was a candle. Where explosive gas was suspected, a Spedding mill was used. A steel cylinder was revolved at high speed against a flint and the resulting shower of sparks gave some light. Although safer than candles, the Wallsend colliery explosion of 1785 had shown that mills could cause explosions. 1812 disaster At 11:30 on Monday, 25 May 1812 the first explosion occurred. For half a mile around the earth shook and the noise was heard up to four miles away. Large clouds of dust and small coals were thrown up from both William Pit and John Pit. As well as the small particles, the coal baskets and pieces of wood were blown out of the pits and landed nearby. The dust fell like a shower for up to a mile and a half downwind. The pit-heads or shaft-frames carrying the pulleys at both pits were blown off, set on fire and the pulleys broken. At William Pit the up-cast fed to a horizontal flue on the surface which led to a stack. Coal dust was distributed three inches thick within this flue which then burnt to a "light cinder". The pulleys for the horse-whim at John Pit were mounted in a crane kept swung away from the shaft. As a result they were undamaged and could be swung over the shaft. Men on the surface applied themselves in place of the horses and brought 56 survivors and 14 corpses out of the colliery. Three of the survivors subsequently died. 87 men and boys were left below ground. 45 minutes after the initial explosion, at 12:15, a rescue team descended the shaft. Because of the firedamp they used Spedding mills to light their way. It was noted that the sparks fell "like dark drops of blood" due to the foul air. Having attempted two directions and being forced back by difficulty breathing they retreated to the pit bottom. The party ascended, but while two were still below and two were in the shaft a second explosion occurred. Haswell and H. Anderson were the two left below and they hung onto a pit prop whilst the blast lifted them and turned them. The rescue team all agreed that there was no possibility of the men left below ground being alive. Two explosions, blackdamp (locally called choak-damp), fire and the lethal afterdamp made any rescue attempt impossible. The suggestion was made that