steve_b_wales Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 (edited) 58 years ago today. I was nine years old at the time and can remember it. I can't honestly say that I new exactly what it was all about, but I do remember my mother and neighbours, crying. Aberfan is not far from where I live, and I have visited the cemetery many times. Edited October 21 by steve_b_wales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 Hello, Even as a teenager i remember this tragedy on the news, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 (edited) NIne years old. Me the same. Here in Leicestershire already half term. So at home. I remember the news report on the radio at breakfast. Half a generation lost. Today. Remember. Aberfan. https://aberfan.walesonline.co.uk/ Edited October 21 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aled Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 Remember learning about it at school, a huge tragedy a teacher was found sadly passed away, shielding his pupils, incredible that it was allowed to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 And the money donated for the people has never been fully given out and no one was ever held responsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 11 minutes ago, Minky said: And the money donated for the people has never been fully given out and no one was ever held responsible. I thought the £150k taken by the govt was paid back and an additional £1.5m paid in by the Welsh Govt as compo. Although reading about the funds distribution, it certainly sounds chaotic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 Just now, Minky said: And the money donated for the people has never been fully given out and no one was ever held responsible. I was told when I lived near there that the money donated was put into a fund to alleviate hardship resulting from the tragedy This , it was said, was because they didn't want the money to be seen as blood money and just handed out. The proud miners wouldn't have wanted it anyway. Seeing it as buying them off. The problem then arises that it's difficult to identify hardship resulting from the loss of a child. Depression, grief, PTSD etc. but hardship? So because it was set up as a hardship fund few claims were ever successful. The trustees of the fund set the bar too high, probably trying to be prudent. The money has become a bit of urban folklore now. Allegedly there are still trustees administering the fund but most of the parents and survivors have now joined the victims in the hillside cemetery near the A470. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted October 21 Author Report Share Posted October 21 (edited) When one of the teachers who saved the lives of many of the children, passed away, some of those who were saved, attended her funeral, together with their children. 7 hours ago, enfieldspares said: NIne years old. Me the same. Here in Leicestershire already half term. So at home. I remember the news report on the radio at breakfast. Half a generation lost. Today. Remember. Aberfan. https://aberfan.walesonline.co.uk/ As a father who lost a son at the age of 14 (21 years ago next month) I had tears reading the statements etc from various people. Edited October 21 by steve_b_wales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted October 21 Author Report Share Posted October 21 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-150d11df-c541-44a9-9332-560a19828c47?fbclid=IwY2xjawGC-YNleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUtUZy1hP9mc237ZM2r38TSekXPlZNhX_I4f53cuQEEPnHNA6H99qqjU9w_aem_Ej6oqtIMFjeuIA0a6tmEvQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shambam1962 Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 Two of the brothers in the Aberfan disaster moved to our village and married local girls, 21 miles away. Both Alan and Philip regularly attend our junior school and talk to the pupils about the events of that sad day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted October 21 Author Report Share Posted October 21 Not one mention on the BBC Wales news this morning. It has been 'mentioned' on BBC Wales online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wylye Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 A dreadful, unimaginable tragedy. I find it very moving just thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miserableolgit Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 I remember the harrowing news reports at the time. A terrible tragedy. Lest we forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 I remember it being reported.................i wonder if there are any other "accidents" waiting for a happening.........am i right in thinking it was caused by tipping mining spoil on a stream coarse...which eventually caused a slippage zone ? should never happened in the first place...memories run deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted October 21 Author Report Share Posted October 21 Not one mention on the BBC Wales news this morning. It has been 'mentioned' on BBC Wales online. Just one of the many harrowing photographs, showing the devastation caused by the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 9 hours ago, steve_b_wales said: I can't honestly say that I new exactly what it was all about, but I do remember my mother and neighbours, crying. That is my memory of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 51 minutes ago, steve_b_wales said: Not one mention on the BBC Wales news this morning. It has been 'mentioned' on BBC Wales online. Just one of the many harrowing photographs, showing the devastation caused by the tip. never seen that picture before...........that is criminal negligence....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 I was sitting in morning assembly and having the deputy head who came from the the neighbouring village or close to, read out the news in tears had a very lasting memory. Many years later after the investigation it became even more devastating when the disaster could have been avoided but wasnt due to the cost of saving a bit of money. 116 kids died the same age as i was at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 I was 21 at the time and this will be another one of those chapters in people lives that will stay with them until the day they die , seeing the miners and ex miners digging with there bare hands where the classrooms was a time in history that seem to stand still , what a terrible loss with so many children and not forgetting the teachers and anyone else who was sadly taken and those that were and still are grieving . MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Shot Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 (edited) 8 hours ago, ditchman said: I wonder if there are any other "accidents" waiting for a happening........ Happened not too long ago in Tylorstown following storm Dennis. Luckily there was nothing below the tip to be consumed other than a cycle path. Works are still ongoing more than 4 years later to clear the debris and stabilise the remainder of the tip. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53185569.amp Another Aberfan disaster was narrowly avoided where I grew up. The Debris damaged homes and spilled through doors and windows. Effects were limited as the street was mostly abandoned by that point following the Aberfan disaster. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/entire-valleys-street-demolished-prevent-17534531 There are hundreds of spoil tips still remaining in the UK which costs an enormous amount of money to monitor. As local council budgets are tightened monitoring and maintenance of tips will no doubt become neglected opening up the possibility of further tip slides. There are more than 2500 coal spoil tips in Wales alone, mostly in the south Wales valleys. There is a map on the welsh gov website showing the cat C and cat D (most at risk) tips. You can see from the maps that they nearly all reside above densly populated areas. https://www.gov.wales/find-disused-coal-tips#133910 Edited October 21 by Poor Shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted October 21 Report Share Posted October 21 I was nine then,the same as many victims,remember it being reported on tv,I was in Norfolk at the time.Shocked the nation and beyond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.