New opera written to mark Gresford disaster 90th anniversary

The new work, 'Gresford – Up From Underground', will receive its world premiere on the opening night of the North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral on Thursday, September 12, when it will be recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio Cymru.

It has been written by musician and composer Jonathan Guy and will be conducted by his brother Robert, with the words by poet Grahame Davies.

The production by the brothers’ Wrexham-based NEW Sinfonia is also being taken to St Giles’ Church, in Wrexham on the weekend of September 19 to 22 as part of the Remembering Gresford Festival.

The work was commissioned by Royal composer Paul Mealor, from Connah’s Quay, the new Artistic Director of the North Wales International Music Festival which runs until September 21.

More than 500 men were working underground when an explosion ripped through the pit in the early hours of the morning on September 22, 1934.

Gresford disaster rescue team.

The number of workers on site was much larger than usual as many had doubled their shifts so they could watch a Wrexham football match later that day.

Only six of the colliers from the affected part of the mine climbed out through the choking smoke and dust, away from the raging underground fires that consumed their workmates.

The premiere at the festival is being supported by the event’s headline sponsor care organisation Pendine Park who cared for the tragedy’s last survivor, Albert Rowlands.

Mr Rowlands (below), who passed away in 2020, was a 15 year old lamp boy at the colliery at the time and his father, John, was among those who perished on that terrible day.

Albert Rowlands. Credit: Mandy Jones

Mario Kreft MBE, the proprietor of Pendine Park, which is backing the festival performances via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust, said: “It will be a particularly poignant occasion for us as we were privileged to be able to provide care for the wonderful Albert Rowlands who survived the trauma of the Gresford Colliery Disaster and went on to live a remarkable and very full life.

“We would like to dedicate our support of the premiere to Albert’s memory.”

Jonathan and Robert Guy, from Wrexham, have a close family link to the mining industry in their home town – their grandfather, Jack Monslow, was a fitter at the Llay Main and Bersham collieries.

Jonathan will manage the performance which will be conducted by Robert and include six professional singers, the NEW Sinfonia orchestra, a community choir of 120 voices drawn from across North Wales and up to 20 young musicians as well as Star Wars actor Mark Lewis Jones, from Rhosllanerchrugog, as the narrator.

Jonathan said: “The Gresford Disaster was something I grew up with as someone from the Wrexham area and we learned about it in school, it’s part of our cultural heritage.

“The 90th anniversary is a significant milestone and as NEW Sinfonia is Wrexham’s professional music organisation it would have been remiss of me not to try to do it justice.

“When I spoke to the people at the Wrexham Miners Rescue Centre they told me that the men who died were actually docked half their pay because they didn’t complete their shift.

“Many of them had their wages in their pockets and the money is still down there with them. Their families were never paid.”

Ruth Evans, conductor/director and composer Jonathan Guy at All Saints' Church, Gresford. Credit: Mandy Jones

Rehearsals have been taking place at St Asaph Cathedral and appropriately at Gresford Church, famous for its bells. There will be two performances at the Cathedral on Thursday, September 12 at 5.30pm and at 8pm.

Jonathan added: “I did not want it to be purely historical. The Gresford Disaster was a tragedy but I also wanted the opera to be reflective of Wrexham as a resurgent place whose people are resilient.

“Wrexham is on the rise again with the football club and also culturally and with its new city status.

“What has also been really lovely is that since we announced we were doing this for the anniversary of the Disaster so many people have come up to me and talked about their own connections not just to Gresford but to mining in the area.”

Grahame Davies, former Deputy Private Secretary to The King when he was Prince of Wales and after his Accession, said: “I’ve always been aware of the Gresford Disaster. I grew up in Coedpoeth and you could see the Gresford Colliery from the windows of our home – quite a few from our village died there.

“My own grandfather worked at Llay Main Colliery as a builder putting in the winding gear.

“I was keen that Gresford was remembered and put on the map because one of the themes was that this disaster had not received the recognition it deserves and that justice had not been done to the miners and their families.

Survivors of the Gresford Colliery Mining Disaster.

“But we also wanted to end on a positive note with something more assertive and confident reflective of a community that’s now on the up with a renewed sense of purpose.”

The new work has been funded by the Arts Council of Wales, Ty Cerdd and the Shared Prosperity Fund for Wrexham.

Jonathan’s brother, Robert, who will conduct the work, said: “It’s great that so many big funders think this is a story worth telling.

“But we didn’t just want to retell the story of the Disaster and what Grahame has done brilliantly with Jon is to relate the disaster through a really powerful and dramatic section called Trapped while the second part is how Wrexham is bouncing back.

“It’s a production that’s got incredible professional standards and it is also one of those projects that’s just snowballed and become bigger than the sum of its parts.”

The St Asaph performances will also be recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio Cymru while Gresford – Up From Underground is in Wrexham at St Giles’s Church on the weekend of September 19 to 22, with a concert for schoolchildren on Friday at 1pm and evening performances on Saturday and Sunday, both at 8pm.

Tickets and further details about the festival programme are available at www.nwimf.com and from Cathedral Frames, St Asaph - 01745 582929 (Weds - Fri, 10 - 4) and Theatr Clwyd by phone - 01352 344101 (Mon - Sat, 10 - 6).