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Mining Lamps, Badges & Ephemra
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Big Bertha - Now that is a Shaft Lamp.

anthony and fellow lamp enthusiasts - stand by your beds. Big Bertha will be appearing shortly, when I can lift it down for pics!!

Re: Big Bertha - Now that is a Shaft Lamp.

Group of shaft lamps with 12" ruler and normal sized lamp on left to give feel of massive sizes of these lamps.
Lamps are left to right - Delector Lamp Co normal lamp, Deflector Shaft Lamp, Ellis Big Bertha, Ellis slightly smaller, Davis Porcas, Premiere, ETW Carbide Lamp



Normal Deflector Lamp, Big Deflector Lamp and Ellis Big Bertha, it's a two handed lift!! (the Champagne is a two person lift!! and a big party to drink it!!



Another Ellis Shaft Lamp and a Davis Porcas


Premier and ETW Carbide Lamp


Ellis Big Bertha


Top of Ellis lamp showing makers mark and post code


Ellis Dismantled


Ellis Vessel showing post code. This code is the Lamp Room Managers house from Lofthouse Colliery!!

Re: Big Bertha - Now that is a Shaft Lamp.

Hi Charles

These are cracking lamps! Thanks for sharing them with the rest of us.

For those like myself who aren't specialist collectors of safety lamps can you confirm the approximate date of manufacture of each of the above?

Does anyone know when the first flame safety lamps were introduced into the UK mining industry and the last ones were phased out presumably by electric lamps?

Thanks

Mark

PS - I presume you've got the giant bottle of bubbly to bring down and share with everyone at the next NMMA swap meet?

Re: Big Bertha - Now that is a Shaft Lamp.

Are you referring to the lamps that were first introduced by Clanny, Davy and Stephenson Mark?

Flame safety lamps continued in use long after the introduction of electric lamps.

I can remember as late as 1955 that at a colliery where I worked hewers and fillers were still using Patterson HCP lamps whilst everybody else used Oldham Wheat cap lamps. Shotfirers, deputies, Overmen and other mining officials used cap lamps and also a small flame lamp that was used for gas detectionn. Everyone who was in charge of an electrically driven machine had a Patterson HCP.

At another colliery everybody used a cap lamp, Officials lamps had a 'polished reflector' everyone else's lamp had a 'satin finish reflector' Shotfirers, Deputies etc also had a small flame lamp and all who were in charge of an electrically driven machine had a Patterson HCP.

Re: Big Bertha - Now that is a Shaft Lamp.

No Alan - I meant shaft lamps of the flame safety variety.

Mark