Frank Isaac - Gresford 1934

Gresford 1934 is a song about one of the worst coal-mining disasters in British history. In the early hours of Saturday 22 September 1934, an explosion tore through the Dennis section of Gresford Colliery, about two and a half miles north of Wrexham in North Wales. It was around 2am, mid-shift snack time for the night men. A fire followed. Only six men escaped from that part of the pit. Three rescue brigade members died trying to reach the rest. On 25 September another blast blew a seal off the Dennis shaft and killed surface worker George Brown. The death toll is usually given as 266. Only eleven bodies were ever recovered. Most of the men remain entombed where they fell. The night shift was heavier than usual. Wrexham were due to play Tranmere Rovers that afternoon, and many miners had doubled up or swapped shifts so they could go to the match. The colliery employed around 2,200 people. The pit had been losing money, and the manager was under pressure to raise output. The official inquiry, chaired by Chief Inspector of Mines Sir Henry Walker and published in 1937, never named a single, certain cause. Evidence pointed to poor ventilation in parts of the Dennis workings, coal dust, shot-firing practices, and weak supervision. The owners docked the dead men half a day’s pay because they had not finished the shift. A memorial at Pandy still names the dead. Production later resumed in other parts of the mine; the Dennis section stayed sealed. The pit closed in 1973. I was born in the Wrexham and have many generations of family in the area. Like most families from Wrexham we lost relatives in the disaster. This track is offered in remembrance of the men who went down that night and of their families who waited at the pithead.