Tarenni Colliery 1858, when the Primrose Colliery was owned by Morgan and Lewis, fumes of an engine boiler suffocated 14 men and boys, and 7 horses. According to HM Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries data, outside the Gwendraeth valley, Tarenni Colliery had the highest set of recorded incidents for coal damp and methane gas explosions. In total during its production lifetime, there were six outbursts in which three men lost their lives: one on 12 December 1914; two on 17 February 1941. On 1 November 1909, water from the abandoned Ynysgeinon pit caused the death of five miners at Tarenni No.2. On
Whitehaven haulage. William Brownrigg, Whitehaven's most eminent scientist, was the first to investigate the explosive mine gas fire damp. The Lowthers' technological advances continued when their chief steward, Carlisle Spedding sunk Saltom Pit in 1729. Saltom Pit was the second pit to be sunk beneath the sea. At Saltom Pit, Carlisle Spedding pioneered the use of explosives in sinking shafts. He also invented the first form of 'Safety Lamp', it was called the Spedding Wheel or Steel Mill. On occasions the Spedding Wheel caused explosions or fires but it was a major improvement over the naked flame. Saltom Pit was constructed