Commemoration will mark 50th anniversary of Lofthouse Colliery disaster that claimed the lives of seven miners

It is 50 years since tragedy struck Wakefield’s mining community when seven men lost their lives at Lofthouse Colliery.

The disaster happened on March 21, 1973, when water, sludge and debris rushed into the pit trapping workers 750ft below ground.

Around 30 miners had been excavating a coalface near to an abandoned and flooded 19th century mineshaft.

They were working on a coalseam known as the Flockton Drift when they unexpectedly hit an old tunnel and the water surged in.

Some were able to escape but seven could not get out.

Six wives were widowed and 22 children were left without fathers.

Only one body was recovered after a six-day rescue operation.

The other six bodies are believed to have been entombed under a site on Batley Road, where the Lofthouse Memorial Garden now stands.

The men who died were Edward Finnegan, 40, of Kirkhamgate; William Armitage, 41, of Eastmoor, Alan Haigh, 30, of Outwood, Sydney St Clair Brown, 36, of Leeds, Colin Barnaby, 36, of East Ardsley, Charles Cotton, 49, of Leeds and Frank Billingham, 48, of Flanshaw.

Tony Banks, former miner and chairman of the Wakefield Mining Heritage Group, was at the pit that night in a neighbouring tunnel.

He said: “At about 2.20am there was a surging wind that knocked us over.

“All the air turned. I'd never experienced anything like it and I will never forget it.

“We found out two hours later what had happened. We got the message to bring our men out of the mine because of an inrush of water at South 9B.

“The water flooded in like it would if you pulled the plug out of a bath – three million gallons of water, rock and sludge.

“I'll never forget that night as long as I live.”

At 6.30pm on Wednesday, March 28, 1973, the search for the miners was called off.

The decision to call off the rescue attempt for the men who had been working on the South 9B coalface meant heartbreak for their families waiting at the surface.

Mr Banks, 80, said: "We all lost friends that night. After it was over you begin to think about it when you go back into work and notice who isn’t there.

“It sticks in your mind forever.”

Mr Banks said the "writing was on the wall” for him when his colleague Sidney Haigh spoke on the sixth day.

His son Alan was one of the missing men.

The father had been due to follow him on the morning shift when the disaster happened, but found himself involved in a heroic attempt to save lives, including his own son’s.

Mr Banks said his colleage told him: “I've been down and seen the state of it and I want to leave my son where he is because I don't want anyone else getting lost trying to get them out.”

“He realised after six days that the deluge of water, rock and muck was a dam, and they thought about what could happen to anyone down there trying to rescue people if it all came through - there would still have been a lot of water and it wasn't ordinary water.”

The victims’ names feature on a memorial on Batley Road, in Wrenthorpe.

A public inquiry, held in May that year, found that the disaster could have been avoided and led to more stringent safety procedures, in particular the Mines (Precautions Against Inrushes) Regulations 1978.

Two days of commemoration will be held on Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19 to mark the 50th anniversary.

The event will begin with a service at Outwood Parish Church at 11am.

There will be speeches from Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery and Chris Skidmore from the Barnsley branch of the NUM at Lofthouse pit wheel.

At Outwood Memorial Hall for performances by Lofthouse Brass Band and Skelmanthorpe Male Voice Choir.

Food as well as free wine and beer will be on offer.

On Sunday there will be service at 2pm at the Lofthouse disaster memorial on Batley Road.

At Alverthorpe Parish Church miners and rescuemen will recount their stories.