Tears flow as relatives of victims attend emotional premiere of opera to mark 90th anniversary of Gresford Colliery Disaster

Tears flowed as relatives of the victims were in the audience for a premiere of a poignant new opera to mark the 90th anniversary of the Gresford Colliery Disaster.

There was a standing ovation at the end of the emotionally charged performance of Gresford – Up From Underground on the opening night of the North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral.

It told the story of how 266 men and boys were killed when a massive underground explosion and fire ripped through the pit near Wrexham on September 22, 1934.

Following the explosion six men managed to escape but those not killed in the blast were trapped and died in the deadly fires.

Rescuers battled unsuccessfully for more than 40 hours to reach the men but only 11 bodies were ever recovered. Only the winding gear built into a slate plinth remains.

The miners buried underground died with their last pay packets in their pockets, it’s been claimed and shamefully the colliery’s owners refused to pay their grieving families, saying they had already done so.

Inquiry 

An inquiry was launched to determine the cause of the explosion but the cause remains unknown. It is likely a build-up of gas was ignited by a spark from a metal tool.

The inquiry led to the manager William Bonsall being charged with failing to keep records of air flow and was fined £40 with £350 costs.

Among those at the premiere was Val Nuttall whose grandfather, John Davies, and great-grandfather, John Ralph Davies, both perished in what was one of the worst disasters in British mining history.

Val, who lives in Stockport, said: “The tragedy left my mum an orphan at the age of 10, she had lost her mum when she was just 18 months old and it badly affected her for the rest of her life and had a significant impact on me who was an only child.

“My daughter Tracey heard about the opera on the BBC News and I really wanted to come so we bought tickets for the premiere for ourselves and my two grandchildren.

“I thought it was very moving and extremely well thought out. It can’t be easy depicting an event that killed so many people and affected so many lives. This is our heritage and it means a lot to my family that the memory of the miners is being kept.”

The music was composed by Jonathan Guy, from Wrexham, while the words were written by poet Grahame Davies, from Coedpoeth.

It was performed by the NEW Sinfonia orchestra, conducted by Jonathan’s brother, Robert, and the NEW Voices community choir, along with a cast of six professional singers.

Commemorations 

The Gresford Disaster commemorations culminate with three performances of the new opera.

The first of them at St Giles Church in Wrexham will be for schools only, on the afternoon of Friday, September 20.

Then on Saturday and Sunday, September 20 and 21, there are evening performances at St Giles Church at 8pm.

The opera was co-commissioned by royal composer Paul Mealor, the North Wales International Music Festival’s new Artistic Director and sponsored by the care organisation Pendine Park via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust who had a special reason for supporting the premiere.

They cared for last remaining survivor of the disaster, Albert Rowlands, who celebrated his 100th birthday while at Pendine before he passed away in 2020.

Jonathan Guy said: “The story means so much to so many people, that’s one of the things I’ve felt coming from this. So many people have come to me and said thank you for doing this because it means so much because we are maintaining the memory of those who died.

“I’m just so overwhelmed and happy that people are coming up to me and saying that was great.”

Conductor Robert added: “I feel the music created by Jon and the words by Grahame speak volumes and tells the story so beautifully. I’ve had shivers so many times and when you see other people in tears you can’t not be affected,” he said.

Memorable

It was an equally memorable occasion for librettist Graham Davies who said: “My great-grandfather William Thomas Holywell was a miners agent and very prominent trade union official at the time of the disaster and I recall reading his reflections he’d written for a chapel society about how awful it had been.

“Working on something like this you’re very conscious of the heritage you’re representing. These are people’s lives, their stories and their memories and I wanted to ensure I did justice to them and express something that is a true commemoration of the sacrifice and loss.”

According to Pendine Park proprietor Mario Kreft MBE, the opera was a “poignant and deeply moving tribute” to the men and boys who perished on that fateful day.

He said: “I thought the piece was absolutely amazing, it really got the whole sentiment of what this is all about, remembering those miners from all those years ago and bringing the community together. The choir was in fantastic voice and it’s a wonderful piece of music.”

“It was also a fitting way to remember Albert Rowlands who was the most amazing chap. He had these memories – obviously very painful and sad memories – but he came through that and he always had stories.”

The new opera work has been funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Tŷ Cerdd and the Shared Prosperity Fund for Wrexham.

Wrexham miners project

Jonathan and Robert Guy, the founders of the NEW Sinfonia orchestra, worked with the Wrexham Miners’ Project to organise the local commemorations in Wrexham, with support from the Arts Council of Wales.

Another highlight of the North Wales International Music Festival that runs until Saturday, September 21 will be the inaugural Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition that’s being funded by the Pendine Arts and Community Trust set up by the festival’s headline sponsors, the Pendine Park care organisation.

Other sponsors include the Arts Council of Wales, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Arts & Business Cymru, Tŷ Cerdd and Salisburys Chartered Accountants. This year’s event is also part funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Denbighshire.

Tickets and further details about the festival programme are available online here.

Tickets are also available from Cathedral Frames, St Asaph – 01745 582929 (Weds – Fri, 10 – 4) and Theatr Clwyd by phone – 01352 344101 (Mon – Sat, 10 – 6).

Meanwhile, click for information about the full Remembering Gresford events programme and details of how to buy tickets for the opera Gresford – Up From Underground.