At 2:08am on Saturday 22nd September 1934, 500 men were working underground on the night shift in Gresford Colliery until a violent explosion blasted through the Dennis section. In what proved to be one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters, 266 men were lost in the tragedy, shocking the community of Gresford, Wrexham and the whole of the country.

The afternoon shift overman, Benjamin Edwards, reported that, at approximately 3:30am, a large number of miners were trapped beyond the fire that had started in parts of the Dennis main road.

Volunteers and rescue workers began entering the colliery shortly before dawn, hoping to tackle the fire and helping to clear the debris, as crowds gathered around the mine, with families hoping for positive news about their loved ones.

Just 11 bodies were recovered, all of whom had been found to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and after 40 hours of extensive efforts, it unfortunately became clear that all men trapped were certainly dead and the mine shafts were capped on Sunday evening.

As more explosions continued to occur within the mine throughout the following few days, the disaster's 266th and final victim was killed by flying debris from one of the blasts on Tuesday 25th September.

An official inquiry into the tragedy began on 25th October 1934 and the findings highlighted management failures, lack of safety measures, bad working practices and a lack of ventilation in the pit.

Legal preceedings against the pit manager, under-manager and the owners of the mine, United & Westminster Colleries Limited began in 1937, but the court dismissed most of the charges. The only conviction against the Gresford Colliery management was for inadequate record-keeping, resulting in a £150 fine plus costs.

Permission to re-enter the Dennis section was never granted and the remaining 254 bodies were sealed in the mine. Gresford Colliery was eventually closed for good in November 1973 and the site was re-developed as an industrial estate.

Gresford Athletic continues to remember this tragedy that shook our community in Wrexham. 89 years on, we will still never, ever forget the 266 men who lost their lives.

A full death roll of the victims can be found here.