IT begins with the new year celebrations, heralding the start of 1916.

In Low Moor the festivities would have been marked as they were across the country, as the First World War raged on.

Those celebrations and the events in the year ahead - including a horrific event which remains etched into the consciousness of local people - are to be acted out in a production that follows the lives of those living in Low Moor 100 years ago.

Performed by the Low Moor Comical Company, Low Moor 1916 is a presentation in words, images, music and song, commemorating the people involved in and surrounding that event - an explosion at Low Moor Chemical Company, so great that it could be heard as far away as York.

Written by local resident and member of Low Moor Local History Group Mary Twentyman, the show includes songs, some set to familiar tunes, as well as songs the audience will want to sing along to.

The performers - Mary, her husband Geoff, Edna Barker, and Ken and Sandie Hudson - are part of West Yorkshire folk scene. The performance will be narrated by local historian Barbara Reardon.

“We chose the name Low Moor Comical Company to emphasise that life at that time was not all doom and gloom and had its lighter moments,” says Mary, “As well as songs and acting, there will be photographs and a PowerPoint presentation.”

Six firemen lost their lives while tackling the fire that followed the blast and spread to neighbouring factories and homes. In all 40 people lost their lives.

“We have found an additional two who are not on the usually quoted list,” says Mary. “Our presentation looks at some of them and their families and tries to show how the wider community suffered and shared in the loss.

Low Moor Chemical Company produced picric acid which was used as a dye to colour carpets. In contained spaces it was explosive, and had been used to fill shells in the Boar War. On the outbreak of war Low Moor Chemical Company was turned into a munitions factory and expanded to cope with demand.

Among those killed was Benjamin Woodward, a munitions worker. In the show, his character sings about the making of picric acid.

The performance links with aa new book ‘Yellow Poppies’, giving biographies of those who died or who received awards as a result of the explosion or those who received awards as a result of the explosion. The book is published this month, along with an augmented reprint of Ronald Blackwell’s 1987 book ‘The Low Moor explosion - a mystery explained?’ They are priced £8 each or £15 for both.

* Low Moor 1916 will be performed on Friday June 10 at 7.30pm at Aldersgate Methodist Church, Common Road, Low Moor. It is also being performed on September 9 at the same time and venue. Tickets are available on (01274) 673274 or by emailing lowmoor1916@gmail.com