Dozens of long-forgotten tragic and heroic tales of the region's worst pit disaster have emerged since The Northern Echo launched its campaign to mark the mass burial graves of the 168 victims three years ago. Chris Webber tells of an emotional campaign.

THE people of Stanley knew the story of the 1909 West Stanley Burns Pit Disaster well.

There is the story of the rescue. How, like a voice from the dead, trapped foreman Mark Henderson managed to find a phone to call the waiting throng of grieving families above ground.

Mr Henderson, already trapped for days underground, made trip after trip, stepping over the bodies of his comrades to make sure as many people could be saved as possible, including Kevin Keegan's grandfather, Frank.

There is the story of the funeral. How hundreds of thousands of people from across the region crammed into the small County Durham town.

Corteges stopped, people fainted into the graves, confusion reigned.

There is the tale of how every house in one street lost at least one loved one, how boys had to keep rats away from the bodies of the dead, how the bodies of two friends were not recovered until 1933.

It seemed every story had been told and long absorbed by the people of Stanley.

But in 2000, there was one tale that still needed telling.

After an exhibition about the disaster held by The Northern Echo, a woman came forward clutching a well-preserved document. It was an eviction notice served on the family of William Green at their colliery house. William's wife, Madge, and their three young children had only one week to leave but somehow, through hard work, Madge ensured her family survived.

There were still dozens of virtually forgotten, human stories unearthed by the campaign. Stories came thick and fast.

Like that of heroic Susanna Todd, the 56-year-old midwife who, with a chronic shortage of medical staff, became the only woman allowed down the pit to tend to the sick.

Then there was the premonition of Emma Peacock.

Sensing disaster, Emma kept her family off work and persuaded her friend to keep her husband and six sons out of the pit that fateful day of February 16, 1909.

As these, and other, stories were told for the first time nearly a century on, more and more people became involved in the campaign.

As the stories were being retold, the Stanley Pit Disaster Memorial Committee was established and Kevin Keegan and Tony Blair gave their backing.

Former pitman William Johnstone struck 100 plates to remember the disaster out of his own money to raise funds.

The Thompson family of New Zealand, researching their family tree, were so moved to find what had happened to their forebears. They sent £300.

The NUM gave £1,000, and an anonymous donor gave £500.

However, most the money came in much smaller amounts, sometimes £20, sometimes 50p.

It was descendants of the dead, wishing to see their forebears remembered at their graveside, who gave the bulk of the near £6,000 raised.

They did not want the stories of their forebears, and the incredibly hard lives they led to be forgotten. Now, thanks to their generosity, they will be remembered.