A COMMUNITY has come together to remember one of the North-East’s worst mining disasters.

The explosion at Burns Pit in West Stanley, County Durham, over a century ago claimed the lives of 168 men and boys.

A muffled explosion, caused by coal dust in the air, was heard at 3.45pm on February 16, 1909, before flames and smoke were seen shooting into the sky.

The force of the blast was so intense it blew the windows from the houses of workers who lived nearby.

Rescuers included Kevin Keegan’s grandfather, Frank, and 30 men survived, but the high number of casualties had a devastating impact on the town.

A service to mark the 108th anniversary attended by members of the community was held on Thursday at the pit memorial wheel at North Durham Academy, near the scene of the tragedy.

Stanley Town Council clerk Alan Shaw said: “108 years ago today 168 men and boys went to work in the West Stanley Colliery and never came home.

“It’s a testament to the strength of the community spirit in Stanley that 108 years later, so many people come each year to remember them.”

The ceremony followed a visit to the school by acclaimed poet Simon Armitage, who performed his work and answered questions.

He also met Callum Benson, 14, from Burnhope, who won the under 16 category of a local poetry competition with his entry, The Field.

The visit was part of The Forge’s Northern Writes, a cultural education programme celebrating the work of Pitman Poet Tommy Armstrong, who lived and worked in the area prior to his death in 1920, aged 72.

He lived in Tanfield, near Stanley, and wrote vividly about life in County Durham pit villages and the dangerous conditions underground.

Historians were baffled there was no poem about The Burns Pit Disaster, until his grandson Ray Tilly wrote a book about him and Moira Corker, from Craghead, presented him with a bundle of papers six years ago, which included the long lost poem.

Mr Armitage, 53, who is originally from Huddersfield, said: “It is really interesting. Where I live in Yorkshire is on the fringe of the mining area and I know that they had their own languages, their own ideology and their own art.”