Individual Details
William Thomas BOWEN
(Abt 1871 - 29 Oct 1909)
Events
Families
Spouse | Catherine MOORE (1870 - 1962) |
Child | Dr David Idris BOWEN (1901 - 1979) |
Notes
Death
William Bowen, Manager Sadly Died During The Rescue Attempt at The Darren Colliery Disaster.Situated near Deri in the Darren valley it was sunk in 1868 by the Rhymney Iron Co. It had two shafts each, which reached the Brithdir house coal seam at 120 yards.
In 1908 there were 272 men employed.
On the 29th of October 1909, an explosion occurred here killing 27 men.
Until this date this mine was considered a safe mine and throughout its history it had been worked with naked lights.
It was about 4.00 am on a Friday with 50 night shift workers underground when the effects of the blast vented up the upcast shaft and shattered the pit head casing on which two men were standing, both were badly injured.
With the winding shaft rendered inoperable by the blast damage a carpenter William Evans bravely descended the ventilation pit by means of a ladder, which was attached to the side of this shaft. On reaching the bottom he discovered two injured men, he then climbed back to the surface to get help. Returning with two others they managed to assist the injured up the precarious ascent to the surface.
The Darren was connected underground to Gilfach colliery and those that survived the explosion managed to make their way to the Gilfach shaft.
It was down this shaft that a rescue party descended equipped with breathing apparatus unfortunately the capacity of their oxygen tanks proved to be inadequate and five of the rescue party were succumbed by the toxic gases.
In 1918 there were only 73 men employed.
It closed in 1919.