Album

A terrible time for all concerned. Every man is wearing a cap, did they ever take them off? This was the at height of summer, some probably have mufflers on as well and most are wearing either a waistcoat or a pullover.

The tunnel(s) where the disaster took place was sealed off. The mining carried on on other levels in the 2 shafts being sunk to almost 1 mile deep, eventually the pit closed in 1959. I believe Parsonage Pit at Leigh was slightly deeper than The Maypole but not by much.

Aubrey. Did you work at The Maypole colliery?

Yes Albert,later than you, 1956 to 1958, face training at Gibfield then Parsonage till 1960.

The shafts at Maypole were more like 500 yards deep Aubrey,an Uncle of mine was a winder there in the 40s and maybe up to the 60s.

Maurice
I was told that The Maypole and Parsonage were 2 of the deepest pits in Lancashire, both just short of a mile deep. I cannot recall the source but I have always thought it to be true. I may well have been misinformed. It certainly seemed to take a long time to descend, at a fast rate, in those cages.

Hi Aubrey,there were no pit shafts in Lancashire anywhere near a mile deep,Parsonage was about 1000 yards deep.

Thanks Maurice it seems I was wrong.

My sincere apologies to everyone reading my comments about the depth of the pit shafts, I did firmly believe what I had been told years ago.

Hi Aubrey,I must say some did seem a mile deep,I once went down Sandhole colliery in Walkden,it was quite shallow,but had wooden guide rods,the shaft was'nt too vertical,and that seemed to be a mile deep

Maurice,
Salted lemonade was provided at Parsonage in the baths, because of the depth and heat in the mine. It sounds a disgusting drink but was o.k. when you got used to it.

I think there may be some confusion between the depth of the shaft and the depth of the workings at Parsonage Colliery. Apparently number one shaft was sank to a depth of 1007 yards, but the Arley seam was worked at a depth of 4000 feet,which is about 1,330 yards.

I worked on the Arley at Nook pit in the 50s,that too was red hot,and that shaft was about 950 yards deep,but it's strange that the Arley was deeper at Parsonage because it outcrops near wigan.

Quite a number of miners' had the practice of chewing tobacco. I was told that it helped to relieve the mouth from the effects of the coal dust.
I only tried it once. I was nauseated for two days, afterwards.

Relative to my comment in respect of the chewing of tobacco. One early morning, I together with about fifteen other men, I got into the upper deck of the cage, to descend to the pit bottom. We were all packed tightly in the upper deck. Just as the cage was about to descend, someone behind me decided to eject a quantity of tobacco juice.

This hit the centre of the back of my neck. We were packed so tightly that I was unable to get my hand to my neck, nor to my back, and the juice just made its irritating way all down my back. Aubrey stated it was a long time, in the journey down. That morning it felt twice as long.

You have my sympathy, Albert, it was awful stuff.

I worked at maypole colliery from 1956 till early 1959.i worked down number 1 pit,which I recall was about 888 yards deep.

My great-grandfather worked here at this time. He was apparently photographed in a newspaper as part of the rescue effort but was mistakenly listed as Patrick Toohey as he'd married Polly Toohey and worked alongside many Toohey brothers-in-law. I would love to see this photograph.