THE seaside community of Easington Colliery will this weekend unite to mark the 60th anniversary of a pit disaster - one of the blackest days in County Durham's mining history.

It was just before dawn on May 29,1951, that a pit explosion wiped out the lives of 81 men and boys from the village.

Two rescue workers would also die during the harrowing retrieval of the bodies.
"Even today the events of the day are remembered by people - especially the families of the 83 who lost their lives.

"We may not have the colliery any more but we do have the community. The 60th anniversary services allow us all to remember these men."

A service will start at the Community Memorial Garden, on the site of the former colliery, at 11am on Sunday.

The garden will be rededicated by the Bishop of Jarrow The Right Reverend Mark Bryant and an address will be given by Alan Cummings, Easington National Union of Mineworkers Lodge Secretary.

A procession, accompanied by Easington Colliery Band, will then make its way to the Church of Ascension for the Commemoration Service, starting at 11.30am.

After the church service, the congregation will proceed to the Miners' Mass Grave site, in Easington Colliery Cemetery, for a further Memorial Service at 12.45pm. Floral tributes will be laid and another miner's lamp will be unveiled to representing the 60th anniversary. The service will end at 1.15pm followed by refreshments at the Colliery Club.