Glimpse history through old images of Ashton-in-Makerfield, in North West England, UK.
Colliery Deaths 1932
The 1930s were a time of great hardship for many in working class Britain, but for the colliery families at Ashton-in-Makerfield, it was about to become a lot worse.
On 12th November, 1932, an explosition occurred in the mine, found just off off Edge Green Lane. A hundred men were underground, and 25 would never make it out alive.
It was the most serious colliery accident to have taken place in the Wigan coalfields since 1908.
The newsreel, which is actually a donations appeal by Mr Albert Sykers of the Wigan District Council, mentions the dependents who lost their bread-winners. Presumably they were also about to lose their colliery owned homes, which across most of the country would be tied to a job.
For the men who had been working in the mine that day, the experience, and requirement to continue their trade, must have been traumatic too.
Again King Coal Takes Toll! (1932) – British Pathé on YouTube
