Hi,
On your web page you refer to the surviving miner of the Bentley colliery disaster as Harold Robertson, it was in fact Harold Roberts. He did actually recover as you correctly state but he suffered with his arm for the rest of his life as it was not placed in a plaster cast because he was so badly burned that he was not expected to survive the night. I would be happy to help you with any more information you require if at all possible.

Thanks Mr J Roberts (grandson)

Hi!
Just looking through your pages and thought someone might like to see this photo of the Bentley brass band as was in 1958. The photo is taken from a Bentley Colliery Jubilee Celebration (1908 - 1958) souvenir programme which took place on Saturday June 14th. It contains many interesting photos of the pit and the people that worked there, along with the pit's history up to 1958. I'm sure they'll be many still alive might like to see it.

Myself, I worked a short while at Silverwood pit until I realised that working underground was for worms and moles (hi! No offense meant:)

Regards
Brian Dudhill

1958 - During their long playing career, the band have won over £1,200 in prizes, and have numbered amongst their members many gold and silver medal soloists. Truly a record which gives substance to their name,of Bentley Colliery Silver Prize Band

The Bentley Colliery Silver Prize Band

Soccer
Traditionally, Doncaster and the surrounding district is a soccer area and, two years after the pit was opened, Bentley Colliery formed a football club and entered the South Yorkshire League.
The club's early matches were played on a ground off Jossey Lane, Scawthorpe, an area which in post war years had been extensively developed by the Coal Industry Housing Association to provide houses for many miners and their families. Ted Kirby, Sam and Billy Roberts, Billy Wynn, and Bob Hayes were stalwarts of that first 1910 season team and Bill Chambers, an underground official at the pit, took on the job of club secretary—a position he was to diligently fulfill for very many years.

Before finally settling in at the ground on which they played in 1958, the team used a pitch in a field off Askern Road.

A great photo of the band but sadly NO NAMES.
I'm 72 now and lived in Bentley (Askern Rd) till 1971 and I bet I would have known quite a few of the Bandsmen, with a bit of a prompt that is!

Many Thanks

Barry Collins

Dear Fionn

I have attached a photo of something I had not seen for some thirty odd years.(not since I used to hang on to the crossing gates at Arksey and watch the trains go by). I am now engaged in putting together a model coal train with a wagon bearing the name of each pit in the Yorkshire coalfield. I am particularly interested in Cadeby and Barnborough if anyone has any old photos.

Meanwhile I am ploughing through books and records ; Im hoping to go to the Mining Museum at Wakefield next week to see their archives.

Many Thanks
Barry Collins

After He Witnessed A Few Bad Accidents My Father Advised Me Not To Go Down The Pit Bentley Colliery My father used to work down Armthorpe pit in Doncaster and after he witnessed a few bad accidents he always advised me not to go down the pit, unfortunately the building trade hit a bad patch in the mid seventies and I took a job down Bentley pit until the paddy train crash in 1978, when seven men died. I only suffered a minor head injury, but after being off work for a few weeks decided that I could not face going back down the pit, because of the memories of the lads who died and the way they died. After a long search for work I was forced to face up to my fears and walk down the main road in Bentley to the pit. It is probably a walk of less than a mile but it seemed to take forever. When I was in the office talking to the manager the sirens went off and I heard that a contractor had fallen down the shaft. At this point I turned around and went back home, Maybe god spoke to me that day in no uncertain terms, so I decided that enough was enough and never set foot down a pit again. Until that is I went to the Speedwell Cavern with my family in 2003 and never thought about it until we got on the boat at the bottom. Then my heart did not stop pounding until I got back to the surface. Yours sincerely Mr I R Siddons Those Who Died:- Robert Aitcheson Donald Box Kenneth Green David R Hall Geoffrey Henderson Michael Edward Hickman James Mitchell aged 54 aged 39 aged 38 aged 21 aged 39 aged 18 aged 55 Faceworker Faceworker Faceworker Face Trainee Faceworker Face Trainee Faceworker Injured J. Butcher Thomas J Rush Paul Thompson aged 57 aged 26 aged 26 Shift Charge Engineer Supply Man Ripper