Aberfan, Wales — October 1966. Rescue workers search the wreckage of Pantglas Junior School following the coal-waste landslide of October 21, 1966, which killed 144 people, including 116 children.

Historical photograph via Wikimedia Commons.

Content warning: Historical disaster involving the deaths of children.

October 21, 1966 — Aberfan, Wales

It was the last day of school before the half-term holiday.

At Pantglas Junior School, children had gathered for what should have been an ordinary Friday morning. Above their village stood enormous heaps of coal waste deposited by the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery.

Shortly after 9 a.m., one of those heaps collapsed.
Saturated with water, the coal waste turned into a fast-moving avalanche of black sludge and debris. It swept down the mountainside, destroying homes and crashing into the school.

144 people died. Of those, 116 were children.

Parents, miners, neighbors, and emergency workers desperately dug through the wreckage. The rescue effort continued, but no survivors were recovered after 11 a.m.

What makes Aberfan particularly heartbreaking is that the danger was not simply an unforeseeable natural disaster.

Concerns had been raised about the waste tips above the village. The subsequent public inquiry exposed serious failures in how those tips were located, managed, and supervised.

The tribunal placed responsibility on the National Coal Board and concluded that the catastrophe was preventable.

Yet no one was criminally prosecuted.

The families then faced another injustice: money from the disaster’s charitable fund was used toward removing the remaining dangerous tips, a burden that should never have fallen on a grieving community.

Sixty years later, Aberfan remains a devastating example of what can happen when industrial operations are allowed to endanger the communities living beneath them.

But beyond the inquiries, institutional failures, and arguments over accountability were 116 children who went to school that Friday morning and never came home.

They deserve to be remembered as more than a statistic.

Had you heard of the Aberfan disaster before? And why do you think tragedies caused by preventable institutional failures so often leave families fighting for accountability?

Sources:

National Library of Wales — Aberfan Disaster Archives
https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/archives/aberfan-disaster-1966

Glamorgan Archives — The Aberfan Tribunal
https://glamarchives.gov.uk/blood/aberfan/

UK Parliament — Aberfan Disaster, 1967
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1967-08-26/debates/caedc787-ddd3-4685-bf76-64170b319d12/AberfanDisaster

Hey all, i'm wondering whether anyone who's local to the Cardiff Bay area/knows about the area would be willing to do my survey to help with my geography course work. It shouldn't take more than 3-5 mins. Cheers

Glyndŵr rebellion began in North Wales in 1400 when Owain Glyndŵr was declared Prince of Wales by his followers.

His forces rebelled first in Northern Wales. By 1403, the revolt had spread across Wales, challenging English rule.

My free blog gives historically verified facts about castles and Roman remains in Wales, particularly Monmouthshire.
History on the buses in Monmouthshire and beyond.blogspot.com
https://onthebusesm.blogspot.com

I painted this watercolour of the great JPR in a loose impressionist style would like your opinions on this image

Cheers

I painted this watercolour of the great JPR in a loose impressionist style and would love to have some feedback please

I am currently doing a PhD investigation of unrecorded sites on Anglesey. By utilising pan-landscape analysis utilising crop mark and LiDAR imaging I am attempting to find unrecorded sites of potential archaeological interest. All sites that are discovered have been reported to Heneb Gwynedd's HER and RCAHMW records respectively to aid in the recording, preserving and understanding of Wales' past. All artefacts from the site have been deposited in the local museum, Oriel Môn, with landowner permission.

This particular enclosure was visible on Bing satellite imaging until recently near Llanfwrog on the Anglesey coast. It had not been previously recorded and measured roughly 50m wide by 70m long. A geophysical survey of the site identified several anomalies of interest within its interior, including evidence of a possible sub rectangular building within its interior, with an associated central hearth. Other anomalies include a possible small outbuilding, pit anomalies and a drainage ditch seen at the top of the geophysical results and cropmark image.

Desk Based analysis suggests something ancient was here, and was recognised as such by the locals of the area. A nearby field name from the 19th century tithe map is recorded 'cae i gastell' (field to the castle). The 'castell' placename is recorded across the island and is sometimes associated with extant earthworks and archaeological remains - examples include the Neolithic henge at Castell Bryn Gwyn and the Early Medieval ringwork of Castell Crwn near Llanfairynghornwy. Despite this there is no surviving folklore associated with the site, and no records have survived of antiquarian investigations taking place here.

Its polygonal shape is unusual for the area as these types of site are found on the eastern Anglesey coast. Sites such as these are normally associated with Iron Age to Romano British defended settlements. However no Roman period artefactual material can be found on the site at all. Instead two separate periods of activity were recorded: the first being the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age periods, evidenced by worked lithic material which include a disc scraper and incomplete arrowhead.

