THREE poignant memorial services were held for the 344 men and boys who were killed in Lancashire’s worst ever mining tragedy.

Young and old gathered at the Pretoria Pit disaster monument on the border of Over Hulton and Atherton on Saturday, the eve of the accident’s 104th anniversary.

The disaster, the third worst to have ever occurred in British history, happened at 7.50am on December 21, 1910, and decimated families throughout Westhoughton and Atherton.

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling led the ceremony from the memorial at the bottom of Broadway, off Newbrook Road, which is 300 yards from the shaft from which survivors and bodies were raised.

Andrea Finney, author of 344 – A Story of the Pretoria Pit Disaster, recited moving poem Where’s Mi Dad, and there were hymns led by Anna Teece.

Wreaths were laid before Rev Canon Dr Chris Bracegirdle, team rector at St Bartholomew’s Church, led prayers and observed a minute’s silence.

Ms Hilling said: “I would like to pay tribute to those who died in Pretoria Pit but also congratulate the communities who have ensured the event is remembered and commemorated.

“It is a fitting tribute to those who died, and to those who continue to commemorate those who lost their lives in the tragedy.”

The devastating underground explosion is thought to have been caused by an accumulation of gas from a roof collapse the previous day.

Only three miners survived the devastating explosion, with one dying less than 24 hours after being rescued.

Two new memorials were engraved and placed in a small memorial garden with the original stone in 2012 after ex-miner Tony Hogan, whose great-grandfather was one of the victims of the disaster, spent two years campaigning and fundraising for a lasting tribute.

Mr Hogan said: “It is embedded in our history unfortunately, so it is important that each year people come together and remember the disaster and the people who died.

“As the expression goes, ‘lest we forget’.”

A service was held at 7.40am on Saturday at the lone miner statue in Ditchfield Garden, Westhoughton, with a neckerchief tied round the neck of the statue and maroons fired at 7.50am.

Then, at 10am, a service of remembrance was held at St Bartholomew’s Church in Westhoughton followed by the laying of wreaths at the Pretoria Pit monument in Westhoughton Cemetery.

Cllr Kevan Jones, Mayor of Westhoughton, said: “It is so important people remember the tragedy and pay their respects because it is a part of our history.”