Bentley Colliery

With profits earned from their Nottinghamshire pits, the Barber, Walker & Company initiated some exploratory boreholes in the Bentley area in the late 19th century.{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=B.R. |title=Economic development of the British coal industry, 1800-1914 |date=1984 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-26501-0 |page=61 |edition=1}} Further investigations were carried out in 1902 and in 1903, when several sites had boreholes driven into them to test for coal reserves. Despite hitting quicksand and extremes of flooding, what would become the main mine shaft was sunk in 1906,{{cite news |title=460 jobs lost at collieries; Bentley colliery, South Yorkshire |work=The Times |date=16 November 1993|id={{ProQuest|318036746}} }}{{cite web |title=Bentley Colliery - Northern Mine Research Society |url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/doncaster/bentley/ |website=nrms.org.uk |accessdate=10 August 2018}} although coaling did not become possible until 1908.{{cite news |title=Nostalgia on Tuesday: Pit's tragic past |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/nostalgia-on-tuesday-pit-s-tragic-past-1-8580289 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=6 June 2017}} However, due to the bad geological foundations that the pit head was built upon, between 1910–1911 a re-inforced concrete headstock and pit shaft were installed above Shaft No. 1 to a depth of {{convert|45|ft}} below ground and {{convert|14|ft}} above.{{cite news |title=How coal was discovered underground despite war, delays and disappointments |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/retro/how-coal-was-discovered-underground-despite-war-delays-and-disappointments-1-3552433 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=The Star |date=7 July 2011}} The design was relatively new to Britain and the materials were rolled steel and ferro-concrete.{{PastScape |num=866946 |desc=Bentley Colliery |access-date=10 August 2018}}

The initial workforce at Bentley were those already in the employ of Barber, Walker and Company, who had been tempted away from their pits at Watnall and High Park in Nottinghamshire. Additionally, the local area could not supply enough men to work in the mine, so many moved into the area from outside the region and the company built Bentley New Village (which still exists) to accommodate all the workers.{{cite book |last1=Stratton |first1=Michael |last2=Trinder |first2=Barrie |title=Twentieth century industrial archaeology |date=2000 |publisher=E & FN Spon |location=London |isbn=0-419-24680-0 |page=26 |edition=1}}{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Alan R. |title=Mining in the East Midlands, 1550-1947. |date=1971 |publisher=Cass |location=London |isbn=0-7146-2585-X |page=188 |edition=1}} The new village had a school, football club (Bentley Colliery FC) and a cricket club.

By 1910, employees at the mine numbered 1,000; this had risen considerably during the pre-nationalisation era when the average number of workers at the mine between 1933 and 1947 was just under 3,000.{{cite web |title=Durham Mining Museum - Barber, Walker & Co. Ltd. |url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/company/b1020.htm |website=www.dmm.org.uk |accessdate=10 August 2018}} The mine recorded its best year of production in 1924, when over {{convert|1,200,000|tonne}} of coal was brought to the surface.{{cite web |title=Bentley Village, A History: Bentley Colliery Part 1 - 85 Years of Mining History |url=http://bentvillhistory.blogspot.com/2014/01/bentley-colliery-part-1-85-years-of.html |website=bentvilhistory.blogspot.uk |accessdate=10 August 2018 |date=2 February 2014}}

The colliery (and the Barnsley Seam in general) always had problems with methane gas being released during the mining process. Despite having one of the best ventilation systems in the mining industry at the time, the mine was beset by accidents and faced closures because of safety reasons. Many of the miners who worked there were uneasy about the situation.{{cite news |title='VCs' won by miners surface for new exhibition |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/vcs-won-by-miners-surface-for-new-exhibition-1-2404868 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=22 November 2006}} In 1939, the mine was second only to nearby Rossington Colliery in using diesel-powered flameproof locomotives for the movement of men, materials, and coal underground.{{cite web |title=4: Coal |url=https://www.namho.org/research/COAL_Assessment_20130207.pdf |website=namho.org |accessdate=10 August 2018 |page=27 }} Hand getting of coal had stopped by 1945 and the process was fully mechanised by the late 1960s.

The miners from Bentley went on strike during the 1984–1985 Miners' Strike. They also had sporadic incidents of strikes in 1988 after management accused three developmental miners of not making sufficient progress. Within three days, twelve South Yorkshire pits had ceased work with 10,000 miners on strike. The colliery manager wrote to all the miners stating that the dispute could only be resolved once the pit was back at full production. The following day, seventeen pits in South Yorkshire and two in North Yorkshire were on strike. The miners were all persuaded to return to work, but another stoppage a week later occurred when ten miners were threatened with dismissal after video footage had been studied from the previous strike with those miners accused of flying pickets.{{cite book |last1=Winterton |first1=Jonathan |last2=Winterton |first2=Ruth |title=Coal, crisis, and conflict : the 1984-85 miners' strike in Yorkshire |date=1989 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=0-7190-2548-6 |page=226}}

In 1993, the mine was selected for closure by British Coal. The mine closed in December 1993, with the loss of 450 jobs.{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Keith |last2=Milne |first2=Seamus |title='Political victim' pit digs lowest price coal Colliery produces at a third less than imports but British Coal determined to close it |work=The Guardian |date=20 November 1993|id={{ProQuest|293605216}} }} All surface buildings, including the headstocks, were demolished by 1995.{{cite book |editor1-last=Bayliss |editor1-first=Derek |title=A guide to the industrial archaeology of South Yorkshire |date=1995 |publisher=Association for Industrial Archaeology |location=Telford |isbn=0950844896 |page=13}}

