Blackwood band the Manic Street Preachers have given a £500 donation towards the Wales National Mining Memorial, which is being unveiled next month in Senghenydd.
The memorial, which commemorates 150 mining disasters, will be officially opened on October 14 – a hundred years since Senghenydd’s Universal Colliery Disaster in which 440 men and boys lost their lives. It is the UK’s worst mining disaster.
As well as providing financial backing for the memorial event, the Manic’s front man James Dean Bradfield is writing a song with poet Patrick Jones, brother of band mate Nicky Wire, that will be performed by the Striking Attitudes Dance Company in the streets of Senghenydd.
The Manic Street Preachers’ Nicky Wire said: “Having grown up in mining communities, we know only too well the devastating impact that mining disasters have had in towns and villages across Wales over the years.
“It is so important that those who lost their lives in mining tragedies are remembered, and the plans for the Wales National Mining Memorial are a fitting tribute to victims of mining disasters across the country. We are only too happy to support this worthy cause.”
Jack Humphreys, Chairman of the Aber Valley Heritage group organising the Senghenydd Memorial Event, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that the Manic Street Preachers have chosen to support our activities marking the 100th anniversary of the mining disaster in Senghenydd.
“They may be international rock stars, but home is evidently where the heart is for these local boys. The funds the group have provided will be used to provide materials for children to make lanterns as part of a procession through the village to the evening memorial service. It’s generous donations like this that are enabling us to provide a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives in Wales’ mining disasters.”
For updates on the plans for the unveiling of the Wales National Mining Memorial, including real time tweets of events leading up to the 1913 disaster, follow @Senghenydd1913 on Twitter.
Further information can also be found at www.abervalleyheritage.co.uk.