My father, Harry Hughes, worked at the PoA colliery from about 1950 to 1970. His job was to drill for methane gas and pipe it up to the surface. The purpose was twofold : safety and commercial; i.e. primarily to make the underground working areas safe for miners and secondly to supply the N.Wales Gas Grid. The work required the installation of heavy machinery in cramped noisy dangerous conditions in order to drill out geological core samples using diamond crown bits and tap into seams of coal and methane under the Dee estuary. The machinery had to be constantly relocated to explore new areas of coal and gas deposits in the furthest parts of the mine. This method of underground drilling was in its infancy then and required a good deal of pioneering spirit and resourcefulness. It was extremely dangerous work and I remember visiting my father in hospital after he almost died in attempting to rescue two deputies who had been overcome by gas during their routine inspection of workings; I believe only one of them survived. To me and my brothers our Dad was a hero. RIP Harry Hughes (1910 - 2002).
My father, Harry Hughes, worked at the PoA colliery from about 1950 to 1970. His job was to drill for methane gas and pipe it up to the surface. The purpose was twofold : safety and commercial; i.e. primarily to make the underground working areas safe for miners and secondly to supply the N.Wales Gas Grid. The work required the installation of heavy machinery in cramped noisy dangerous conditions in order to drill out geological core samples using diamond crown bits and tap into seams of coal and methane under the Dee estuary. The machinery had to be constantly relocated to explore new areas of coal and gas deposits in the furthest parts of the mine. This method of underground drilling was in its infancy then and required a good deal of pioneering spirit and resourcefulness. It was extremely dangerous work and I remember visiting my father in hospital after he almost died in attempting to rescue two deputies who had been overcome by gas during their routine inspection of workings; I believe only one of them survived. To me and my brothers our Dad was a hero. RIP Harry Hughes (1910 - 2002).