User:Angela llewellyn/sandbox

= Pantglas Memorial Garden (Aberfan). =



Memorial Garden.
The site of the Pantglas Junior School is now demolished and is currently a garden of Rememberance in memory of the tragic events of 1966. Located in Moy Road, the garden is a quiet place of reflection for relatives and the public to visit, the garden features trees;various plants;shrubs and seating areas. The community of Aberfan invited the Queen and Duke of Edingburgh to attend a memorial service in 1997. The Queen planted a flowering cherry tree, which was accompanied with a plaque bearing the inscription: "This tree was planted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on May 9th 1997"

Legacy.
The main legacy of the Aberfan disaster was the change in attitudes towards the mangement of coal tips, a change which was echoed throughout the coal industries worldwide in regard to the safety and stability of spoil heaps. A letter written on October 23rd 1966 by the Bishop of Llandaff to the Prime Minister, called for urgent attention on the safety of all exsisting coal tips. There was also a call for regular surveys and reports. The Bishop of Llandaff stressed that "The whole world are suffering with the victims and relatives and no words can soothe the grief that is felt. Only prayer can aid at this time". The NCB repeatetedly denied responsibility and alleged that the disaster was unforseen, however the report published in August 1967 clearly placed the blame with the National Coal Board. One of the first acts of the Labour Government in 1997 was to pay back the money to the disaster fund that paid for the removal of the remaining spoil heaps at Aberfan. The local community of Aberfan still bear the scars of that October morning in 1966, which some still find difficult to speak of to this day. 2016 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the day that a small mining community in the South Wales valleys was shattered with tragic loss.