On May 29th 1951 an explosion occurred at Easington Colliery.  As a result 81 miners lost their lives.  This horrific death toll was made worse as two rescuers gave their lives trying to save others bringing the final death toll to 83.  The Colliery was the main employer in the village and most if not all families had someone or knew someone who worked at the pit.

The explosion occurred around 4.30 am in an area known as the “Duck bill”.  The initial explosion was a low rumble followed by a massive explosion as the Coal Dust exploded.  A huge wall of flame is said to have roared for more than nine miles through the mine bringing down the roof and causing rock falls.  Many miners were killed instantly but others were trapped, left to die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Those miners at other parts of the pit instantly knew something was wrong.  Very quickly the miners began to evacuate unaware of the scale of the tragedy.  The first rescue team arrived from the Miners Rescue station at Houghton-le-Spring amid some confusion over the numbers of miners involved in the disaster.  First reports given to the rescue team estimated that about 20 men were believed to be down the mine.  Having descended the shaft to begin the rescue, the Houghton Rescue team made it as far as the first major roof fall and could go no further.  They returned to the surface to find out how to manoeuvre their way around the rock fall.  It is only then that the rescue team were told the full scale of the disaster as the Under manager estimated that there were between 60 and 80 men trapped.

The rescuers descended the pit shaft again having first studied a map drawn on a flat piece of stone.  That stone map was carried into the mine to guide the Rescuers.  Today the Rescuers would not be allowed into the mine without first having detailed maps.  More rescue teams from other collieries began to arrive.  The Houghton team was forced to resurface again after two hours as they were running out of air.  The first miner to be found was Matthew Williams who was still alive; unfortunately he died in hospital a few hours later.  Rescuers worked tirelessly to free the trapped men and were greatly assisted by a large number of volunteers.

Word had spread through the colliery village of the disaster and crowds of anxious relatives soon began to congregate at the Colliery Gates.

Some volunteers helped to supply the Rescuers with water and food, others worked down the mine to clear the rock falls and bring up the dead.  Two volunteers who were rejected were a Soldier and a Sailor who were home on special leave as they had relatives listed as missing.

This was the worst accident in the History of the National Coal Board and news of the disaster was widely reported throughout the nation.  Officials from the National Coal Board and National Union of Mineworkers arrived in the village to see for themselves the effects of the disaster and the rescue operation.  Messages of condolence flooded in from all over the world including one from His Majesty King George VI.

“ The Queen and I have learned with the deepest distress of the explosion at Easington Colliery, and of the severe loss of life there.  We send our heartfelt sympathy to those who have lost husbands and sons."

George R.

The tragedy at Easington worsened when news reached the outside world that first one rescuer and then a second lost their lives in their quest to save the lives of the trapped miners.  The two rescuers were J. Wallace of Deneside, Seaham and H Burdess of Burn Estate, Willington.  Both had died as a result of leaving the fresh air base and encountering Carbon Monoxide gas.  With the deaths of these two rescuers near the coal face all hope for the missing miners began to disappear.  Still thousands of relatives and workmates waited at the Colliery gates for news.

It was Sam Watson, Secretary of the Durham Miners’ Association who spoke to the assembled crowd some 40 hours after the disaster from the front steps of 13 Abbot Street, opposite the Colliery gates.  He made it clear that hopes for those miners still trapped were fading when he said,

“Owing to the violence of the explosion and the rupture of the ventilation system, it may well be some time before the rescue teams are able to locate the men.  Hopes for the remainder are beginning to diminish.  We shall continue through our rescue squads to leave nothing undone, but our difficulties are such that hopes are beginning to recede.”

The waiting relatives worst fears were confirmed when Viscount Hyndley, chairman of the National Coal Board confirmed on his return from Easington that,

“ Though everything has been done and is still being done, there is now no hope of any of the men being alive.  This is the worst pit disaster we have had in the History of the N.C.B.”

This may well have been a shock to some of those still waiting but to the Rescuers it was not news.  The size and scale of the devastation of the explosion had quickly become apparent to the Rescuers, who realised that there was unlikely to be any survivors.

Rescue workers bringing out the bodies of the miners

The mass grave

Local miners and family

Memorial to those who lost their lives