Aberfan

[Metro Man]

You never know what's around the corner..

 

[Jasper]

Government took £150,000 from the memorial fund to clear it. Only paid it back in 1997.

 

[hertsmackem]

The one tragedy from my childhood I will never forget....

yes I remember it well was terrible, also remember the Torre Canyon oil disaster

 

[b1gals]

A bloke I worked with told me that this incident turned him against religion. Apparently he was a regular church goer beforehand but couldn't accept that God would let this happen to so many children.

 

[Sir Lancelot]

Me neither it was the first time I’d seen my dad cry

I came home from school to find my Mam sitting on the floor in front of the tv breaking her heart.

Regardless of whether that's true, a royal visit on its own wasn't going to be relevant to the bereaved parents.

It isn’t true. A visit by the Queen while they were still digging through the ruins would have been a distraction. Lord Snowden was there in his capacity as a photographer and Philip represented the Queen.

Don’t forget that the Queen was also the mother of children around the same age as those who died. It’s nonsense to suggest that she was unaffected by the event. She may be Queen but she is also a human being despite claims of lizard descent.

 

[Big Jeff]

Aabsolute tragedy - bloody awful.

I have no idea how the families moved on. So so sad.

 

[yorkyexile]

Government took £150,000 from the memorial fund to clear it. Only paid it back in 1997.

Some shocking behaviour afterwards both by the government and the NCB and Alf Robens by all accounts

 

[gluepot]

Terrible tragedy, not forgotten.

(Victoria Hall kids RIP too)

 

[Jasper]

Aabsolute tragedy - bloody awful.

I have no idea how the families moved on. So so sad.

A lot couldn’t sadly.

 

[shadowplay]

An ex partner was from Merthyr and we drove through the valley a few years ago. Beautiful landscape, really.

 

[AB22 Easy Tiger]

The Coal Board were bastards.

 

[ATS]

Logon or register to see this image

Never seen that before, bloody hell .

 

[yorkyexile]

The Coal Board were bastards.

Aberfan: The fight for justice is a brilliant BBC film on it. It cncentrates on the aftermath and the shoddy behaviour of Alf Robens afterwards and the NCB and officials leading up to the slide

 

[PinzaC55]

The NCB didn't seem to learn much from this. I remember as late as about 1977 the slag heaps at Ferryhill next to the main line were absolutely vast though the didn't have any houses near them.

 

[seaham mackem]

read the book Aberfan by Gaynor Madgwick, she was a child who was trapped in the school and she tells her story and she confirms Lord Snowdon arrived by train with a spade strapped to his suitcase and helped out , it’s a must read and tells what the government and NCB did and not do
I came home from school to find my Mam sitting on the floor in front of the tv breaking her heart.


It isn’t true. A visit by the Queen while they were still digging through the ruins would have been a distraction. Lord Snowden was there in his capacity as a photographer and Philip represented the Queen.

Don’t forget that the Queen was also the mother of children around the same age as those who died. It’s nonsense to suggest that she was unaffected by the event. She may be Queen but she is also a human being despite claims of lizard descent.

 

[vinegar hill]

Remember coming home from school that day and my Mam a strong woman was in tears.
It was on the telly and she was distraught, I couldn’t believe it.

 

[Dan..Dan..Dan..Dan]

Stop introducing facts. Where was Princess Diana ? Nowhere to be seen.

Not quite.
Phil the Greek was there the next day along with Lord Snowdon.
The Queen turned up a week later, again with Philip.

 

[Sir Lancelot]

Stop introducing facts. Where was Princess Diana ? Nowhere to be seen.

Not even bothered to be born at that date. How shameful, hiding in her egg rather than going out pressing the flesh.

 

[Abu Dhabi Red and White]

This and the Seaham Lifeboat Disaster are both vivid memories from my childhood - the latter was of course much smaller but local to me.

 

[shadowplay]

Government took £150,000 from the memorial fund to clear it. Only paid it back in 1997.

And it was paid back only at the original level of inflation. It should have been £1.5m.