Hundreds of people paid their respects to those who paid the ultimate price for Welsh coal as a National Mining Memorial was unveiled in Senghenydd. The October 14 event marked the centenary of the Universal Colliery disaster which took a total of 440 lives. Richard Gurner reports.
At 8.10am on October 14, 1913, a hooter sounded across the Aber Valley which alerted villagers in Senghenydd and Abertridwr to Britain’s worst mining disaster.
Exactly 100 years later and that same hooter was sounded again – this time to mark a day of remembrance for those killed at Senghenydd and other Welsh mining disasters.
The Wales National Mining Memorial is dedicated to all miners who lost their lives in mining disasters across the country and was officially unveiled by BBC Radio Wales’ Roy Noble, a former Senghenydd teacher and patron of the Aber Valley Heritage Group and Jack Humphreys, its chair.
Mr Humphreys said: “The unveiling of the Wales National Mining Memorial statue and memorial garden today, I hope, will provide a fitting tribute, not only to those men and boys who died, and their families, in that devastating tragedy 100 years ago, but to all miners who lost their lives in mining disasters across the country.”
“We are so grateful to all organisations, community groups and individuals whose funding and donations have made this impressive memorial possible.”
Mr Noble gave a moving speech in which he paid tribute to the men who “paid the ultimate sacrifice in their quest for coal”.
Among those paying their respects was florist Hilary Barbrook, 73, from Senghenydd, who lost both her grandfathers in the pit disaster.
Mrs Barbrook said: “Evan Hopkin James was aged 41 and died leaving eight children and my grandmother was eight months pregnant.
“My grandmother did everything she could to survive afterwards. She was very hardworking – she took in washing, ironing, cleaning people’s house and she helped out at the doctors’.
“My father’s father was Charles Brown. He was one of the people who was never found – he is still underground here today.
“This morning when the hooter sounded, I was very emotional, it is something dear to our hearts.”
The service of dedication was led by Reverand Susan Rees, priest-in-charge of Eglwysilan.
In her address she said miners were bound together by a strong sense of camaraderie.
She said: “The example set by miners loving one another, is an example we would all do well to emanate. We are here to remember, with love, those who have gone before us, they are now perfected in love. Let us all in tribute today try to walk that road ourselves and to grow in love for one another.”
Caerphilly Council leader Harry Andrews added: “The memorial and gardens will not only provide a priceless and fitting tribute to all the colliery workers who lost their lives in the mines, but will act as a suitable and prominent reminder of the rich mining heritage that is ingrained into our communities, which I am sure will be remembered.”
The Wales National Mining Memorial
The memorial garden, designed by landscape gardener Stephanie Wilkins, was built by volunteers from the Aber Valley Heritage Group and includes a bronze statue, a wall of remembrance and a path of memory.
Ms Wilkins explained: “Before starting work on the design, I undertook research – visiting Big Pit, talking to ex-miners and those whose families had been affected by mining disasters.
“There were two aspects that inspired the design. One of the design themes was to ‘bring the community in’ to the garden. I wanted the space to feel part of the local and wider community. This was achieved by using materials such as Welsh sandstone from Gwrhyd quarry near Swansea, with brick quoins on the corners, which are typical of the terraced housing in mining communities across Wales.
“Around the walled garden is a pavement. However, rather than using traditional flagstones which can be uneven to walk on, I’ve used a more modern product laid in a traditional pavement pattern, but will be easier to use for those using pushchairs and wheelchairs.”
The statue, designed by sculptor Les Johnson, depicts a rescue worker coming to the aid of a survivor after a mining disaster. It is dedicated to all those who lost their lives as a result of mining.
The wall of remembrance is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the two Senghenydd mining disasters and features ceramic tiles, each individually funded, detailing the name, age and address of each victim of the disaster.
Local volunteers and school children helped ceramicist Ned Heywood to make the tiles, using hand-fired clay.
The path of memory, comprises a tile dedicated to each of the 152 mining disasters that have occurred across Wales. The tiles, again made by ceramic artist Ned Heywood list the name of the colliery, show the date of the disaster, the number of people who lost their lives and the tile sponsor.
There is also a bespoke tile while acknowledges the lives lost in all other mining tragedies in Wales.
The 1913 disaster
The 1913 explosion was, and remains, Britain’s worst mining disaster. The final death toll was 439 miners and one rescuer.
The cause of the tragedy was the ignition of methane gas, also known as firedamp, which had built up over time. That shockwave of the explosion raised clouds of coal dust from the mine’s floor which also ignited.
It was not the first explosion to hit Senghenydd’s Universal Colliery. In 1901, 81 men were killed and the mine’s safety procedures were criticised in a subsequent report.
The recommendations from that report were not carried out and an extended deadline from the authorities for those measures came and went in September 1913. Six weeks later the blast hit.
There were 950 miners underground when the explosion happened and the last men trapped underground were not rescued until more than a fortnight later.
The funerals took over a month to complete and the mines manager was fined £24 for breaches of the mines safety code.
Its owner William Thomas Lewis was fined £10.
