Industry News
A pit disaster commemoration, restored on TV’s The Repair Shop, donated to Beamish Museum
A mining disaster commemorative serviette, restored on TV show The Repair Shop, has been donated to Beamish Museum’s collection ahead of the anniversary of the tragedy.
The West Stanley Pit Disaster on 16th February 1909, claimed the lives of 168 men and boys. The commemorative serviette, made from crepe paper and bearing the names of those who died, was discovered folded up in a book a couple of years ago.
The serviette underwent restoration on TV series The Repair Shop, screened in October last year, taken there by two friends, John Greaves and his late friend John Beard, from Yorkshire.
Ahead of the 116th anniversary of the West Stanley Pit Disaster, the commemorative serviette has today (Wednesday 12th February 2025) been donated to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, which stands just 1.5 miles from the site of the West Stanley Pit. It will be displayed in the lamp cabin in the museum’s 1900s Pit Village, which tells the story of the region’s mining communities. Commemorative items such as these were often created following mining disasters to help raise funds for families.
Jonathan Kindleysides, Beamish’s Head of Industry, said: “We are thrilled to receive such a poignant donation, with such a fascinating story.
“The serviette will form part of the permanent exhibition in our Colliery lamp cabin. It is a sombre reminder of the dangers coal miners faced on a daily basis.”
John Greaves, a former miner, who lives near Rotherham and is originally from Seaham Harbour, and his friend John Beard, were committed to educating people about mining heritage, gathering mining-related objects, and giving talks in care homes and schools.
It was in the pages of a mining book that had been given to them that the commemorative serviette was discovered. The pair approached BBC TV series The Repair Shop for help, and it was impressively restored.
John says they wanted to return the item to the area it was originally from and, with the help of Stanley Town Council, arranged for it to be donated to Beamish Museum. Sadly, John Beard has passed away since the TV show was recorded. John Greaves, and his friend’s widow Marie, presented the serviette to Beamish’s Jonathan Kindleysides at the lamp cabin in the museum’s 1900s Pit Village.
John said: “It was always our intention for it to come up to West Stanley one way or another.
“The serviette was given to me and my mining partner John, we were both miners and both committed to keeping mining alive.
“Somebody gave us a load of books, we found it in a book. I think it was probably two years before it was found.
“It’s made of crepe paper, luckily it survived. We took it to The Repair Shop, when we got it back it was amazing, it really was beautiful.”
Stanley Town Council, who made arrangements for the donation, also attended the presentation.
Beamish Museum will be holding an act of remembrance to commemorate the West Stanley Pit Disaster in its 1900s Pit Village chapel on Saturday, 15th February at 2pm, including members of the Stanley community, Beamish Choir and Youth Club.
A memorial service, run by Stanley Town Council, will be held in Stanley on Sunday, 16th February outside North Durham Academy, at 3.30pm, which representatives of the museum, including the choir will be attending.