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We were greatly indebted last week to Mrs W. G. Humphrey for her lively portrait of Seaton, past and present. This, incidentally, enables me to pass directly on to the story of the Seaham collieries, which, in fact, began with Seaton Colliery, generally known as the “High
Pit” and sunk way back in 1845 by the Hetton Coal Company.
Seaton Colliery, generally known as the “Low Pit” or, perhaps more often as the “Nicky Nack” was begun in 1849 and the first coal was drawn in 1852, some two years before the death of the third Marquess, whose property it was.
After his death, Lady Frances Anne carried on the work of supervision over all her collieries and in 1864 the two pits were amalgamated by her purchase of Seaton Colliery. The amalgamation was the direct result of the terrible disaster at Hartley on January 16, 1862, when 204 lives were lost.
High And Low
Hartley, like many pits at that time, possessed a single shaft which, after the explosion, became so tightly blocked by debris that no penetration could be effected before six days had elapsed, with such tragic results. Subsequent legislation required that every pit
should have two shafts, both for escape and better ventilation purposes.
As the High and Low pits at Seaham were but 150 yards apart, the junction of the two was comparatively easy, though the complexity of the double workings was increased.
Between 1852 and 1880 seven explosions occurred
at Seaham Colliery with loss of life only in the years 1852,1864, 1871, and 1880 - the worst being in 1871, when 26 men and boys died and then the appalling total of 164 in 1880. The story of these disasters has been told with dignity and restraint by the late Mr John E. McCutcheon in his
admirable book, “Troubled Seams” and must be read there.
“Nicky Nack”
Strangely enough these two great explosions appeared to have originated from shot firing by the wall known as the “curve”, connecting the two shafts - though the verdict did not bear this out.
It is
suggested that the sobriquet, “Nicky Nack,” bestowed upon the Low Pit is due to the fact that many years ago a certain Thomas Chilton, who owned the windmill and was licensee of the Mill Inn, used to repair women’s spinning wheels, then called “knack reels”. It was not long before Thomas Chilton
himself became “Tommy Nicky Nack” and the Mill Inn, “Nicky Nack Inn” and so the name spread to the adjacent colliery, possibly due also to the peculiar sound of the winding gear.
I have heard further explanations of this name which I do not propose to print! Miners are always fond of a joke,
but if any reader is disposed to decry the fortitude and perils associated with the lives of any mining community, let him stand in penance in the churchyard of Christ Church, New Seaham, before the two memorial crosses of Seaham’s most tragic disasters.
Worst Accident
The worst
accident occurred at 2:20 am on Wednesday, September 8, 1880. The day before the flower show was due to be held at Seaham Hall, when Corporal Hindson, winner of the Queen’s prize for proficiency with the Seaham Volunteer Artillery Brigade in the national competition, would have received his
prize from the Marquess of Londonderry. “Would have” is correct, for his name appears on the Memorial Cross along with 163 others.
Records show that 67 lives were saved out of a total of 231. The inquest was held, I believe, in the Londonderry Institute and the verdict stated simply that the
fatalities were due to an explosion at Seaham Colliery. The question of the firing of shots and the clearance of coal dust was to be left in the hands of the managers - a verdict neither illuminating nor reassuring. Of the many poignant stories told at the time of this calamity, none can excite
greater compassion than a perusal of the messages written by Richard Cole and Michael Smith, both of whom lost their lives.
In the manager’s office at Seaham Colliery preserved behind a glass frame is a double deal board on which is inscribed in white chalk, “Richard Cole ½ past 2 Thursday.
The Lord has been with us. We are all ready for heaven.”
“Ready For Glory”
More faintly on the lower board is, “Bless the Lord we have had a jolly prayer meeting. Every man ready for glory. Praise the Lord. Signed R. Cole. Michael Smith had no chalk but with a rusty nail
scratched on the base and sides of his water bottle his last letter to his wife. His ordeal was made all the worse by his knowledge that his little son lay at death’s door at home.
Here is a picture of that water bottle with the inscription clearly legible. On the base is this message:
Dear Margaret
There were 40 of us altogether at 7 a.m., some was singing hymns but my thoughts was on my little Michael that him and I would meet in heaven at the same time. O dear wife God save you and the children and pray for me.
On the
sides are these words:
“Dear wife, Farewell. My last thoughts are about you and the children. Be sure and learn the children to pray for me. O what an awful position we are in. Michael Smith, 54 Henry Street.
Changed Pattern
As Michael anticipated his little son died at home that day. Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt. Upon such sorrow and such faith we shall intrude no further.
The depth of the Low Pit shaft is 1,797 feet and of the High Pit,
1,819 feet. Today the colliery produces gas and steam coals on a daily average of 1,800 tons. The colliery reconstruction left one shaft for the surfacing of coal and the other for the handling of men, equipment and other materials. Surface installations have been greatly increased and
electrified. Hand picking by the belt system has been superseded by the new washing plant.
I am told that more than 1,200 men are employed there and that the weekly target is 8,500 tons. The Londonderry Collieries passed to the N.C.B. in 1947 and belong to the “A” Group of the No. 2 area of
the Northumberland and Durham Division.
Seaham’s other collieries are Dawdon, the largest, which has operated since 1907 and Vane Tempest, in operation since 1929. In all a progressive policy is pursued with up-to-date welfare facilities and activities. Indeed, something like three-quarters
of Seaham’s working population depends upon coal in one way or another for its livelihood. Of miners alone, the last available total was 5,120. We are again indebted to Mr J.C. Curry for the older pictures of the High and Low Pits and also for those depicting the Old Mill Inn, where long ago
Thomas Chilton repaired the “knack reels.”
This inn is famed for an election siege which it once withstood at gun point and also as being the first home of the Chief Mining Engineers Institute in North-East England. Further interesting pictures, including the Seaham Volunteers, will follow
next week and, if space permits, something of the story of New Seaham.
Reproduced here with kind permission of the Sunderland Echo, this article by C. A. Smith appeared in the Sd Echo on February 11th 1965.
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