Snailbeach Mine Disaster, 1895The Snailbeach Mine disaster occurred on 6th March 1895 when the winding rope broke causing a cage full of miners to plunge to the bottom of the shaft, killing all those inside.
To mark the anniversary, Club member Nick Southwick arranged and paid for a memorial plaque dedicated to the seven deceased miners to be produced.
The plaque has been fitted to the small mine tub that sits on the site inside the cage at Old/George’s Shaft, Snailbeach. As the anniversary took place during the severe weather in March 2018 few others were witness to the event carried out by a hardy group of Club and Shropshire Mines Trust volunteeers.
Detail of the plaque.
The miners who died in the accident were:
The accident was eventually blamed on the winding rope - it was claimed that it had been used for over 8 years (at the time ropes were normally replaced every 4 years), and that when not winding it was the custom to leave both cages in the middle of the shaft, causing internal corrosion of the ropes at the point where they went over the sheave wheels.
Members of the work party fitting the memorial plaque, left to right: Julian Bromhead, Andy Coyle, Nick Southwick, Edwin Thorpe, and John Davies. (Steve Holding)
