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“People walk by and don’t realise what happened,” said David Williams, chair of Darran Valley History Group as he approached the Deri War Memorial.

 “That’s why we’ve got a history group,” he added, “if we don’t do it, it will be lost.”

The memorial, which was installed in 2018 by the history group, is the first to remember the people in the village who fell in World War I and World War II.

Set in a small garden off the main road with plants, trees, benches and a stone path, it’s made up of a rectangular plinth which sits on a circular foundation. 

The plinth is inscribed with the Deri village motto “O fes bychain tyf y Deri mawrion” (From small acorns grow great Oaks) and the words “In loving memory of the past residents of Deri”. Around the round edge, there are plaques noting the names of the 30 people from Deri who fought and died in the conflicts.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said David, 80, looking at the plaques, which remember people like Pte W. Evans who died in France in 1915, aged just 20.

The group covers Deri and Fochriw and has around 15 members.

This is just one of several projects the history group has brought to life – another being the memorial erected to mark the centenary of the Darran Colliery disaster back in 2009. 

“This was one of the first things we did,” said David, referring to the stone memorial commemorating more than 20 people who lost their lives in an explosion in October 1909.

In the inquest which followed, the jury determined that the lives of many were lost through an explosion of coal dust caused by shot firing but that the rescuers died due to afterdamp. 

Brian Jarrett, treasurer of the history group, was instrumental in finalising a project remembering the lost village of Penybank. 

Brian, 78, said: “We’re very much a hands-on group.” 

Brian and the group worked on the interpretation panel which outlines a short history of the village near where it once stood.

Brian said: “It reminds people that there was a village there because there’s nothing to see now.”

A tiny place with never more than 150 residents, a few short streets, a chapel, a school and a pub, Penybank was demolished in the 1960s after it was badly damaged in an earth tremor.

A bench was recently placed nearby so people could rest after visiting the panel.

Future projects include another interpretation panel which is set to be placed in Deri to describe how a train line used to run through the village. 

Brian added: “Part of our remit is to keep the history of the valley alive if we can.”

Darran Valley History Group meet on the first Wednesday of every month at Deri Community Centre.

This article has been corrected to reflect the distinction between the Welsh and English language inscriptions on the memorial.