MORE than 300 men and boys - some still of school age - have perished in Burnley's mines over time.

One of the youngest was little Joseph Adams, who was just 12-years-old when he died after an accident in Towneley Pit.

It is to his memory and those of all the other victims of mining disasters, that a Burnley Mining Memorial Fund has now been set up, for a permanent monument in the town.

In 1881, Towneley coal pit, off Rock Lane, was a large mine in the Burnley coal field and had been worked under various names, including Brooks and Pickup and Towneley Collieries.

After closing in 1947, it was dismantled the following year.

Joe lived at 16, Lomas Street, off Trafalgar Street and set off every morning before the sun rose, to be lowered at the start of his shift, 500 feet to the pit bottom.

His job was to attach and link the full tubs of coal coming from the coal face on to an endless moving chain haulage system, pulled by a powerful engine,

On Saturday, August 23, 1881, his fingers were caught in the haulage chain and his tiny body dragged towards a return wheel and crushed.

The haulage was quickly stopped and the lad, screaming in pain, was carried 800 yards to the shaft and taken home, where Dr Smirthwaite, the pit doctor arrived and cleaned and bandaged his horrific wounds. Joe died in agony three days later.

There had once been no age limit on children, both boys and girls, being employed in the pits, but an Act of Parliament in 1842 forbade all females from being employed below ground; boys over the age of 10 could, however, still be sent down.

An inquest was held on Joe at the Hole-in-the-Wall public house not far from where he lived. After hearing all the evidence, a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’ was returned.

The little boy was buried on September 3 in a public grave at Burnley Cemetery, grave number 10888.

Jack Nadin, a former miner himself and one of the driving forces behind the memorial, told Bygones: "Imagine the grief of the family, his mother, father and sibling, at the graveside.

"It's a sad chapter and it may have become a lost chapter in Burnley’s coal mining history, but little Joe Adams' name will live on forever if our new fund gets its way.

"A memorial of this type doesn’t come cheap, however, and we have estimated that it will cost around £75,00."

The proposal has the backing of Burnley council, fund raisers are chasing available grants and lottery funding while a suitable location for the monument, is also being sought.

You can give support by donating on the Facebook page - Burnley Mining Memorial Fund - or its 'Just Giving' page’. You can contact fundraisers at email Burnleyminingmemorialfund@Yahoo.com.