Subscribe to my you tube channel for 210+ more coal mine tributes and counting. Daw mill mined a five-metre thick section of the Warwickshire Coalfield (known as the Warwickshire Thick) in the north of the county. It was owned and operated by UK Coal and in 2008 employed 680 people.The two shafts that served Daw Mill were first sunk between 1956 and 1959, and 1969 and 1971 respectively. The mine was a natural extension of the former collieries Kingsbury Colliery and Dexter Colliery, both of which have also closed. In 1983 an inclined tunnel linking underground workings with the surface was completed. This drift mining enabled Daw Mill to increase its production capacity as it removed the often time-consuming process of winding coal up the shafts.Daw Mill was the last surviving mine in a county that once had 20 operating collieries. In 2008 it excavated 3.25 million tonnes of coal, beating a 13-year-old record for annual output at a British coal mine set at Selby in North Yorkshire. On 22 February 2013, a major fire broke out 500 metres (1,600 ft) underground, described as the worst underground blaze in Britain for 30 years. UK Coal and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that 92 workers were safely extracted. As of 7 March 2013 the fire had still not been fully extinguished. It was initially estimated that remedial work to the colliery could take between three and six months, making a return to production subject to a further review, resulting in the possible immediate closure of the mine.On 14 March 2012 it was reported that UK Coal had begun a consultation process as part of plans for a company restructure which could see the closure of the mine in 2014.The Coal Authority stated in a 2012 report that if High Speed 2 were to be built, then Daw Mill would be forced to close due to associated development and the effects on local groundworks.
On 7 March 2013 UK Coal announced the closure of the mine, due to the destructive fire which had extensively damaged it, with the plan to make most of the 650 staff redundant.. British Coal fined £1.2m over the deaths of four mineworkers.The UK’s largest coal mining company has been fined a total of £1.2m over the deaths of four workers at two of its collieries during 2006 and 2007.UK Coal Mining Ltd pleaded guilty to seven breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was convicted and sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 14 December. The company was fined £112,500 in connection with each of the four fatalities and had to pay costs of £187,500 in each case. Fines and costs amounted to £1.2m.At an earlier hearing in October the judge, Mr Justice MacDuff, said that imposing large fines would be in “nobody’s interest” as the company had been struggling financially since the recession and “provided energy to the nation, employment, and a valuable service all round”. As such, the fines imposed on the struggling company were near the minimum outlined by the sentencing guidelines. The judge urged the families of the victims to consider the combined total penalty and the impact this would have on the firm.
Mr Justice MacDuff told the court: “These were, of course, dreadful accidents. They were preventable accidents. However, unlike most criminal acts, there was no intention to kill or injure. But the law rightly demands a high duty of care by employers for the safety of their employees and other workers.”
The court heard that Trevor Steeples died on 19 June 2006 at Daw Mill colliery, near Coventry. Mr Steeples was asphyxiated due to oxygen deprivation when he was exposed to high levels of methane. The HSE investigation found the company had failed to ensure that accurate readings of oxygen and methane were carried out.
The following month, mineworker Paul Hunt, from Swadlincote in Derbyshire, died at Daw Mill after falling from a poorly maintained underground transporter into the path of a moving train. UK Coal admitted they had failed to prevent workers riding on the unsafe transporter and had failed to replace it.
The third incident also occurred at Daw Mill colliery. On 17 January 2007, Anthony Garrigan died while installing bolts to keep a support wall in place. He was crushed when more than 100 tonnes of inadequately supported coal and stone collapsed on him.In addition, the court heard how, on 3 November 2007, Paul Milner died at Welbeck colliery in Meden Vale, Nottinghamshire. Mr Milner was attempting to install additional roof supports, but was crushed under approximately 90 tonnes of rock when a roof area collapsed.
After the hearing HSE mines inspector Bob Leeming commented: “Fewer than 4,000 people are employed in the UK mining sector, which makes four deaths within 18 months even more stark. These tragic incidents follow a four and a half year period where there were no deaths in the whole UK mining industry.

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