Qualla: Astley Deep Pit Disaster https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:23 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Astley Deep Pit Disaster https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster Astley Deep Pit Disaster: Introduction https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit W.F., Public domain. Fifty-four. That is the number to hold in mind. Fifty-four men and boys went into the Half Moon Tunnel at the bottom of the Astley Deep Pit on 14 April 1874, and fifty-four were carried out dead. Some were skilled colliers in their forties. Some were boys not yet shaving. They were buried in the following week in Dukinfield's churchyards, and their funerals filled the town for days. The mine kept burning. The New York Times reported, on 16 April, that the fire was "still burning fiercely" two days after the explosion.

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Astley Deep Pit Disaster: The Deepest Hole in Britain https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit Chaosdruid, Public domain. Astley Deep Pit was a monument to Victorian ambition and Victorian indifference. Sunk from 1846 onwards by Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, the mine took twelve years to reach the celebrated Lancashire Black Mine, a four-foot seam of high-quality coal that fetched ten shillings ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-the-deepest-hole-in-britain.mp3 0:06 2 full Astley Deep Pit Disaster: What Went Wrong https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit Chaosdruid, Public domain. The Half Moon Tunnel had a history. It had caught fire in an earlier incident, and falls of stone and earth were a regular problem. On the morning of 14 April, miners and workers were sent to repair the roof with hand tools and, reportedly, a steam engine. Then the roof gave way ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-what-went-wrong.mp3 0:06 3 full Astley Deep Pit Disaster: The Inquest https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit Chaosdruid, Public domain. The coroner's jury did not mince words. Of the 1870 accident, they had already found that the manager "is not competent to have the sole management of such a mine as this. The persons have been killed by want of good management." Now, considering the 1874 disaster, they returned ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-the-inquest.mp3 0:06 4 full Astley Deep Pit Disaster: The Town in Mourning https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit Chaosdruid, Public domain. Dukinfield is a small town. In 1874, the loss of fifty-four working men and boys meant that nearly every street had lost someone, often more than one. The miners' union helped the families and a public memorial was raised, though its location has since been lost. The injured, 91 ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-the-town-in-mourning.mp3 0:06 5 full Astley Deep Pit Disaster: Where the Pit Stood https://qualla.com/astley-deep-pit-disaster/ Photo credit Chaosdruid, Public domain. The mine closed in 1901, after 43 years of a promised hundred. The slag heap loomed over the site until it was bulldozed flat in the 1970s. The three shafts were filled with concrete in the 1980s. Houses now stand on what was the colliery: Ashbridge Drive, Kingsbridge Drive, and ...

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]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/w/8/astley-deep-pit-disaster-wp/gcw8-astley-deep-pit-disaster-where-the-pit-stood.mp3 0:06 6 full