The Gresford Colliery disaster will be marked with a candlelit vigil at the building where rescuers were sent from to try to help.

The Wrexham Miners Project, at the old Wrexham Miners Rescue Station, will be holding the vigil from 6pm till 8pm on Thursday, September 21 marking the 89th anniversary of the disaster.

In the early hours of Saturday, September 22, 1934, 266 local men and boys tragically lost their lives following an explosion in the Dennis section of the Gresford Colliery mine.

The vigil will begin at 6pm as that is what time the miners started going down for their shift on September 21. By 8pm the same night, all the miners had gone down, so between these times 266 candles will be lit.

READ MORE: The 266 lives lost in Gresford Colliery Disaster to be remembered at annual serivce

The candles will be lit by family members to remember their loved ones,  and at 2.08 am on September 22 they will be blown out by project staff, to mark the first explosion. Staff will then later go home.

The vigil is to let the families remember the lives lost before the annual memorial service, which will be held from 11am on Friday, September 22 at the Miner’s Wheel Memorial in Gresford.

The vigil is open to the public and there is a choir that will be in attendance at the event.