Excelsior Entertainments's video: 004 1901 Gunpowder Mill Explosion

In this video I tell the story of the 1901 explosion at the Gunpwder Mill of Messrs. Kynoch LTD situated off Powder Mill Lane at Worsbrough Dale where two men lost their lives. This explosion took place on Saturday May 25th 1901 and 2022 marks the 121st anniversary. Please note : This event is not to be confused with the much larger and more devasting explsosion that occured at the site on December 11th 1907. If anyone wishes to have a copy of the PDF I produced which included the action of the machine, the explsion report and the images contained in this video then please get in touch via : 07880 765409 or Email excelsiorents@gmail.com If you have paused the video or require to return to the video at a later stage then click on this active TIME INDEX 10:02 (and not 10.17 as stated in the video) ACTION OF THE MACHINE A Hopper situated at the back of the machine is filled up with gunpowder in the form of grain. At the base of the hopper are six circular holes opening onto a sliding plate which is moved backwards and forwards by the action of a cam weighted lever under the machine. This charging plate is perforated by six holes corresponding to openings in the hopper and each of a size to contain the required charge. The travel of the plate brings the perforations under the openings in the hopper so that the charges of powder fall into them being prevented from escaping below the matrix table over which the charging plates slide. The latter then moves forward until the perforations over the matrices or ties in which the compression takes place and each cartridge of powder there upon falls upon its respective matrix. Above and below the matrices are two massive crossheads each carrying six plungers which are made to travel up and down between vertical guides by means of cranks. The motion of these crossheads is so adjusted that as soon as the charging plate charges and the compression is completed the upper plunges are withdrawn and the lower ones continue to rise until the cartridge as been driven out of the matrix. The lower plungers carry the pins which form the perforation through the access of each cartridge. The machine is started and stopped by means of a square tooth positive clutch, when the clutch is thrown into gear it forces the heavy moving parts of the machine to take up suddenly. It will be necessary to discuss the action of this part of the mechanism more fully below. The difficulties are said however to have been overcome and the men employed at the machine reported that it was working well on the day previous to the accident. That this was not strictly the case is shown by an examination of the machine after the accident from which it appears that six of the plungers had been removed and another had been put out of action by stopping the feed. The press as a whole can hardly therefore be said to have been working well. USEFUL WEBSITE LINKS Royal Gunpowder Mills https://www.royalgunpowdermills.com/archive National Library of Scotland https://www.nls.uk/ This video was inspired by Carl at CW Outdoors who did his video on the explosion back in 2020 and can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcCKb7M9He0