9/11 - 20 years on, we remember the day which changed life forever

September 11, 2001 was the day life changed forever.

It was the day when Osama Bin Laden-inspired Al-Qaeda terrorists flew two hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon.

Another jet crashed in rural Pennsylvania as a group of passengers launched an heroic bid to overpower hijackers.

The devastating attacks left thousands dead and sent shockwaves across the world - a world that has never been the same since.

New stunning skyscrapers now stand where the landmark twin towers once proudly stood.

New York is once again the brash and bustling city it always was, but 9/11 will always be there casting its shadow over the place that never sleeps.

Now on the 20th anniversary of the atrocities, some of our staff remember that dreadful day with their own personal stories.

Ben McVay, Derbyshire Times reporter: I was at home, having just awoken after being in bed in-between night shifts inputting grocery orders for prison inmates at a warehouse in Stafford.

This was when rolling news was still relatively new and I watched the BBC coverage most of the afternoon before going back to work.

Needless to say, the in-depth analysis of the my fellow warehouse operatives during fag breaks that night was razor-sharp and thought-provoking.

Gay Bolton, Derbyshire Times features writer: I was working as a sub editor at the Derbyshire Times when the news editor at that time dashed into the office and said “oh my God, you’ll never guess what’s happened?”

She had been into the canteen for a break where she had seen the horror broadcast on television.

Work stopped briefly as we went to watch it on the screen, feeling numb and shaken to the core by the devastating sight.

Michael Broomhead, Derbyshire Times reporter: At about 4pm on September 11, 2001, I returned home after a day at school and walked into the living room. The TV was on and I remember seeing a plane fly into a tower. I thought it was a film. Of course, it wasn’t - it was a very real tragedy.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching the news in horror at the unfolding disaster. At the time, I don’t think anyone could truly comprehend what was happening - especially my 13-year-old self.

The whole world changed - and I don’t think it’s ever been right since.

Twenty years on, my thoughts are with everyone affected by the events of that terrible day.

Jon Cooper, former Derbyshire Times reporter: A phone call was picked up by my former colleague Don Collins who said someone had tipped us off that a plane had flown into the side of one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre in America.

My first thought was that this must have been an accident with a small plane and my second thought as a regional news journalist was what could possibly be the local angle for us?

A further call suggested a second plane had gone into the second of the Twin Towers and it all seemed like a hoax until staff fled to our canteen to watch the true horror of what had really happened unfold on TV.

Shamefully, I had been working on a Dronfeld accident black-spot story at the time and I stayed rooted to my desk typing out my copy still expecting the whole thing to be a hoax.

As my colleagues failed to return to the newsroom, I feared this was no hoax and was horrified as I crept into the canteen to see all my work mates glued to the small TV screen watching the news in absolute disbelief.

This was an appalling global horror that made everyone stop in their tracks and sadly it has changed the shape of the world for decades to come.

For this reason we must never forget those who lost their lives and those who were left grieving and we must not give up on our own personal efforts to help shape a more tolerant and understanding society.

Julia Rodgerson, Derbyshire Times deputy editor: I was working in the former Bakewell Factory Shop when my boss phoned to say something had happened in America. I didn’t have a smartphone then so it was hard to tell exactly what was going on.

Customers were coming in to the shop saying ‘there’s been a plane crash’ but the general impression at the time was that it was a tragic accident.

It was only when I got home and turned on the TV and saw the rolling news that I realised the scale of the disaster.