DESCRIPTION: Three detailed manuscript mining-accident plans (1929-1937) from Whitfield Colliery, bearing the names of miners Joseph Howell, Richard Harper and Charles Stubbs. The drawings record individual accident sites through overhead plans and cross-sections, showing coal seams, underground passages, timber supports, conveyor equipment and fallen material. Selective coloring and hatching distinguish features within the workings.
The Howell plan depicts an accident at the No. 5 Bowling Alley Level, Holly Lane Dip, Middle Pit, with details of a 30-inch conveyor belt and its guarding. The Harper sheet records an accident on March 27, 1929, in the No. 3 South Ten Feet, Hard Mine Dip, Middle Pit. Its paired views show the relationship between the coal face, supports and fallen material. The Stubbs plan records an accident on October 29, 1935, at the Newlings No. 3 North Conveyor Face, illustrating the inclined workings, conveyor and position of a large fallen mass.
Together, the three sheets provide a closely observed record of underground working conditions and the technical documentation of mining accidents. The named individuals and precisely identified locations give these utilitarian drawings a direct human connection to the hazards of coal mining.
Whitfield Colliery, also known as Chatterley Whitfield, was at Chell, on the northeastern outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It lay on the North Staffordshire Coalfield, with its entrance on Biddulph Road.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1933
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United Kingdom
BODY OF WATER: N/A
CONDITION: Good.
As shown.
COLORING: Hand color.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE:
" x
"
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 7
PRICE: $300
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