Trimdon Grange#Colliery Disaster

At 14:40 on 16 February 1882 the Trimdon Grange colliery suffered a major explosion causing the deaths of 69 men and boys. The coroner (TW Snagge) reported to both houses of Parliament:{{citation | url = http://www.dmm.org.uk/reports/3319-01.htm | title = Report on the Explosion which occurred at the Trimdon Grange Colliery on the 16th February 1882. | access-date = 22 May 2012 }}

• The mine was a dusty mine and watering should have been daily but it was done "not in all places, but where it was absolutely necessary."
• The mine was not "more than ordinarily gassy", but there is some evidence that the identified points of leakage might have been points of accumulation from leaks elsewhere.
• The lamps in use were Davy patternMiners in the north eastern pits have traditionally preferred the Geordie lamp which incorporates a glass inner tube through which the flame cannot be blown. and naked lights called "midgies" in some areas. The coroner found no evidence that the midgies were connected with the explosion.
• Good order and discipline prevailed in Trimdon Grange Colliery.
• The air pressure had been exceptionally low, the lowest it had been that month, falling to {{convert|29.10|inHg|mbar}} on the morning of the explosion.Low air pressure will encourage gas to leak out of the seams
• The roof above the workings in the narrow pit district had been observed to be dangerous.

The inquest concluded:

{{quotation|There is no room for doubt that the explosion had its origin in the Pit Narrow Board District, and that it was caused by the diffusion of a sudden "squeeze" or outburst of gas forced, with accompanying dust, towards the working face by a heavy fall of roof over the northern edge of the Pit Narrow Board goaf, and driven out with a velocity which sent the flame through a miner's lamp.}}

The coroner further observed:

{{quotation|the result of this inquiry is a further proof, if further proof were needed, that the Davy lamp affords no security whatever against the occurrence of grave disasters of a similar kind, and that its employment in dusty mines during long-wall working operations, carried on under conditions of ventilation and roof formation similar to those prevailing in Trimdon Grange Colliery, ought to be absolutely prohibited.}}

Not all the men were killed by the explosion and fire. After the explosion the burnt methane (firedamp) forms carbon dioxide (then called carbonic acid gas) and carbon monoxide. The resulting mixture is called afterdamp and will suffocate and kill. Indeed, the gas forced its way through a passage into the adjoining Kelloe Pit where six men lost their lives from the afterdamp.{{citation | url = http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/pits/Trimdon_Grange/Trimdon3.htm#top | title = Trimdon Grange, Durham. 16th February 1882 | access-date = 3 March 2016 }}

The incident was recounted in the song "Trimdon Grange Explosion" by the local collier-bard Tommy Armstrong. Armstrong performed the song within a few days of the disaster in the local Mechanics' Hall.{{cite book | last =Palmer | first =Roy | authorlink =Roy Palmer (folklorist) | title =A Ballad History of England | publisher =Batsford Ltd | date =1979 | location =London | pages =154–5 | isbn =0-7134-0968-1}} He set it to the tune of the parlour-song Go and Leave Me If You Wish It.{{cite web | url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/watersons/songs/goandleaveme.html | title=Go and Leave Me / Fond Affection | website=Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music | date=27 August 2023 | first=Reinhard | last=Zierke | access-date=17 May 2025}} The version of the first verse below was collected in 1951 in Newcastle.{{cite book | title=Come All Ye Bold Miners: Ballads and Songs of the Coalfields | first=A. L. | last=Lloyd | author-link=A. L. Lloyd | date=1952 | page=129 | edition=1st | oclc=1228210179 | publisher=Lawrence & Wishart | location=London | url=https://archive.org/details/comeallyeboldmin0000alll/page/129/mode/1up | url-access=registration | access-date=17 May 2025 | via=Internet Archive}}

%T:The Trimdon Grange Explosion

%B:Lloyd, A. L. (1952). Come All Ye Bold Miners: Ballads and Songs of the Coalfields. p. 129. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

%C:Tommy Armstrong, 1882

%S:R. Sewell, Newcastle, 1951

%Z:A. L. Lloyd

Q:1/4=120

M:6/8

L:1/8

K:Gmaj

d |B2 B GAB |A2 G =F2 G |A2 G G2 G | G3-G2

w:Oh, let's not think of to-mor-row lest we dis-ap-poin-ted be,

G |c2 d e2 c |d2 d (de) f |g2 g g2 B | c3-c2

w: Our joys may turn to sor-row as we all may dai-ly see.*

G |c2 d e2 c |d2 d d e f |g2 g g2 B | c3-c2

w:To-day we're strong and heal-thy but_ how soon there comes a change,*

d |B2 B GAB |A2 G =F2 G |A2 G G2 G |G3-G2 |]

w:As we may see from th' ex-plosion that has been at Trim-don Grange.*

The lyrics of the song include an accounting of the events that took place, such as:

{{poemquote|Men and boys left home that morning

For to earn their daily bread

Little thought before the evening

They'd be numbered with the dead}}

The song also asks the local community to help out in the wake of the incident:

{{poemquote|God protect the lonely widow

Help to raise each drooping head

Be a Father to the orphans

Never let them cry for bread}}

The song became known outside of Trimdon Grange and has been recorded by other artists, including Martin Carthy, The Mekons and Alan Price.{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/definitive-collection-mw0000027707 | title=Martin Carthy Definitive Collection (2003) | publisher=AllMusic | access-date=29 April 2015}}{{cite web | url=http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/mekons-honky_tonkin | title=Mekons Honky Tonkin review | work=Exclaim! | last=Schneider | first=Jason | date=1 January 2006 | access-date=29 April 2015}}{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/anthology-repertoire-2002-mw0000604964 | title=Alan Price Anthology review | publisher=AllMusic | access-date=29 April 2015 | last=Nickson | first=Chris}}

{{main|Trimdon Grange Wind Farm}}

There is a small (5.2 MW) wind farm near the village. Controversy arose in 2004 when the agent of the then prime minister, Tony Blair, claimed the location was unsuitable.{{cite news | newspaper=Northern Echo | title=Blair opposes wind farm bid | date=13 December 2004 | url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/6968414.blair-opposes-wind-farm-bid/ | access-date=18 May 2025 | quote=Tony Blair's agent ... wrote: '... While both Tony and I support the development of alternative sources of energy, they need to be situated in the correct place. Large turbines shouldn't be sited near housing developments and, in the case of Trimdon Grange, built on land that is liable to subsidence.'}}

• George Bradshaw, professional footballer{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Joyce|title=Football League Players' Records 1888-1939|year=2004 |publisher=Tony Brown | isbn= 1-899468-67-6}}
• Albert Brallisford, professional footballer who played for several clubs, including Trimdon Grange Colliery between 1930 and 1934.
• Peter Lee (trade unionist), (1864–1935). Miner's leader, early Labour county councillor and Methodist local preacher, born in Trimdon Grange.

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/lesson20.htm National Archive lesson on life in Trimdon in the 19th century]
• [http://trimdon.com/ Trimdon Times] a local on-line newspaper

{{Commons category-inline|Trimdon Grange}}

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Category:Villages in County Durham

Category:Coal mines in County Durham

Category:1880 mining disasters

Category:1880 in England

Category:Coal mining disasters in England

Category:1880s disasters in the United Kingdom

Category:Explosions in 1882