OVERGROWN, windswept, hidden from view, the graves of the 168 men and boys of the North-East's biggest ever pit disaster lay almost forgotten.

Forgotten until the day a few locals took some photographs to the church yard and worked out where the men they had heard about all their lives actually lay.

That scene; a few men, knee-high in grass in the remote corner of St Andrew's Church yard, in Stanley, County Durham, was very different to the ones they carried in their photographs.

The grim, haunting images of 200,000 pit folk huddled around three large trenches filled with coffins, were no ordinary guide.

The emotional strength of those pictures and the memory of the men and boys who died in the West Stanley Burns Pit disaster, in 1909, resonate in Stanley.

Now, The Northern Echo has launched a campaign to have the graves in the three large trenches marked for the first time.

The campaign has already won backing from Derrick Lait, chairman of the Durham Mining Museum, and the Reverend Austin Johnston, vicar of St Andrew's Church.

The Rev Johnston has also secured the backing of the Church of England to have the graves marked as soon as possible.

Custodian of the land, Derwentside District Council, also vowed to contribute to the scheme last night.

Not that the events of that day have been forgotten for a single day in Stanley.

At 3.40pm, a build-up of gas ignited. Flames shot into the air. The 168 men and boys were choked, burned and crushed to death. The explosion was such that windows were blown out in the streets around. Families gathered at the pit-head in a desperate vigil for news.

On the day of the first funerals, up to 200,000 mining people from across the North-East made their way to Stanley. The crowds were so dense that the cortege was forced to stop at one point.

A new memorial to the dead was erected in 1995 with the help of football favourite Kevin Keegan, whose grandfather Frank had been a hero of the day, returning underground in a rescue attempt

On the day, the then Newcastle United manager said: "It is only right that there should be a memorial. People should respect it. I know the older people will. I ask the children to respect it."

He need not have worried, the memorial has not been vandalised.

The memorial was a dream fulfilled - but still the graves lie unmarked.

Councillor Michael Brough, who played a key role in the memorial, said: "We had plans to mark the graves at the time, but we just didn't have enough money.

"In the end, we thought it was better to have the memorial where people could see it."

Local historian Jack Hair's family was touched by the disaster. The teenage son of his great-grandfather, James Lambert, perished among the 168 victims.

Mr Hair said: "We have contemplated having the graves marked like this for some time. It would be hard, because the page bearing the men's names has been torn from the church archives.

"It would be great to have today's young people involved in getting the graves marked. It is their history, too."

Maybe Mr Hair's and others wish to have the graves finally marked is, more than 90 years on, about to be granted.

But whatever happens one thing is certain, they will never be forgotten.