Gresford disaster: Relatives from disaster help keep heritage alive

Richard, 55, said he learned about John, his great-grandfather, from his own grandfather, Gilbert.

Gilbert was 21 when his father was killed, and would describe to Richard what a hard life John – who was 60 when he died – had working down the pit, in dangerous conditions.

“He would tell me his dad would come home and sit in the tin bath in front of the fire getting the coal dust off, and he would tell him ‘there’s going to be a big disaster’,” said Richard, from Bradley, Wrexham, who is volunteering at the centre through his employer, Hydro Aluminium.

“He knew what was coming.”

The disaster occurred in the early hours of 22 September 1934, when a huge explosion took place about 1.3 miles (2.1km) from a shaft.

Six miners managed to escape but by the evening of the next day three rescue workers had also been killed.

Only 11 bodies were ever recovered.