I notice with one or two of the US archive photos that some coal miners have open flames on the headlamps. I don't profess to know much about the history of coal mining but surely this wasn't the practice over here in 1908.

🔗Gary-Coal-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-004[linkphoto]Gary-Coal-Mine-Archive-Album-Image-004[/linkphoto][/link]

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Don't know a great deal about coal mining either but yes I'm pretty sure we'd have open flame lamps until comparatively recent times.
Depends on the type of coal, anthracite pits might not be classified as 'safety lamp' mines because all the volatiles have already gone. On the other hand some metal mines would have a gas problem and were safety lamp mines.
Little oil lamps that look like miniature tea pots, were common in many Scottish mines.
Ayle colliery in Northumberland were still using fuse until sometime in the 1990s until the HSE 'persuaded' them electric was the way forward.

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Ayle colliery in Northumberland were still using fuse until sometime in the 1990s until the HSE 'persuaded' them electric was the way forward.

A wee while after electricity started playing its part. Wasn't it in 1913 that Eddison invented the lightweight storage battery for a battery lamp?

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Fascinating picture Carnkie. Any idea what they used for the flame? I take it that it isnt carbide?

They burned mineral oil, animal fat, benzine, tallow etc. In fact it seems that anything that was liquid and cheap (and flammable) was used as a fuel !

The lamps are known as 'Smokey Joes'.

Thanks for that Heb, I had no idea, thats interesting 🙂

Thanks for that Heb. :flowers:

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In answer to your original question Carnkie, it seems to have been the practice in the S Wales anthracite mines into the 40s (I guess). I've seen a couple of video clips of them being worked with "stinkies" - very weird when you're used to saftey lamp mines!
As Sparty says, antracite is volatile free, so there shouldn't be a problem with firedamp, as it's almost pure carbon but it still looks "bum clenching"!

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I can well imagine. I've been looking at the Web site of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Museum of Anthracite Mining in Ashland: They have a fair bit on the safety lamp but the figures that struck me were that The U.S. Bureau of Mines reported, in 1906, that fifty-three percent of mine explosions were caused by miners' lamps and six years later, two major mine disasters were attributed to safety lamps. One could say a bit of an oxymoron.

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I went underground in a small licensed drift coal mine near Lanchester in N.W. Durham in 1965 and carbide lamps were used for lighting. They had two 'Protector' safety lamps as well, but had mislaid one! The electric ventilating fan was rarely used (too expensive to run), they just left all the doors open and relied on the exhaust from the 'windy' picks.

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i believe open flame lamps were also used on the somerset coal fields

In reply to a pm, the drift in question was called Ballarat Drift and at the time was operated by Shaw, Knight & Co. It was located at NZ 168420 and I went back there some 10 years ago to re-visit the place but found not a thing to mark the site.

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Surprisingly the 1954 Act still permitted the continued use of naked lights in mines where they had been in general use prior to it coming into force -1st January 1957.

sparty-lea was quite right about the Alston drifts - carbide lamps, and safety fuse for shotfiring up until about 20 years ago. HMI gradually stopped these practices to bring them in line with the safety lamp mines. Although electric cap lamps and dets were universally adopted the smokers seemed oblivious to the contraband regs. When HMI visited (always courteously giving notice) all fags and lighters were clearly to be seen on a shelf in the surface hauler house. As soon as he left the next set of empties took 'em inbye. ::) One lad even poked holes in his dust mask so he could smoke with it on!

Understandable as the desire was to rid any coal mine, gassy or not, of an ignition source (they used to reckon on 12% of u/g fires being caused by naked lights) some of the "requests" by HMI weren't exactly welcomed. I remember one man (chain smoker) in a hard rock mine asking "Is that inspector for real - he's just told me I can't smoke down here in case I start a fire. It's nowt but solid rock and p***ing wet through. He reckons I could set light to somebody's clothes :curse: I'd have to use a blowtorch to dry them out first. :curse: "