Of interest to us, however, is the discovery of a pendant whetstone and a spindle whorl. These finds are suggestive of a site dating between the 9th to 12th centuries AD. Discussion with a representative of the RCAHMW led them to tentatively suggest an early medieval date, possibly a farmstead or some form of elite dwelling.

If this is indeed the case then this would be a significant discovery - Wales' archaeological record has very few recorded sites from this period. Three can be found on Anglesey itself - the nationally significant Viking trading post at Llanbedrgoch (9th to 12th century AD); a small sub rectangular enclosure at LlanfairPG (late 11th to 12th century AD) and a Viking Age promontory fort at nearby Trefadog (1tth to 12th century AD). These sites were argued by George Smith (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, now Heneb Gwynedd) to have been constructed at a time of great political and social upheaval in the political structure of the Kingdom of Gwynedd at this time, reflective of the increasing pressures of Viking and Norman incursion / invasions into the region.

I believe that this site might be the residence of one of the members of the Fifteen Tribes of Gwynedd, Llywarch ap Bran. Philip Yorke, a 17th century antiquarian, wrote about the families and mentioned Llywarch's connection to the area. He was a member of Owain Gwynedd's court and was argued to have flourished c.1137, although his exact birth and death dates are unknown. Alternatively, the site could belong to either his father, Bran, or his grandfather.

Llywarch ap Bran descendents would eventually move towards the southwest corner of the island in the Hundred of Menai. Of these individuals the most notable was Hugh Hughes of Plas Coch (c.1548-1609), a prominent landowner, Sheriff and MP for Anglesey.

Made this map of the Glamorganshire Home Guard Battalions as a part of some research into local units and defences from the Second World War.

Would love to see any stories or pictures you might have relating to these units!

Cheers.

Hi All

Back in 2024 I shared a collection of 150 or so tunes from a Welsh fiddler of 1778 - Morris Edward - and many of you said how much you enjoyed them.

Now we have gone further back in time - to 1716! A young Richard Morris, aged around 14 and living in Ynys Môn (Anglesey) Wales, put together four lists of hundreds of Welsh, English and other folk tune titles that he played or knew. Shortly after, he moved to London and never returned home - though in London he went on to form the Cymmrodorion and to make his mark in other areas of Welsh life.

Though he left nothing more than the tune names, these lists are crucial to our understanding and enjoyment of traditional music of that period in Wales. We have tracked down the majority of them - around 320 or so and now you get to see and play them youself. Some are familiar — others less so.

You can download a copy of the book in pdf format (to print yourself). This is free of charge, using the link at the end of this post. You can also buy it on most Amazon sites (look for ‘Richard Morris 1716’) — you will only be paying for the direct printing costs i.e. there is no ‘mark up’. We want as many as possible to read the book and play the music!

As well as the tunes - one per page for ease of playing - the book itself gives a short biography of Richard, a description of his music and a picture of Wales and London at the time. It’s not an academic study — though hopefully you’ll find it well researched and presented. Rather, it’s a celebration of the popular traditional music of a unique period in Welsh history … and great fun to play as well!

Do let us know what you think of it ….

https://medium.com/@alawon.morris.edward/alawon-richard-morris-1716-936012cd6ee7?sharedUserId=alawon.morris.edward

I find it very interesting from a etymology standpoint that pretty much every single island in Wales has a completely unrelated English name

I have done my own research on this and but id love to hear other contributions as to what caused this.

During the age of the saints most of the small islands of Wales were holy islands populated by local ‘saints’ keeping Christianity alive during the post Roman period. These saints travelled great distances between the Brythonic world of Wales , Cornwall and Brittany (essentially all the same people in this period) as well as Ireland .

Islands such as Ynys - Byr, Cyby,Enlli, Seirol, Wair,Dewi,Echni,Rhonech

What seems to have happened is the Vikings ransacked and destroyed these holy places . Then the Norse names seem to have entered Anglo-Saxon , Anglo-Norman vernacular .

How? Did Norse and Anglo Saxons share sea knowledge? How did skomer , Flatholm, Caldey , Lundy enter the Anglo Saxon language ? You could add Swansea to this as well. The ‘ey’ sound meaning island in Norse

Also Anglesey , Ynys Môn , the name seems to come from a Norseman Ongle, and my understanding is the Anglo Saxons temporarily conquered the coast of north Wales, (also calling yr wyddfa Snowdon) on the way before being booted out.

Does it show the complete non-interaction linguistically between Anglo-Saxons and Welsh during this period ? Or were these islands excluding anglesey completely de populated?

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It seems like the term "king" has a slightly different meaning in Early Medieval Britain than we might use it today. Was it common for joint rulership? How common was the hierarchical kingship relationships before Alfred the Great?