Some events can scar a nation and without a doubt the Senghenydd disaster has left a deep wound on the hearts and minds of the people of Wales.
A hundred years ago, on October 14, 1913 there was a large explosion at the Universal Coal Pit in the village of Senghenydd in the Aber Valley.
Four hundred and thirty nine miners were killed. The tragedy almost wiped out the village’s entire male population; fathers, husbands and sons died. S4C broadcasts a documentary marking the centenary of this horrific event on Sunday, 13 October as Dr Elin Jones looks back at the heart-breaking history in Cofio Senghennydd.
“A century ago, on an October morning much like this one, everyone in Britain and beyond had heard of Senghenydd,” says historian Dr Elin Jones who comes from nearby Ystrad Mynach.
“Hundreds of men were killed in the worst mining accident in UK history.”
In the programme experts and historians explain what caused the explosion and we hear from local people and from the descendants of those who lost loved ones. Dr Elin also explores how the community – and how Wales – remembers the terrible events today.
“It was only from their personal belongings – watches, tobacco boxes and so on, that they could identify the bodies,” explains historian Professor Bill Jones from Cardiff University. Memories, as well as facts bring the history to life on Cofio Senghennydd.
“Dad would normally work on, but that morning he came up early,” recalls the late Rhiannydd Jones from Senghennydd. “Instead of coming up at eight when the accident happened, he came up at six, so he was part of the rescue team. He and the other men heard the little boys down the shaft shouting ‘Mammy’.”
Someone else affected by the scale of this tragedy is radio presenter Roy Noble, who taught in the valley as a young man. The most important thing, Roy tells Dr Elin Jones as they sit in the remembrance garden on the site of the old colliery, is not to forget.
“It touches your soul and shakes your spirit, and every generation should acknowledge it and know what happened here. We must never ever forget.”
Poet Myrddin ap Dafydd, author of the volume Senghennydd, also stresses the importance of remembering.
He said: “We should all take our children to the Aber Valley, show them where the mining used to take place, tell them the story, because the Senghennydd tragedy is part of our history as a nation.”