Gresford Disaster: A tragedy still being felt 75 years on
Post categories: History & Memories, Wrexham
| 11:11 UK time, Wednesday, 16 September 2009
It may be 75 years since the Gresford Disaster but the implications of that day were so great they can still be felt.
Wrexham FC is playing its game on Tuesday - on the anniversary of the accident - in memory of the 266 miners who died at Gresford Colliery on 22 September 1934.
Many had been working a double or extra shift so they could have a day off to watch a Wrexham game the following Saturday.
So, for some on the terraces on Tuesday, the memorial match will have a stronger resonance as they will be relatives - such as grandchildren - of those men who died.
Much has been written and discussed over the years about the accident - caused by an underground explosion and fire [read Real Price of Coal]. We've recently uploaded some original BBC news bulletins from that time as well as survivors' accounts.
And Wrexham Council has in-depth coverage of the disaster online, a memorial gallery and a virtual copy of the Book of Remembrance which can still be viewed in the A.N.Palmer Centre for Local Studies & Archives.
On Tuesday, the air raid siren at Wrexham Museum will sound for two minutes at 11am at the same time as an annual memorial service takes place at Gresford Memorial. Wrexham FC players will take part in the silence at their training ground, Colliers' Park, on the site of the former Gresford Colliery.
It was at 2am an explosion followed by a fire in the Dennis Section of the mine saw the beginning of the worst mining incident in North Wales. Every man on the shift was killed [Names of the dead] apart from six miners who managed to escape.
By the evening of 23 September three rescue workers had also been killed and the final death toll was 266, leaving 166 widows, 229 children, 194 partial dependants and 130 pensioners.
To commemorate Tuesday's 75th anniversary Bersham Heritage Centre has installed a plaque made from the same cast as the bronze memorial panel on Pandy Road, Gresford. The memorial and zinc pattern list the names of all the mineworkers who died in the disaster.
There will also be a minute's silence before the 'Gresford Colliery Disaster Memorial Game' - Wrexham v Luton Town, at 7.45pm where Llay Welfare Band will be playing the 'Gresford Hymn'.