In 1998, the site was remediated and handed over to the Land Trust. It was converted into a woodland in 2004 and is now open to the public as the Bentley Community Woodland.{{cite web |title=Bentley Community Woodland - The Land Trust |url=https://thelandtrust.org.uk/space/bentley/?doing_wp_cron=1533827928.5385100841522216796875 |website=thelandtrust.org.uk |accessdate=9 August 2018}}

{{Infobox event

| title = Bentley Colliery Disaster

| image =

| caption =

| date = 20 November 1931

| place = Bentley Colliery
Doncaster, England

| coordinates =

| cause = Gas explosion causing mine collapse

| reported injuries =

| reported death(s) = 45

| reported missing =

| reported property damage =

| suspects =

| charges =

| verdict =

| convictions =

}}

At 5:45 pm on 20 November 1931, firedamp was ignited in the North East Colliery Face of the mine which caused roof falls preventing the men from reaching the shaft and the pit-head. After the explosion there was another inrush of gas which starved oxygen from the air.{{cite news |title=Obituary of Philip Yates GC Miner who won the Edward Medal for rescuing the injured after the Bentley Colliery explosion half a mile underground in which 45 died |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 February 1998 |page=22|issn=0307-1235}} As news of the disaster spread, a crowd of over 2,000 people gather at the pit head to wait for news.{{cite news |title=BENTLEY REFLECTS ON ITS DARK DAYS |url=https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/bentley-reflects-on-its-dark-days-1-504086 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=Doncaster Free Press |date=30 January 2007}} Four men went down the pit wearing breathing apparatus and had to carry the injured over {{convert|2|mi}} to get them to safety. For their bravery, they were all awarded the Edward Medal with eight in total being presented in the aftermath of the disaster.{{cite news |title=Phillip Yates |work=The Times |date=24 February 1998|id={{ProQuest|317909347}} }}{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=Brian |title=Coal Kine Disasters in the Modern Era c.1900–1980 |date=2017 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=978-1-47385-884-8 |page=77}} An inquest was opened up at the colliery two days later.{{cite news |title=From the archive, 24 November 1931: Gallantry at Yorkshire pit disaster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/nov/24/archive-gallantry-at-yorkshire-pit-disaster-1931 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=24 November 2011}} The mines department also held an inquiry between 29 December 1931 and 6 January 1932, which lists 43 dead, not 45.{{cite web |title=Bentley Colliery |url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/1b518546-b5e7-444e-98e1-4a396891e111 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |accessdate=10 August 2018}} Modern accounts have decided that the final death toll was 45, though five of the bodies could not be recovered.{{cite web |title=Bentley Colliery. 1931. 45 Killed. |url=http://www.dmm.org.uk/pitwork/html/bentley.htm |website=www.dmm.org.uk |accessdate=10 August 2018}}

• On 12 February 1912, three men died and a further six were badly burned when there was an explosion underground.{{cite book |last1=Wain |first1=Ken |title=The Coal Mining Industry of Sheffield and North East Derbyshire |date=2014 |publisher=Amberley |location=Stroud |isbn=9781445639635 |page=31}}
• In 1974, a fire occurred in the Barnsley Seam and that area was sealed off. Fortunately, it was possible to develop new faces in other seams.
• On 21 November 1978, a paddy train conveying miners to and from the coal face derailed after it ran away on a downhill gradient and killed seven men with a further seventeen injured.{{cite web |title=BENTLEY COLLIERY (ACCIDENT) (Hansard, 21 November 1978) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1978/nov/21/bentley-colliery-accident |website=api.parliament.uk |accessdate=9 August 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Piggott |first1=Nick |title=The Rise and Fall of King Coal |date=2016 |publisher=Mortons Media |location=Horncastle |isbn=978-1911276012 |page=95}} A memorial service is conducted on the Sunday nearest to 20 November each year to commemorate those who died in the 1931 and 1978 disasters.{{cite news |title=Moving tribute to disaster victims |url=https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/moving-tribute-to-disaster-victims-1-3985555 |accessdate=10 August 2018 |work=The Star |date=19 November 2011}}

• {{cite book|last=Elliott|first=Brian|title=South Yorkshire Mining Disasters vol 2; 20th Century|year=2009|publisher=Wharncliffe books|location=Barnsley|isbn=978-1-845630-57-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Woodhead|first=John|title = The Bentley pit disaster: Friday 20th November 1931|year=1991|publisher=Waterdale|location=Doncaster|isbn=0906976405}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/lamproom-at-bentley-colliery-2917 Historic England image of the lamproom at Bentley Colliery]
• [http://www.dmm.org.uk/uknames/u1931-01.htm Memorial page on Durham Mining Museum website]

{{Coal mining in Yorkshire}}

Category:1931 in England

Category:Coal mines in Doncaster

Category:Underground mines in England

Category:Coal mining disasters in England

Category:Disasters in Yorkshire

Category:1931 disasters in the United Kingdom

Category:Coal mines in South Yorkshire

Category:1993 disestablishments in England

Category:1906 establishments in England