Aberfan Disaster
- 21 October 2016 16:14319210At 9.15am on October 21, 1966, the children of Pantglas primary school were in their classrooms awaiting the day’s first lesson after morning assembly.
From nowhere there came a thunderous rumbling noise which grew louder and louder. Teachers in the classrooms that backed on to the colliery slag urged their pupils to dive under desks for cover but it was too late.
At the top of the mound, too far off for the children to hear, a miner saw the 40,000 cubic metres of debris start to move and cried in vain for people to flee.
As it gained momentum, a 50ft-wide avalanche raced down the hillside at 30 miles an hour, like a volcano erupting.
A build-up of water following weeks of heavy rain had made the heap of coal waste dangerously unstable and it collapsed, smashing into Aberfan.
Brian Dixon likes this"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 21 October 2016 16:17319211http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/50-years-after-aberfan-mining-9006550
http://aberfan.walesonline.co.uk/"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
21 October 2016 17:2131921615 at the time and just left school for the last time,watched the event unfold on a black and white telly. - 21 October 2016 17:27319217I think everybody remembers where they were when they heard the news.
- Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
21 October 2016 17:42319218An unforgettable awful and probably avoidable tragedy.Button likes this-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - Button
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,109
21 October 2016 18:02319219And simply not, never, a price worth paying. I recommend the BBC news website but it makes distressing reading.(Not my real name.) - 21 October 2016 18:20319224Ros Bastow was seven years old and a pupil at Pantglas, when her name was Ros Davies. Now 57, she had never spoken about what happened that day. A week before the anniversary, she decided she needed to. So she wrote a poem and shared it with friends. On the 50th anniversary, she hopes to see the teacher who helped her to safety for the first time in decades.
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 21 October 2016 18:43319225Simply horrific. So glad that the BBC covered the memorial, giving it top slot today. This awful moment should never be forgotten.Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES.
- 21 October 2016 20:10319233Dramatisation on BBC Wales at 9 tonight, using Welsh actors, Michael Sheen and Eve Myles to mention a couple.
- 22 October 2016 18:53319256" Arrogant lies!".
Arrogant lies!. - A twisted disguise!.
Many complicit in this.
Childrens lives lost!. - Who paid the cost!.
And who hid away in dismiss!.
Arrogance there!. - Amid the despair!.
Excuses prepared right away.
No spring to find!. - Absence of mind!.
Plans that showed nothing that day!.
False sympathy shown!. - attempt to disown!.
Ministers smugly proclaim.
The Nation will pay!. - `We will steal that away!`.
`Then take half of that fund for our own!`.
Lord Robens was sent!. - With but one intent!.
To display all the " Coal Board" concern.
But arrogant men!. - Again and again!.
Would refuse there were. `Lessons to learn!`.
Arrogant lies!. - A twisted disguise!.
A tale of complicit deceit.
All hidden out there!. - `Aberfan` lay it bare!.
The blame was laid there!. - at your feet!.
" Blame for the disaster rests with the NCB! ".
Lord Justice Edmond Davies. - Chair of the
tribunal. `Aberfan inquiry, 1967 `.
Mick. - ( The price of coal ).
( Copyright Michael Westwood 2016 )."My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
