Violence and tragedy never far from the human scene, fell upon the slumbering village of Gowerton in the early hours of
Saturday, January 21st 1905, casting into mourning whole communities in the area, particularly those of Three Crosses
and Penclawdd.In the Cambrian Daily Leader on that black Saturday, the following were the sombre headlines:Terrible
Colliery Disaster Explosion at a Gowerton Pit 50 killed and injured The dire announcement was given in the following
words: ‘’One of the most terrible disasters that have taken place in the South Wales coalfield for many years occurred at
the Elba Colliery, Gowerton in the early hours of Saturday morning. About one o, clock people were alarmed by a frightful
report and rushed out of their houses to the Elba Colliery whence it was learned, the noise of the explosion had
emanated. At the moment it is believed that seven men have been killed outright and twelve injured more or less
seriously.’’The report goes on to say that rescue parties were soon at work, among whom were Major Charles W Wright,
son of Col J. Roper Wright; Mr Griffiths, the colliery manager and Mr John Cecil Davies, general manager of Messrs.
Baldwins Ltd. Owners of the pit. Later came Mr J. Knaylem manager of the Broadock Colliery where eight years
previously six men lost their lives in a similar catastrophe. There was also Mr Albert Harding, father of His Honour Judge
Rowe Harding and managers of the Cae Duke Colliery. Soon on the scene also were Dr Abel Christmas Davies,
Gowerton, the Gowerton District Nurse and Dr Hughes, Penclawdd, all joined by several first aid men.Rescue workers
toiled ceaselessly from Saturday until Monday, searching for the dead and injured trapped under the huge roof falls
caused by the explosion and fearful tales they told of the carnage, which they found. Meanwhile at the mouth of the
600yards long slant, silent knots of relatives and friends kept vigil in an agony of uncertainty as each tram journey
emerged with its sad freight.The list of the dead made pathetic reading.
They were:-
Alex Ogilvie 20 single of Halfway House, Gowerton.
William Bowen 17 of Three Crosses.
John Long 49 of Three Crosses
William Davies 59 married of Penclawdd.
George Rees 23 of Penclawdd.Thomas Pratt 19 single of Penclawdd.
J H Morgan 18 of Penclawdd.
Edward Rees 25 married with 2 children.of Penclawdd.
Dan Davies 27 married with one child.of Penclawdd.
George Williams of Penclawdd, who had worked at the pit a mere three weeks. He was alive when brought to
the surface but died while being conveyed home. He was 14 years of age.
Those severely injured :-
Thomas Bevan,Cefnstylle, Gowerton;
John Long, B J Edwards and John Rustin, all of Three Crosses
J H Morgan, Robert Davies, M Rees, Henry Rees, John Davies, George Rees, all of Penclawdd
David Ogilvie, Gowerton.
Three of the injured soon died.The injuries were to a great extent caused by burns as testified by John Austin who in an interview said ‘’I was
working in the tophole with my partner, Henry Rees, when we heard a deafening report and looking down I saw a sheet
of flame. I jumped to the level and tried to crawl out but was overpowered by the after-damp and lost consciousness. I
fortunately escaped with a few bruises and a burnt hand but I feel the effects of shock.It is recorded that George Rees,
on what proved to be his last journey down the slant, had struck up the hymn ‘’Yn y dyfroedd mawr a’r tannau’’ and that
the entire party had joined in as the tram hurtled downwards, echoing as it were the fervour of the Revival which was
sweeping Wales at the time. Rees, it seems, had a distinct pre-monition of his fate for on the way down the slant, he
spoke to a mate of having had ‘’a most awful dream’’ that day. ‘’I am going down’’, he said, ‘’I don’t know whether I shall
come up’’.The Cambrian daily Leader reports that at 10.45 on that Saturday morning, Dr Robson, H.M.Inspector of Mines
and his assistant, Mr White, went down to the workings to visit the district where the explosion had occurred. A coroner’s
jury also visited the colliery for the purpose of viewing the bodies.On the Wednesday following the explosion, six of the
victims were laid to rest, three at Three Crosses and three at Penclawdd and the Cambrian Leader that day gives some
impression of the mass grief of whole communities, already surcharged with the heady wine of religious revival. ‘’The little
villages of Penclawdd and Three Crosses’’ it says, ‘’are in deep mourning. Blinds are draw everywhere as a token of
respect for their ten sons who had met their untimely end in the depths of the Elba Colliery at Gowerton. Six of the poor
fellows were laid in their last resting-place and pathetic in the extreme were some of the incidents’’. The report goes on
to describe in sombre detail the heart-rending scenes at the two villages during the burial ceremonies. Especially pathetic
was the burial of young George Rees of Penclawdd. ‘’Little George Williams,’’ it says, was cut down in early life. He was
just 14 and lived with his parents in the top house of Brand Row. At the funeral, so terribly moved was his mother that
she could hardly walk and her cries of ‘’O, George bach! Y mhlentyn anwyl’’ brought many to tears.In the due course
came the inevitable inquiry into the circumstances of the explosion. This took place at Gowerton on Friday morning before
Mr T.H. Gllynn Price the County Coroner and a jury. The ‘’Leader’’ that evening startled a sympathetic public with the
captions, ‘’The pipe in the pit’’, ‘’Discoveries at the Elba Slant’’and ‘’matches and cigarette case also found’’.Suggesting
that the tragedy at the Elba was not the result of a malignant fate but that of frail men’s dalliance with forbidden fruit. In
addition to the Inspector of Mines, those present at the inquiry were Mr Strick of Swansea for the Home Office;
representatives of the Miners Federation of Great Britain and the Western Miners Association; Messrs T. Richards and J.
Brace for the South Wales Miners and also representatives of the pit owners, Messrs. Baldwins Ltd.The inquiry revealed
that the Elba slant had a length of 700 yards with a dip of 16 inches to the yard. Output averaged 120 ton a day with the
workforce averaging 47 men per shift. Bannetted Clamy safety lamps were used and were given to the colliers, locked,
before they went down. The ill-fated shift had begun at 5 pm. the previous afternoon and was due back up at 1 am.
Calamity had befallen the men just 20 minutes before the end of the shift.Following the evidence of the discovery of
smoker’s implements in a coat of one of the victims, further inquiries revealed that in another coat there was a
contrivance for opening lamps. This was successfully demonstrated with a lamp brought to the court for the purpose.
Witnesses admitted to the presence of gas in No 5 level but not in No 6 where the explosion had occurred. The overman
had allowed the men to work in No 6 because it had an independent air-current.All this was strongly suggestive of fatal
aberrations on the part of one or more of the victims. Familiarity had bred contempt of the rules of safety. Nevertheless
the court, in their wisdom, found that the explosion was caused by an ignition of gas but that the source of the flame
could not be established.As a sombre footnote to this sad story it can be added that the undertakers at the funerals of
the victim of the tragedy were the brothers of the late William G. and Benjamin Thomas, natives of Penclawdd but
resident for most of their lives at Gowerton. In an interview, Mrs x Grant Jones of the Elders, Mansel Street recalls her
father the late OG having to enlist the aid of several local joiners in the task of making the ten coffins. Work went on into
the small hours in her father’s workshop and her duties, as a very small girl, were to keep the labouring craftsmen
refreshed with cups of tea. Mrs Grant Jones presented us with the original account rendered for the work done, an
account, which contrasts so sharply with present day charges for similar work. The account reads: ‘’To supply ten coffins,
elm polished with brass furnishings, names engraved etc..... Total £37.10s – settled by cheque, Feb 22 1905.
