Albion Colliery was a coal mine in South Wales Valleys, located in the village of Cilfynydd, one mile north of Pontypridd.
The site is now home to Pontypridd High School, whose students commemorated the 120th anniversary of the disaster by participating in a project, recreating the events in the form of a film.
At 4 o'clock on Saturday 23 June 1894, the night shift had just begun and the workers were clearing dust and repairing underground roadways when a massive explosion on the Groves level occurred.
[1] There were no female victims as it had been made illegal for women and children under the age of 12 to work underground in the mines, with the pit ponies replacing them to haul coal, which is why so many horses died alongside the workers.
[8] The bodies brought to the surface were initially assessed and stored in the colliery's stable hayloft, that acted as a temporary morgue.
The differences of opinion between the owners, the inspectors and the professional witnesses led the jury to conclude that the explosion of gas was accelerated by coal dust, but it failed to agree on the cause.
These recommendations included that shotfiring in timber should be prohibited, old working should be properly stowed and that the number of men in the mines should be kept at all times.
Roskill recommended prosecuting the Albion Coal Company, but eventually only fines of £10 and £2 were imposed against manager Phillip Jones and chargeman William Anstes.
[9] Albion was served throughout its entire life by the Llancaiach Branch line of the Taff Vale Railway, which enabled it to reach maximum production quickly.
Following the liquidation of the Albion Co in 1928,[9] the assets were purchased by Powell Duffryn, before it was nationalised after World War II to become part of the National Coal Board in 1947.