Brunner Mine Disaster

 

About 15 minutes out of Greymouth is this historic site which once operated as the Brunner Mine and known as the country's most productive 19th century mine. It was a major producer of bricks and other clay products.

Across the bridge crossing the Grey River from the carpark is where the actual bricks were made.

This is one of the areas where the bricks were made. There were 5 kilns here in total and each one was able to make 2000-3000 bricks.

About 12 men and boys worked in these buildings, the clay dust would've been unbearable  with the only ventilation being through open windows in the mill building. Temperatures in Winter were below freezing - no insulation at all in winter while in summer those working in the sheds with it's underfloor heating really felt the heat. No human rights conditions in those days.

This is how the mining site would've looked back when it was in action - note the bridge on the other side shows this was taken from the hill which now has a road leading to the main highway looking behind the sheds. Photo by H. Yeadon 1880s - both mines were shut down in 1906 and 1908.

A memorial set up to remember those who died in a mass explosion on the site that ripped through the mine on 26th March 1896 killing 65 men, 53 are buried in a mass grave at nearby Stillwater Cemetery and 33 in a single grave each. Two men who were sent in to investigate were later found unconscious after inhaling black damp, a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The official enquiry afterwards found the cause was a detonation of a charge in an area of the mine where no one should've been working. Some said that methane gas produced by coal had accumulated because of an ineffective ventilation system.

Photo from Te Ara showing the first bodies being taken out of the mine from.

 

The mass grave as it was being filled back in 1896. Photo from West Coast History.

The memorial and mass grave surrounded by Victorian iron railings as it looks today in such a peaceful quiet place in the country.

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Greymouth Mining Memorial

Greymouth and all along the west coast have quite a few monuments dedicated to those who have lost their lives in coal mining accidents over the years. This one in town next to the Grey River is no different. It's inscribed with words that read "In memory of those lost in coal mining incidents within west coast inspection district". It was unveiled by the Tony Kokshoorn who was the mayor at the time on 19th January 2013.

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Brunner Mine Disaster Memorial

In Greymouth there are many old cemeteries, many are the resting places of those who worked in the mines many years ago. This one in Stillwater, about 30 minutes out of town has a memorial to the Brunner Mine Disaster which occurred in 1896 in which many of the 65 miners from the explosion are buried.  I love the old Victorian railings around it. 

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The Strongman Mining Disaster

In between Greymouth and Punakaiki is this monument on top of a hill next to the main highway. The Strongman Mine was an underground coal mine north of Greymouth of New Zealand's west coast of the South Island that operated from 1938 until 2003. 

On 19th January 1967 a gas explosion in the mine killed 19 miners. In 1994 the original mine was replaced by the Strongman 2 mine further up the Nine Mile Valley. This mine eventually closed in 2003.

The monument honours those who were killed in the disaster and acknowledges the 65 years of mining in the area.

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