operations were arrested and taken to York Castle. They were released the next day and returned to Thorne where they were registered, allowing work to restart. However, a week later these workers were re-arrested, although four German workers were present at the mine in November. In June 1915 however sinking operations were suspended. Work restarted in 1919; six months later it was reported that the water ingress had practically stopped and the resulting work was up to standard. However, the issues when sinking the pit prior to the Annual General Meeting of 1920 resulted in more delays and at this meeting the proprietors were informed it would take another three to four years to finish sinking operations. Production (1924–58), and shaft disaster (1926) Coal was finally reached in August 1924 at a depth of and was worked from January 1925. The sinking of the second pit shaft was then completed the following year which was claimed to be the deepest pit in South Yorkshire. On 15 March 1926 however, shortly before the completion of shaft number 2, six men fell to their deaths when the Capstan engine controlling the scaffolding upon which they were working malfunctioned. It was described in local papers with headlines such as "Mysterious Mishap", as the full cause of the tragedy was unknown. It was not the first loss of life at the pit but was to be ultimately the most costly. The incident was the largest loss of life in a mine in the United Kingdom in 1926. The six men who lost their lives are as follows; Edmund Thorley, age 33 – 1st Chargeman sinker, John Hansbury, age 34 – 2nd Chargeman sinker, John William Barley, age 51 – Sinker, Charles H. Walton, aged 33 – Sinker, Ernest Clark, aged 26 – Sinker and finally John A. Reed, aged 21 – Sinker. Immediately after the accident occurred the agent, Mr. Hoyle, proceeded to descend into the shaft to the estimated 11 ft water-level where nothing could be seen. There were some minimal markings to the shaft walls below where the platform had fallen and little damage apart from some girders which had been dislodged at the High Hazel presumably by the tumbling scaffolding ropes. Recovery operations took place and the water remaining at the bottom of the shaft was removed: some of the wreckage at the bottom of the shaft had to be removed