Quality Mining Lamps Cynon Valley
Mining has always been a dangerous activity, and it takes guts, determination and grit to go delving into the deep earth for ores and minerals. Today, miners are equipped with safety gear and heavy-duty machinery to make their job safer, but at the height of the mining industry in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries, mining was an incredibly dangerous, physically demanding job that carried many risks. According to one count, more than 70,000 miners died across the UK between 1880 and 1923 during the height of the coal mining industry, and far too many more to count died of occupation related diseases like lung cancer and infections. The area around the Cynon Valley was no exception, and mining disasters have left their mark on communities around almost every one of the mines in the area.
Quality Mining Lamps and Safety Gear
As fatalities among miners rose rapidly, engineers related to the mining industry began an arms race to produce quality mining equipment and safety measures to provide some protection against the risks that miners like those in and around the Cynon Valley were facing. One of the biggest risks faced by the mining teams were related to fire, and often explosions were caused by sparks or open flames coming into contact with the toxic, flammable fumes that could gather in the tunnels. Mining required light, and a number of engineers focused on designing quality mining lamps that would not ignite on contact with these gases. These quality mining lamps Cynon Valley would come to use were essential and have saved hundreds of lives across the area. Let’s take a look at the development of these quality mining lamps Cynon Valley needed.
The Development of Quality Mining Lamps
Cynon Valley and its miners were saved by the inventions of the Clanny Lamp and Davy lamp that used a fine gauze chimney to protect the naked flame of their mining lamps from the gases. This simple mechanism stopped the gases from igniting and solved a dangerous problem with the simple development of quality mining lamps. Cynon Valley miners quickly adopted these designs, but while they offered some protection, they were still early models and needed some further development. Evan Thomas, a local ironmonger and businessman, took these quality mining lamps further, and produced a brass and glass version known as the 'Evan Thomas Type No. 7 Lamp' which was much tougher, easier to use and far more reliable than the earlier designs. Soon these simple but effective quality mining lamps Cynon Valley miners needed were in use all over the area and further afield.
Modern Quality Mining Lamps Cynon Valley
E Thomas and Williams Ltd are still producing the same high quality mining lamps Cynon Valley miners would have recognized nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, to the same high standards. If you are looking for traditional, hand crafted quality mining lamps, Cynon Valley or elsewhere, make sure to get in touch with E Thomas and Williams Ltd and find out more about these iconic lamps!
