Plans to build a National Mining Memorial in Senghenydd have been boosted by a £50,000 donation from Caerphilly County Borough Council.
The council’s chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan made the delegated decision in December last year after a meeting between himself, Caerphilly Council leader Harry Andrews and members of the Aber Valley Heritage Group, who are planning the memorial.
Cllr Andrews said: “Honouring and remembering the men and boys who perished across Wales in coal mines is of paramount importance to us, with Senghenydd the obvious choice as a location, due to the rich mining heritage that is ingrained into the people who live there. The memorial will provide a priceless and fitting tribute to all the colliery workers who have lost their lives in the mines.”
The £50,000 donation has been transferred from money set aside to pay landfill tax. The landfill tax budget is currently underspent.
Four-hundred and thirty-nine men and boys died in the 1913 disaster at the Universal Colliery, Senghenydd. The Aber Valley Heritage Group are in the process of planning a National Memorial at the site of the tragedy to mark its Centenary this year.
The Mining Memorial will consist of a remembrance wall featuring all the names of the men and boys who died in the 1913 and the 1901 explosions at Universal Colliery, a pathway of memory to all mining disasters in Wales, and a bronze sculpture as the centrepiece to the memorial.
Visit www.abervalleyheritage.co.uk for more information.
SUPPORT FOR SENGHENYDD NATIONAL MINING MEMORIAL APPEAL by
Just a century late !