(Lyrics: Anonymous)
You've heard of the Gresford Disaster,
Of the terrible price that was paid;
Two hundred and sixty-four colliers were lost,
And three men of the rescue brigade.
It occurred in the month of September
At three in the morning the pit
Was racked by a violent explosion
In the Dennis where gas lay so thick.
Now the gas in the Dennis deep section
Was packed there like snow in a drift,
And many a man had to leave the coal-face
Before he had worked out his shift.
Now a fortnight before the explosion,
To the shotfirer Tomlinson cried,
"If you fire that shot we'll be all blown to hell!"
And no one can say that he lied.
Now the fireman's reports they are missing
The records of forty-two days;
The collier manager had them destroyed
To cover his criminal ways.
Down there in the dark they are lying.
They died for nine shillings a day;
They have worked out their shift and now they must lie
In the darkness until Judgement Day.
Now the Lord Mayor of London's collecting
To help out the children and wives;
The owners have sent some white lilies
To pay for the poor colliers' lives.
Farewell, all our dear wives and our children
Farewell, all our comrades as well,
Don't send your sons down the dark dreary mine
They'll be doomed like the sinners in hell.
By 1934, 2,200 coal miners were employed at the colliery, with 1,850 working underground and 350 on the surface.
Some 19th century working practices were still in evidence in the pit although some mechanisation had been introduced. Prior to the explosion there was evidence of heat and gas in the colliery.
On September 22 at 2:08 a.m. a violent explosion shook the Dennis section of mine, over a mile from the bottom of the shaft, and a fire took hold. At the time a total of 500 men were working underground at the colliery on the night shift.
Only six men managed to escape from the Dennis section by climbing from the pit bottom by ladder. All of the other 254 miners working in that section were killed.
The song was issued as a broadsheet soon after the disaster. It has been recorded by The Hennessys, Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell and the Albion Band amongst others.
The disaster is the subject of the song "The Colliers" on Seth Lakeman's 2006 album Freedom Fields.
The disaster is also commemorated in the hymn tune "Gresford" which is also knows as "The Miners Hymn". This tune has been played regularly by many Colliery Brass bands over the years and is found on a number of recordings and is also played at the annual Miners Picnics around the North of England especially at the world famous Durham Miners' Gala".
You've heard of the Gresford Disaster,
Of the terrible price that was paid;
Two hundred and sixty-four colliers were lost,
And three men of the rescue brigade.
It occurred in the month of September
At three in the morning the pit
Was racked by a violent explosion
In the Dennis where gas lay so thick.
Now the gas in the Dennis deep section
Was packed there like snow in a drift,
And many a man had to leave the coal-face
Before he had worked out his shift.
Now a fortnight before the explosion,
To the shotfirer Tomlinson cried,
"If you fire that shot we'll be all blown to hell!"
And no one can say that he lied.
Now the fireman's reports they are missing
The records of forty-two days;
The collier manager had them destroyed
To cover his criminal ways.
Down there in the dark they are lying.
They died for nine shillings a day;
They have worked out their shift and now they must lie
In the darkness until Judgement Day.
Now the Lord Mayor of London's collecting
To help out the children and wives;
The owners have sent some white lilies
To pay for the poor colliers' lives.
Farewell, all our dear wives and our children
Farewell, all our comrades as well,
Don't send your sons down the dark dreary mine
They'll be doomed like the sinners in hell.
By 1934, 2,200 coal miners were employed at the colliery, with 1,850 working underground and 350 on the surface.
Some 19th century working practices were still in evidence in the pit although some mechanisation had been introduced. Prior to the explosion there was evidence of heat and gas in the colliery.
On September 22 at 2:08 a.m. a violent explosion shook the Dennis section of mine, over a mile from the bottom of the shaft, and a fire took hold. At the time a total of 500 men were working underground at the colliery on the night shift.
Only six men managed to escape from the Dennis section by climbing from the pit bottom by ladder. All of the other 254 miners working in that section were killed.
The song was issued as a broadsheet soon after the disaster. It has been recorded by The Hennessys, Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell and the Albion Band amongst others.
The disaster is the subject of the song "The Colliers" on Seth Lakeman's 2006 album Freedom Fields.
The disaster is also commemorated in the hymn tune "Gresford" which is also knows as "The Miners Hymn". This tune has been played regularly by many Colliery Brass bands over the years and is found on a number of recordings and is also played at the annual Miners Picnics around the North of England especially at the world famous Durham Miners' Gala".