Poignant records relating to the 1934 Gresford colliery disaster, which killed more than 260 people, are to be displayed near the site of the mine in north Wales for the first time. The documents, held at the National Archives in Kew, include petitions and emotional letters calling for bodies to be recovered, as well as a falsified safety logbook that was part of an attempted cover-up.
The display, titled 'Gresford: Voices from the Archives', will be held at Wrexham library on Monday and Tuesday. It is the first time the National Archives has offered a display of original documents to a community in this way. Sarah Castagnetti, visual collections team manager, said she was prompted to look for the records after seeing the disaster featured in the 'Welcome to Wrexham' documentary series.
Among the documents is a notebook with mine air measurements that assistant surveyor William Cuffin was told to make up after the explosion to give the impression that crucial safety checks had been done. In his evidence to police, Cuffin said: 'I recorded a number of air measurements. The measurements recorded … were not taken in the pit and are false.'
Alan Jones, 79, who worked down the mine in the 1960s, said the temporary return of the documents was welcome. His grandfather, Josiah, swapped shifts with his cousin Jabez on the day of the disaster; Jabez's body remains entombed. Jones said: 'What happened goes deep with everybody in Wrexham. We’ve all got a connection.'
Also on display are urgent telephone messages to the Mines Inspectorate and records from the inquiry into the disaster. The documents will be taken back to Kew after the display, where the public can order them for research.
