Commemorative Service Held to Mark 50th Anniversary of Llay Main Colliery’s Closure

Crowds gathered in Llay on Friday morning to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the Llay Main Colliery.

The ceremony took place at the Miners’ Heritage Centre Memorial Wheel at 11am on Friday 11th March to mark the 50th anniversary of the closure of the mine and to also remember those who lost their lives while working at the colliery.

Llay Main Colliery closed on 11th March 1966 after forty four years. In its time it was the largest colliery in Wales, providing work for thousands of men and women.

In 1929 Llay Main produced over a million tons of coal -nearly 4,000 tons daily. In 1953 Llay Number One shaft was deepened to 3096 feet to become the deepest coal mine in the whole of Europe. The model village of Llay was built between 1920 and 1924.

Over the past few months much work has taken place to organise the service, with appeals to help trace family members of those who lost their lives / worked in the mines.

More recently the Llay Miners’ Heritage Centre benefited from £1000 grant to help with the 50th anniversary commemorations.

Alongside the ceremony, school children released blue and white balloons were released to commemorate the eighty men who were killed at Llay Main.

The Old Gresford Colliery Hooter was also ‘powered up’ to make 50 years since the colliery closure.

The event was described as ‘proud day for all those who come from Llay’, by local Cllr Rob Walsh – who added: “What a fantastic event. The ex-miners, their families, the school children and the organisers have done the village proud. The strong community spirit we have in Llay is thanks to the colliery.

“It was only right and proper that this special anniversary was honoured the way it has been. As the grandson of an ex-miner, I was proud to be there today. I would like to pay special tribute to Vic Tyler-Jones, Maldwyn Davies and Malcolm Williams for all their hard work in organising this event. Without their dedication, none of this would have been possible.

“Also, a big thank you to Gordon Crowley for filming today`s events. A proud day for all those who come from Llay.”