Disaster at the Pit

Although Madelaine Jackson now lives in Pontefract she remembers her native Beeston with affection and comes "home" whenever a nostalgic visit is possible.  She has good, family reasons to recall the tragic events described here.
By the gateway to St Mary's Cemetery in Beeston stands a monument.  The inscription reads "In respectful memory of James Metcalfe, George Elliott and Benjamin Richardson, all of Beeston, who lost their lives in the accident at Park Pit on November 10th 1902.  This monument was erected by the subscriptions of fellow townsmen and friends.
The monument, by its existence, commemorates more than the men who lost their lives.  It is a tribute to the kind hearts and neighbourly ways of the people of Beeston who, in austere and difficult times, subscribed to this handsome and very costly memorial.
James Metcalfe was my great-grandfather.  Generally believed to be a Dalesman by birth, he came to Leeds around 1875 with his Scottish wife Margaret.  I believe they lived in Old Lane for a short time but very soon moved to Back Lane.  They had three children, Ada Maggie, Mary and James.

Remnants of Back Lane can still be seen - only just - but in those days it was a busy thoroughfare.  Tracing its course on an old map suggests that it ran behind the library and followed the course of St Anthony's Drive to where it meets Old Lane.  The house was No.17 and there is a photograph of this house in "Pages from our Past" with a child called Pauline sitting on the steps.

Sadly, Margaret died in childbirth in 1881 and it seems that the child did not survive either.
James remarried in 1883.  His second wife was Mary Ann Parkinson, daughter of Joshua who seems to have been a neighbour.  The family moved to No. 2 Back Lane and it appears that a widow by the name of Jane Kirkbright, a mild dealer, soon took over N. 17.
James was the son of a stonemason and had followed his father's profession.  He could also turn his hand to other allied trades and so had obtained employment as a bricklayer at Beeston New Pit, also known as Park Pit.
On Monday 10th November 1902, at around 4 pm, James Metcalfe, George Elliott (of 11 Cross Flatts Crescent) and Benjamin Richardson (131 Town Street) were engaged in the task of placing the coping stones on the top of the brickwork at the head of the shaft.  They had scaffolding across the top of the shaft and a crane was lifting the coping stones, each of which weighed between 10 and 15 hundredweights, into place.  All three men were killed when one of these stones slipped from the clutch of the crane causing the scaffolding on which they were standing to collapse and all were thrown 470 feet down the shaft.
Margaret, James and Mary Ann are buried together quite close to the monument at St. Mary's.  The sad legend beneath their names reads, "In the midst of life and happiness we are called away."
Park Pit was to claim another life on 15th April 1909 when Thomas Barker of Elland Road, who had worked for the company for 40 years, was apparently "filling coal in a cart, when he threw down his shovel and walked to the lower level round the shaft."
Soon after, a man working nearby heard a splash, as of something heavy falling into the sump below.  On investigation Thomas Barker's body was discovered.
Park Pit was owned by the Low Moor Iron and Coal Company, as was much of Beeston village.  The pit was sited in what is now Westland Road.  It seems appropriate that some of its history should be told as the site is at present offered for sale (summer 1992) and all trace may disappear completely.
James Metcalfe's son, likewise James, also married a lady by the name of Mary Ann!  She was the daughter of William and Jane Verity who lived with their seven daughters at 3 Back Lane.  At the time of his daughter's marriage William was described as a greengrocer of 33 Town Street - a change of job for him since he was a coal miner when living at Back Lane.
James and Mary moved to Wesley Street and had eight children.  He is the lamplighter whose life was so well described in "Pages from our Past".  His daughter, Edna, who wrote that article, also wrote the history of Wesley Street in the same book.  James' son, Arthur, was also a lamplighter and may well have been one of the last men to work in this capacity.
James and Mary married in 1905 at Beeston Methodist Chapel in Town Street and the witnesses at the wedding were James' sister, Ada Maggie ( who eventually went to Australia) and Samuel Elliott.  I wonder if he was the son of George Elliott?
Ironically, James' other sister, Mary, married a gentleman by the name of Herbert Richardson.  Benjamin Richardson was a single man, so the newspapers said at the time of the accident, but it may be that the long arm of coincidence has intertwined the three families by Mary marrying a brother or nephew.  We may never know for sure - unless someone out there knows and wants to share the information with me!