THE story of how one woman's premonition saved the lives of a father and his six sons in the region's worst disaster has come to light.

Emma Peacock's story of how she envisaged the 1909 West Stanley Burns Pit explosion, which killed 168 men and boys, has been passed down through the Peacock family for generations.

Another story of how Mrs Peacock's husband, Alfred, went down the pit as part of a rescue attempt and was left there forgotten for three days has also been told for the first time.

Alfred and Emma Peacock's grandson, also Alfred, of Wheatley Hill, east Durham, came forward with the stories after reading about The Northern Echo's campaign to mark the mass burial graves of the men and boys who died in the tragedy.

Mr Peacock, 78, also recently discovered an unpublished photograph of what appears to be the destroyed pit-head of the colliery among the personal belongings of a recently deceased aunt.

He told the story of his grandmother's premonition. He said: "Some people laughed at her when she told them something terrible was about to happen at the pit, but one of her neighbours took her seriously and persuaded her husband and six sons to stay away.

"Theirs was the only house on their street without a coffin.

"Later the woman came to thank Grandma for the warning and said that Grandma could have anything she liked in the house. Grandma declined the offer."

Emma Peacock's husband was a master blacksmith and examined the cage, ropes and chains at the pit after the disaster. The family story has it that somehow Mr Peacock managed to find a way to get the cages to work.

He went down himself, but in the mayhem of the aftermath of the tragedy, was left at the bottom of the shaft for three days.

However, history has traditionally recorded that Paddy Joice, whose descendants live in the Stanley area, was the last man out of the pit.

Mr Peacock said his grandfather, who died in the 1950s, and his grandmother, who died in the 1960s, left Stanley in the years after the tragedy. They had six children and taught them never to forget the disaster.

He said: "There were two plaques to the disaster in the house, and Grandma Peacock used to play a gramophone recording of the Funeral March every New Year's Eve for the rest of her life in memory of the men and boys who died."

* As part of The Northern Echo's campaign to mark the graves of 54 men and boys buried in mass burial trenches, former miner Billy Johnstone has made 100 commemorative plates depicting the disaster.

If all are sold at £20 each at Mr Johnstone's stall at Durham Indoor Market and at Stanley Indoor Market card shop, £500 will be donated to the fund.

If you have any information about the disaster, call reporter Chris Webber on (01642) 675678.