On the morning of 21 October 1966, a colliery spoil tip above the village of Aberfan slid down the mountainside and engulfed Pantglas Junior School and the houses around it. One hundred and forty-four people were killed — one hundred and sixteen of them children, most between seven and ten years old, lost in their classrooms minutes after morning registration.
Today there are two places of remembrance. A quiet Memorial Garden is laid out on the footprint of the school, its retained low walls marking where the classrooms stood; and on the hillside above, the cemetery’s rows of white memorial arches mark the children’s graves. Both are cared for by the Aberfan Memorial Charity.
Aberfan is a living village, and the families who lost so much still live here. If you visit — and many do, to pay their respects — please come quietly and gently, as you would to any grave.
Worth knowing
- The disaster happened at around 9.15am on 21 October 1966, the last day of school before half-term.
- Spoil Tip No. 7 had been built over natural springs; weeks of heavy rain set it moving down onto the school and houses below.
- The official Tribunal in 1967 placed the blame firmly on the National Coal Board and found the disaster had been avoidable.
- The remaining tips above the village were removed only after a long campaign by residents.
- The Memorial Garden on the school site and the cemetery’s white arches are maintained by the Aberfan Memorial Charity.