116 children and 28 adults killed by the NCB in Aberfan. Note the dignity of the bereaved relatives and the appalling behaviour of the NCB. The families had to pay for the removal of the remaining two tips above the village - the NCB under the chairmanship of Robens refused any monies.
Never forget that terrible day just started work in the pits the year before, the N.C.B. (government owned)(Robens was appointed by the government) paid the colliers nowt a yard in them days and took little note of coal wast tips, we should thank the likes of Arthur Scargill and the N.U.M for bringing about legislation in the mines and quarry act's to stop this ever happening again.
Thanks G O - if you're into music try to get a copy of Karl Jenkins Cantata Memoria - written about the Aberfan disaster. Absolutely brilliant piece of music.
Wow! That was one hell of a read. Heartbreaking at times. I was only 10 myself when this tragedy happened but I do remember it. Saw news reports on tv but TBH was possibly just too young at the time to comprehend the enormity of the disaster. R.I.P. to all who perished that day. And for what?
Brilliant piece by the BBC, the bit where the guy tucked all the bodies in at night was moving. "I do remember one of my colleagues - an amazing man who’d won a military medal in the war and was one of the hardest detectives I’d ever worked with. Each night before we left and the night shift took over, he would go round cwtching (a Welsh term for cuddle or comfort) the children and tuck in the blankets covering their bodies. It was a long cold night ahead.” This is the school memorial today https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6..._ZH9Zjt4QzK0hP9AfTDg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en And the chapel where the bodies were laid whilst they were identified, it was recently burnt down in an arson attack, only the front still stands. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6...ufqanYSrm84Gf4c0Dt8g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
Thanks for posting that - I was only 3 at the time so dont remember it at all but of course knew of it but that article was excellent - if very upsetting, reading
My year 11 used an article about the disaster in a mock exam on Monday. Afterwards one of the kids said to me 'did that really happen?' When I read that article this morning I scrapped what I had planned to do and used that link to teach all my classes about it. Some very shocked faces and discussion today in my classroom.
