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At 8.10am on October 14, 1913, the pit hooter of Universal Colliery Senghenydd rang out across the Aber Valley – alerting people of the blast that had just taken place. 

The 440 men and boys who died in the Senghenydd Mining Disaster – 439 miners and one rescuer – was and remains, the worst mining disaster in British history. 

Nearly 110 years later, the hooter was sounded once more – this time in tribute to those who lost their lives.  

At a memorial service held at the Welsh National Mining Memorial and Garden, Chair of the Aber Valley Heritage Group, Cllr Lindsay Whittle, said: “What a powerful sound to open our service today. That sound 110 years ago would have sent shudders of fear around this valley.”

Cllr Whittle, who is a Plaid Cymru councillor for Penyrheol, continued: “Thank goodness it is not a sound we are familiar with today.”

Cllr Whittle added that ten years ago – on the 100th anniversary of the disaster – he had made a promise, which he repeated: “I said: ‘We will never forget. We never have. And we never will’.”

He continued: “I’d like to pay tribute to the committee of the Aber Valley Heritage Group – both present members and former, some were sadly no longer with us for their tireless contribution.” 

The Welsh National Mining Memorial – dedicated to all miners who lost their lives in mining disasters across the country – was built by volunteers from the Aber Valley Heritage Group and includes a bronze statue, a wall of remembrance and a path of memory.

It was unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the disaster by Jack Humphreys, its chair at the time and broadcaster Roy Noble, a former Senghenydd teacher and patron of the Aber Valley Heritage Group.

Mr Noble also attended the memorial service for the 110th anniversary of the disaster and said: “My family is of a mining background. My own grandfather was killed in a coal mine.” 

He continued: “Here, 439 and one rescuer. That is something you can’t get around these days.”

Mr Noble also spoke about the impact of the disaster on the local area and said: “Some of these houses had four deaths in them – fathers and sons.

“That was the way of working. A family stayed together underground, working their patch as it were.”

It was, he said, a story that needed to be retold and remembered, something that in the future would be done by the younger generations – like the school children who had attended. 

“These are our storytellers,” said Mr Noble, “these children will be the ones who take the story forward.”

Students from local schools sang songs and read poems, with participation from Cwmaber Infants School, Cwmaber Junior School, Ysgol Ifor Bach, St Cenydd comprehensive and Nant y Parc primary school – which sang an original song penned by Year 3 teacher Emma Winter.

First Minister Mark Drakeford also attended the service and said: “We are privileged to play our small part in remembering those awful events, paying our tribute and thinking again of all of those who helped to make Wales the place it is today.”

Mr Drakeford added that part of the privilege is still having a connection to people who had direct contact with those involved in the incident. 

He continued: “We are just at that cusp in our history where there are still people alive who spoke directly to people who were here that day…who are eyewitnesses of those horrifying scenes.”

Mr Drakeford, who has previously visited the memorial garden, added: “As you walk around the garden, it is deeply moving, I think, to see the paving stones dedicated to all those other incidents in every part of Wales that are commemorated here in a place where the greatest explosion of all happened 110 years ago today.”

The memorial service, which also remembered the 91 lives lost in the 1901 disaster, included prayers from a representative of the Parish of Caerphilly, local churches and chapels. 

There were also performances from the Aber Valley Male Voice Choir at both the start and the end of the service.

Politicians were also in attendance including Wayne David MP, Chris Evans MP, Cllr Mike Adams, Cllr Steve Skivens, Delyth Jewell MS, Peredur Owen Griffiths MS, and Hefin David MS. 

Dr David, who is the Labour MS for Caerphilly, said: “It was a lovely service, very poignant. It was a pleasure to join the First Minister and others to remember the hundreds of miners we lost in Senghenydd 110 years ago.

“I would like to thank the Aber Valley Heritage Group for the work they have done in organising the service today. However, I’d also like to thank them for their continuous work in preserving the history of the area as a mining community, in memory of all the miners lost across Wales.”