South Yorkshire Times — Friday, 28 September 1934
Between Two Falls
A fall of one of the conveyor faces, followed by a later further fall, resulted in a rather alarming experience befalling between 35 and 40 men working in the Cadeby Main Colliery yesterday.
With the men was Mr. W. Criddle, the under-manager. About 9.30 a.m. a fall of several tons of dirt occurred in the Barnsley seam and the men were working not far from this when the second fall took place about 40 yards away shortly after midday, leaving them stranded between the two falls.
Fortunately the men were not trapped, as there was a small and little used roadway leading from the section in which they found themselves. The deputy was sent to investigate this road, which is between 20 and 30 yards long, and also to make a safety test.
Following a favourable report by him the men proceeded to crawl one by one to safety, though it was a slow and arduous process, the “escape” road being only two feet high.
Mr. Criddle directed operations. According to one of the men, who was questioned by a reporter last night, there was no fear among the party, and while they were waiting for the deputy’s report they joked among themselves.
“It was not a dangerous journey, just an awkward one,” he said. The manager of the colliery, Mr. W. Still, said that none of the men had received a scratch though they took some time to get out on account of the roughness of the road and because it was some time before they realised the situation.