Private investigations

Reader and top local history wonk David Evans has had access in recent weeks to lots of material from the Norton Canes Historical Society, a group which still seems to be in existence.

One of the things David has unearthed in his relentless and dogged research is a wonderful, thorough and thought-provoking report into the Grove Pit Disaster, which occurred at the Grove Colliery, on Wyrley Common, just off Lime Lane on October 1st, 1930.

The report was written by Lynn Hopley and S.J. Whitehouse, and is remarkable for the exhaustive depth and extent of research, which can’t have been an easy task in 1975. It really is an impressive thing indeed.

I’ve covered this dreadful event here before extensively; my hunt for the grave of John Bernard Whittaker, ruminations on the accident, and newsreel film of the rescue operation above ground.

David Evans’ conscientious scans of this report add to the extensive information available here on the subject, and complement the research and writing by Peter ‘Pedro’ Cutler into the wider Harrison mining operation and family dynasty.

I thank David and the authors for this wonderful and sombre report. I’ve seen lots of sites touch on the grove Pit Disaster, repeat the same silly error, and move on. I think it’s important to get as much information up and publicly available as possible.

It’s easy to see incidents like these as one-dimensional, stereotypical miner-versus-pit owner affairs; but the causality is usually far more intricate and complex than that; it is behoven upon us to understand as much as possible about the complex nature of such accidents. By doing this, we may better understand our ancestors, the communities they lived in and lives they experienced.

I thank David Evans for making this possible.