A LOST chronicle of one of the region's worst mining disasters has resurfaced.

Buried in its yellowing pages is a vital clue to how many of the 168 men and boys who perished were interred in unmarked mass graves in Stanley, County Durham.

The Northern Echo is campaigning for a lasting memorial as a fitting tribute to those victims of the 1909 Burns Pit Disaster, whose last resting place is a burial trench on the edge of town.

This contemporary journal, unseen by historians until now, provides new evidence of the numbers of men and boys buried in two of the trenches.

The author, Stanley miner Sedgeman Nankavel, stood by the graveside and counted the numbers of men buried - 48 in one trench and 17 in the other.

The remarkable account, written by the former Cornish tin miner, includes fascinating details of life in an Edwardian pit village.

On the days leading up to the tragedy, it chronicles the contemporary gossip among the miners of the area - the shock at the murder of 11-year-old Mary Donnelly and details of the man arrested for the crime, Jeremiah O'Connor, who was sitting in a cell at Durham Jail on the day of the disaster on February 16.

Sedgeman, who was 40 at the time of the disaster, also writes of the best way to make a pea trench, how to make turpentine, and he faithfully transcribes passages from the Bible.

But the jottings change dramatically on the page which deals with the disaster - incorrectly dated January 16, 1909. Sedgeman's limited English nevertheless powerfully records the scenes in Stanley's most dreadful week.

Separate sentences from the journal read: "The pall of death hung over the whole neighbourhood. It was a week never to be forgotten."

"The bringing home of the bodies, the heart-rending scenes at the pit. Wherever you look, you were brought face-to-face with death.

"There, borne on the shoulders of those who were once their companion in life was the last remains of some of the victims of the awful disaster."

Sedgeman's grandson, Dr Eric Sanders, of Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, saw the journal for the first time just two weeks ago. He said: "I'm researching my own family history and got talking to my cousin who lives in Coventry.

"She told me about this journal she had and so, when I was in that part of the world, I dropped by.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw those pages and when I read about the stories of the graves."

* Anyone who wishes to support The Northern Echo's campaign or has any information about the disaster should contact Chris Webber on (01207) 282719.