Minnie Pit Disaster - Aftermath

Aftermath

The effects of the disaster were huge on Halmerend and the neighbouring villages, which depended on the pit for survival. This was also at a time when the Great War was in its fourth bloody year and many families, faced with the loss of its men on the Western Front, were now faced with this terrible loss of life at home. A relief fund was set up by the Miners Federation Of Great Britain and 6d and 3d a week were collected from miners and boys. There were other relief efforts and the company paid compensation to the families, but the effects on families losing their breadwinners meant many were forced into poverty and menial work to survive.

The Minnie Pit, and indeed the whole of the Podmore Hall Combine, never really recovered from the disaster and in April 1930, the entire operations of the company, from mining to iron making, were closed and thousands thrown out of work.