 | Home > Off Topic > Aberfan disaster. |
 
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| Happyoldgit Member Since: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3471   
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Fiftieth anniversary tomorrow.
Spare a thought at 9:15am for the 116 children, 28 adults and all those injured and touched by the tragic events of Friday October 26th 1966. Steve. Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades. Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW. [Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc] http://forums.lr4x4.com I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic. |
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20th Oct 2016 8:33pm |
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| JAY BOY Member Since: 04 May 2010 Location: Not here Posts: 1706 
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20th Oct 2016 8:54pm |
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I can just about remember it happening. I was 7 at the time so about the same age as those poor kids. Watched the documentary on TV the other night and well, that was pretty shocking. 
| Happyoldgit Member Since: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3471
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I have Welsh blood and still have family over there. I still remember the effect the news reports that and subsequent days had on my family and the wider community. Steve.
Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades. Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW. [Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc] http://forums.lr4x4.com I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic. |
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20th Oct 2016 10:20pm |
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| williamthedog Member Since: 29 Dec 2012 Location: south wales Posts: 3441 
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21st Oct 2016 5:23am |
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| justinp Member Since: 24 Jun 2016 Location: Cambridge Posts: 167
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I had to Wikipedia Aberfan and what a sad tragedy. Thank you for making me aware.
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21st Oct 2016 5:54am |
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| Happyoldgit Member Since: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3471
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Steve.
Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades. Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW. [Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc] http://forums.lr4x4.com I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic. |
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21st Oct 2016 8:44am |
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| Stacey007 Member Since: 25 Sep 2015 Location: Cheshire Posts: 3754
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Watched a little of the news this morning
I guy there who was in the school with his friends telling his story... his mate next to him had gone and a girl to the side of him as they were pushed to the wall of the classroom, awful ! he could remember it clearly and found it hard to tell his story Especially as I was just about to drop our two off at school and I imagine at 9.15 after the register they are all excited about what they are doing for the day. very very sad |
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21st Oct 2016 9:13am |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8582
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I remember the news of it coming in.
Very horrorfic. The people in charge at the NCB and the then government did not exactly deal with the aftermath in a kind considerate manner. Brendan |
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21st Oct 2016 9:26am |
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| Birdy Member Since: 07 Oct 2011 Location: CĂ´te d'Azur Posts: 866  
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I was a raw recruit at the time and one of the other sprogs was a young guy from Aberfan who'd joined up to get away from the village's depression and misery.
Squaddies are cruel, the constant chanting “Close the door, it's coming through the window, close the window, it's coming through the door” caused him to completely break down and be discharged. Not my proudest moment… Peter |
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21st Oct 2016 9:28am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17431 
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Like Riverboy above, I was just about the same age as the children who died, and it is probably the first disaster that really registered with me, I was just old enough for it to be shocking.
The tragedy was bad enough, but the events afterwards were in someways worse, with the conduct of the NCB, the behaviour of Lord Robens (NCB Chairman), and to an extent the Government and NUM, being beneath contempt. After being found principally culpable by the enquiry, Robens was, as some may know, 'rewarded' by being appointed head of what became the HSE (you really couldn't make it up!), and the NCB refused to remove the rest of the dangerous spoil tips. Ł150k (in 1960s money, so a huge amount) was illegally taken from the relief fund by the government to pay for the clean up. Scandalous at every level, and above all a human tragedy on a terrible scale. RIP. |
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21st Oct 2016 9:33am |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5111 
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Same here I was thirteen and the tragedy really hit home. I remember my school at the time raising money to send to Aberfan.
What is also so shocking is the way the families were treated after the disaster and the shocking way the NCB acted at the inquiry, in fact I cannot think of a single official that acted fair and decent towards Aberfan in the months after the event. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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21st Oct 2016 11:56am |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5111
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Very few members have posted on this thread, I am not surprised it was fifty years ago and most members were not even born then at a time when Welsh villagers, miners and their families did not matter, as long as they brought up the coal to keep homes warm and industry fed they were just a forgotten necessary.
It was just what happened on the 21st October made people realise all-around the world what these people were. I hope that those who were not born then realise what sacrifice that village gave and how they were treated at the time, which by today’s standards was terrible I picked out one of the 116 children who died and wrote this on a posy laid in that place. Can you smell coal dust Acrid It does not dissolve in your mouth caustic It hurts to swallow it Choking It belongs in the earth Clogging I smiled because I was young Caustic I wanted my mum Help I opened my mouth Stuffed I could not breathe Inhalation Lungs filled rapidly Jam packed And then I died My name is Valmai Mary Owen I was aged eight I was at school at Aberfan And I cannot play any more My cries were stifled  Click image to enlarge For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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24th Oct 2016 11:33pm |
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| Happyoldgit Member Since: 14 Sep 2007 Location: Norfolk Posts: 3471
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Time moves on and such is the pace of life events those not directly touched or moved by events at the time simply forget. There are a number of national and international events from that era that I recall and left markers on my life, Kennedy's assassination and funeral, the Passing of Churchill and his funeral.
Then there was Aberfan which went to the core of my maternal family as they had their roots in the valleys. Such sadness that still echoes today. Subsequent generations may well be unaware of the nation's dependency on coal back then, and those who risked their lives and health to extract it, and the families and wider communities that supported them. Steve. Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades. Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW. [Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc] http://forums.lr4x4.com I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic. Last edited by Happyoldgit on 26th Oct 2016 7:50am. Edited 1 time in total |
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25th Oct 2016 4:40pm |
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| defender9 Member Since: 12 Mar 2016 Location: Fylde Coast Posts: 1629 
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Agree with Happyoldgit, certain events stay with you, I too remember where I was when Kennedy was shot etc and more recently the attack on the twin towers. I remember as a 13 year old watching the news unfold of the Aberfan disaster, even as a 13 year old I was shocked by this tragedy and when older equally shocked when I learned about the way things were handled by all the various bodies such as the NCB and the Government.
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25th Oct 2016 7:35pm |
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