Miners lamp - anyone? davey?

Bit of an unusual miner's lamp and I can't find the model number. Plus, what does the USC engraving mean?

 

miners lamp...yup. Safety Lamp !
I got 2 newer versions....
I believe the real ones had a gauze filter and a magnetic lock for safety...




That said......yours may indeed be a usable genuine lamp...or not ..... I'm not so up on that brass locking device...

 

davey, it's spelled correctly, just very badly rubbed. I've got a proven old one as well, someone gave to my ma decades ago. That one has the magnetic catch, but I know that there's other catches, too.

If this is a copy, it's a very good one, the wear and muck all looks "right".

 

Ah. That's a thought. Colliery name I mean. Thank you.

 

Cheers! It's an odd one, isn't it!

 

After miners’ safety lamps were replaced in the 1930s by battery-powered helmet lamps they became obsolete, although some were still used to identify dangerous gasses into the 1970s and 80s. Following the closure of many of the UKs pits, these lamps were kept as souvenirs and are collected and cherished by many people.

Most safety lamps are kept for their ornamental value but many are still in working condition, although few owners know how to access the fuel reservoir of the lamp to refill it, to test if their lamp still works.

Safety lamps were purposefully made difficult to open so that miners couldn’t open them to relight them if they went out underground. This would have exposed the naked flame to dangerous gasses that were the cause of so many of the early disasters. Only the deputies who were responsible for safety had a lamp that could be re-lit underground. Below is a beautiful example of a deputy’s lamp.

The locking mechanism on regular safety lamps was consistent across most of the designs, and included a catch and two pins. The catch pivots on one pin while the other is spring-loaded so it can be moved, allowing for the hinged catch to open. The catch, known as the magnetic lock, is designed so that the spring-loaded pin can only be released by applying a strong magnet to the base. Traditionally, the men in the lamp room would light every lamp before handing them to the miners at the start of each shift.

GENERAL INFO.........more or less... from 'Magnet Expert Ltd'..England

 

ya but..............

 

Update: I asked someone on a Facebook page. It is circa 1890s and is a Protector bonnetted Clanny style lamp, they think the USC might be the Universal Colliery. Older than I thought!

 

Thank you for this info. And I love the lamps here I'd pick them up to keep in a heartbeat