Astley Deep Pit disaster

Mr MacDonald called for a "Return of all the lives lost in the Astley Deep Pit, Dukinfield, with cause of the loss of life and date of the same; and, Copy of the opinion of the Inspector of the district, Mr. Wynne, on the management and state of ventilation of the Mine at the time of explosion on the 8th day of March 1870.

[7] The mine had taken 12 years to dig and was reported to have cost the owner, Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, over £100,000,[8] and the site employed around 400 people working in shifts 24 hours a day.

The report also goes on to say "The Dukinfield Deep Pit was undertaken to follow the celebrated Lancashire "Black Mine," a four feet seam of the finest coal, selling for 10s.

This coal burned fiercely giving a high temperature which was perfect for powering the steam engines, mills and trains of the time.

[10] The Half Moon Tunnel had been prone to problems after it had caught fire in a previous incident, and regular falls of stone and earth were reported.

Miners and workers were sent to shore the roof of the tunnel up, and began working on it with hand tools and reportedly a steam engine.

The collapsing roof released a large amount of firedamp, a naturally occurring flammable gas, which frequently caused explosions as it had in the previous accident of 1870.

Davy lamps and other safety lights had been available since 1815 but were not readily available for the miners who were expected to buy their own and it was common practice for open lanterns to be used.

[11] The report to the House of Commons states that it may have also been caused by a blocking of the ventilation shafts, preventing any gasses from escaping and so making the mine at extreme risk of explosion.

Of the Deep pit disaster of 1874 - "That the primary cause of the explosion was the blocking up of the mouthing leading to the smithy mines.

A Blue Plaque was placed by Tameside Metropolitan Borough council to commemorate the accident and the men that died, and is to be found in Woodbury Crescent, Dukinfield.

The plaque reads "A previously burnt tunnel was temporarily being repaired when the roof collapsed and pockets of unknown gas were ignited by open flame lamps.

The only signs that it existed were the "slag heap", which was still there until it was bulldozed flat in the 1970s, a pond left there from before the time of the mine that had been shown on a survey map in 1850, and three fences around each of the shaft caps.