At 2:08am on Saturday 22nd September 1934, 89 years ago today, a violent explosion blasted through the Dennis section of Gresford Colliery, with 500 men working underground on the night shift.

266 men were lost in the tragedy, which shocked the community of Gresford and Wrexham, as well as the whole country and proved to be one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters.

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

Shortly before dawn, volunteers and rescue workers began entering the colliery with the aim of tackling the fire and helping to clear the debris. 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.

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

An official inquiry into the tragedy began on 25th October 1934 and the findings were published in 1937, which 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. However, the court dismissed most of the charges and 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 did re-open six months after the disaster, with coal production resuming in January 1936, until it finally 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.

A minute's silence will be held before kick off of this evening's home game against Llanidloes Town in the 2023/24 JD Cymru North and a commemorative match programme has been produced for the game.