Home sought for Gresford artefact

The headgear was removed from its old site by crane

A permanent home is being sought to preserve a giant wheel which helped raise coal and lower men at the former Gresford Colliery.

Wrexham Museum Service has acquired the wheel - known as the headgear - and wants it to go on show to the public.

After the mine closed in 1973, the headgear and other components were stored at a privately-owned site at Bwlchgwyn.

In September 1934, 266 men died when an explosion ripped through the mine.

As well as the headgear, the museum has also acquired a pair of sheaves, which held the wheel in place.

The sheaves have been temporarily moved to Bersham for safe-keeping until an appropriate home is found.

The Gresford disaster robbed the small community of an entire generation of working men.

The bodies of the dead have never been recovered, and the catastrophe remains one of the coal industry's worst disasters.