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Brian Robert Andrews

Read more about the article When Killingworth Colliery blew up
Killingworth Colliery before the explosion. From an old postcard.

When Killingworth Colliery blew up

Thanks to Brian Robert Andrews for correcting and informing this text. At 5.25am on December 7, 1910, people who lived near Killingworth, NSW, were awoken by a huge, ground-shaking explosion. As they looked outside, they saw a great black cloud of dust over the area of West Wallsend-Killingworth Colliery and immediately guessed what had happened. The colliery had exploded, hurling dust and debris about 300m into the air. Fortunately the mine was not working at the time. It had been in care and maintenance for two months, and the deputies and maintenance men who were due…

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Read more about the article The mystery in the mine: lizard tracks deep below Catherine Hill Bay.
Lizard tracks on the ceiling of Wallarah Colliery, May 1979. Photo by Brian R. Andrews

The mystery in the mine: lizard tracks deep below Catherine Hill Bay.

MILLIONS of years ago, apparently, a large lizard or similar creature was taking a walk on some soft ground. Its feet sank into the mud, and it backed away. The ground hardened, preserving the tracks, which were later filled in with a different type of mud. The ground eventually turned into rock, and other layers formed on top, pressing those layers and the tracks of the creature deep below the surface of the earth. Deep underground at Wallarah Colliery in 1979. Photo used with permission of Brian R. Andrews. In 1979, miners working the coal seam…

Continue ReadingThe mystery in the mine: lizard tracks deep below Catherine Hill Bay.
Read more about the article Brian’s childhood polio helped feed his love of coalmines and railways
Young Brian Andrews, photographed by rail and mine enthusiast, the late Jim Webber.

Brian’s childhood polio helped feed his love of coalmines and railways

Brian Robert Andrews was born in the midst of coal and steam near his father's workplace at West Wallsend Extended Colliery at Killingworth in 1948. His father was in charge of maintaining Caledonian Collieries' fleet of coal wagons, and the family of eight lived in a company-owned house. At 17 months Brian contracted polio. He went to bed one night fit and strong and woke next morning unable to stay upright. The doctor was called and passed sentence: the infant had polio and nothing could be done. That was the beginning of a lifetime of trials…

Continue ReadingBrian’s childhood polio helped feed his love of coalmines and railways
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