Aberfan disaster
it's coming up to 50yrs since the horrific disaster at Aberfan on the 21st of October , preparations are well under way for rememberance , but the atmosphere is already clouding over here in Wales
Im sure many on here will have some memories like me I was just in my teens when it happened such a black clouded time over Wales and schools for a very long time 
Comments
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It was particularly affecting for me, as a teenager, because we have family in South Wales and my Uncle John and one of my cousins (ex-miners both of them) helped with clearing debris and rescue attempts. I don't think either of them were ever the same again afterwards. It was a tragedy which affected everyone.
You could say, though, that some good came about as a result of Aberfan, in that lots of Welsh valleys were cleared of the huge tips which had blighted them for years, and much of South Wales was greener as a result.
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I was 13 at the time and just starting to get interested in news stories. I can distinctly remember the reporter - I think it might have been Cliff Michelmore - reporting from the scene unable to stop the tears as he was speaking. Very moving and such a
sad event.0 -
I was in my late teens, the announcement spurred many to drive to Wales and help with the desperate digging that had to be done. The valleys are so different now but in the old days people rushed to help each other. Very tragic day.
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Gosh, where have those 50 years gone! I was a very small child, but can remember my Mum crying while watching the TV. A terrible tragedy, all those young lives ended far too early, and the heartbreak left behind.
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It was particularly affecting for me, as a teenager, because we have family in South Wales and my Uncle John and one of my cousins (ex-miners both of them) helped with clearing debris and rescue attempts. I don't think either of them were ever the same again afterwards. It was a tragedy which affected everyone.
You could say, though, that some good came about as a result of Aberfan, in that lots of Welsh valleys were cleared of the huge tips which had blighted them for years, and much of South Wales was greener as a result.
The Slag heaps & the damage wrought were pretty well foretold in Richard Llewellyn's pre-WW2 book "How Green Was My Valley" although this tragedy could not have been forecast by him.
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Of course this disaster at Aberfan was covered on the news world wide, and unsurprisingly im sorry to say for many tourists to South Wales the cemetery at Aberfan is on there to visit list who are all genuinely moved
I myself have been three times in 50yrs once with school not long before I left , again after the renovations and about 6 yrs ago with relatives from Malta , each time many men and women with tears,
seeing the newsreels from that time and the photos of all those coffins in the ground all over again has certainaly not eased the sadness even after 50 yrs
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I remember the schoolteacher at the school I was attending in North Wales asking for all the children to bring in a piece of their clothing and any pocket money to be given to the relief effort. Every single child in our class gave up their pocket money
and the Assembly the following morning was just a hall full of tears. I still well up now and still remember the tales of teachers trying to protect the children with their own bodies from the slag heap. A dreadful tragedy.0 -
I am, now, by any standards an old man & have seen & been involved in many sad things.
Never the less to see, again, the tragedy reviewed on T.V. today & to hear the stories , so simply & clearly told, of some of those 'children' at the Aberfan Memorial Garden still choked me up .
Nothing more I can say.
Brian A B M
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I remember the event but was only 9 at the time. Such a terrible disaster. The memories still linger.
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I can't bear to watch much of the footage of it. As a child, I was brought up in the valleys and I wasn't aware of the dangers of the slag heaps as they were considered the 'norm' in those days. Thank God we have moved on since then but it was such a shame
that this terrible disaster had to happen before something was done!0 -
I remember it clearly. I was only10 at the time and remember sitting in our back room watching it on tv and felt sad that they were around the same age as myself and that tragedy cut their lives short. We've passed through Aberfan over the years many times
and still feel sad when I think of what happened and what could have been avoided if only they had listened. I for one have never forgotten and don't think I ever will.0
