colly0410 1,181 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 RIP to all Aberfan victims. I remember it was live on TV when I got home from school, Mam was almost in tears, very tragic.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,181 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 47 years not 37.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 47 years.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 "Ya" beat me to it...LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colly0410 1,181 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I was forgetting it was 2013, brain fade.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NewBasfordlad 3,599 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Beat me to it to. Just 20 at the time, dad was still down Calvo. Remember those black and white pics like it was yesterday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
barclaycon 569 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Yes that's right it was 47 years. 21st. October 1966. Even Pirate radio broadcast news of the disaster at the time. It's worth checking the Wiki entry about this terrible occurance. It was totally the National Coal Board's fault for tipping on what were clearly marked springs. The chairman of the NCB at the time Lord Robens came in for extreme criticism for his failure to act, his reluctance for the NCB to take any blame, and for taking money from the public disaster relief fund to remove the remaining tips above Aberfan. Such was the Labour government's embarressment about this that in 1997 they paid back the money to the disaster fund. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 No a good day in British coal mining history. I was 15 and remember it very well - especially my father who shed a few tears at the news. I agree, the NCB was not only at fault, although the practice actually preceded the NCB, they then used money designated for the victims to correct the issue - not Britains finest hour by a LONG shot! I did visit Aberfan about 30 years ago - it was very eerie to visit and the lack of teenagers was noticeable, even then. Since then the memorial garden has been built and one day I will visit again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Watch out if it's raining, seriously Eric, the whole area looks like it's weeping for them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisB 150 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 No one would ever think that history could repeat itself in such a shocking way but it did in February this year. A spoil heap at Hatfield colliery in Yorkshire collapsed after days of heavy rain. Mercifully it wasn't near any populated area but it put the Doncaster to Scunthorpe rail line out of action for three months. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 It was the Friday before the beginning of half term Autumn 1966. We went on a school trip to the Lake District the next day. I remember some of the girls crying on the coach. Two years later, a friend and I did a youth hostel trip around the Brecon Beacons. We were in Merthyr Tydfil on market day and the pubs were open all day. We went in a pub and it was empty so the landlord showed us a slide show of the newly formed garden of remembrance. Although I was only 15 I nursed a lot of anger over that terrible tragedy. Poor kids never stood a chance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I used to work at the Dept for Work & Pensions office here in Merthyr, and a few years ago when tasked with clearing old files out of the manager's filing cabinet at the back I came across a file of official documents that one of her predecessors had preserved from when the disaster happened. Two items were particularly poignant - one was a report written by someone at the little local Ministry of Social Security office, as it was in those days, at the mining village of Merthyr Vale which is where the colliery was. It told how the people working there first became aware of something going on, and how it was first thought to be a disaster at the pit itself, but then they found out about the school - where some members of staff had children... The other moving thing was the document that had to be drawn up afterwards listing all the Family Allowance books that had been returned to the office. It hardly bears thinking about what dealing with that must have been like. This archive, I believe, was later donated to the local library as a small piece of history relating to the disaster. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Very painful for the people involved who might have known some of the victims. A mining disaster is bad enough but when it involves members of the miner's families it doesn't bear thinking about. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BulwellBrian 107 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 No one would ever think that history could repeat itself in such a shocking way but it did in February this year. A spoil heap at Hatfield colliery in Yorkshire collapsed after days of heavy rain. Mercifully it wasn't near any populated area but it put the Doncaster to Scunthorpe rail line out of action for three months. At Aberfan the tip was on the side of a mountain and had slurry lagoons in it which caused the instability. At Hatfield the tip did't slip but the weight of it cause a heave under the railway tracks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 I first heard about it while listening to Radio Caroline. As a fourteen year old at the time it will be something I will never forget. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 From that same school year, the Torrey Canyon disaster sticks in my memory banks too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted October 24, 2013 Report Share Posted October 24, 2013 I well remember this Terrible Tragedy; even now when I read or hear the word: 'Aberfan', a shudder runs down my spine - all those Beautiful Children lost............................. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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