2013

SO0600 : Aberfan Cemetery

taken 11 years ago, near to Aberfan, Merthyr Tydfil/Merthyr Tudful, Wales

This is 1 of 8 images, with title Aberfan Cemetery in this square
Aberfan Cemetery
Aberfan Cemetery
Two rows of white arches near the top of the cemetery mark the graves of the children killed in the colliery tip disaster of 1966.
Aberfan disaster

Aberfan was the site of one of the worst ever peacetime disasters to occur in the UK. On the morning of 21 October 1966 a tip, where waste from Merthyr Vale Colliery was heaped up, slid down onto Pantglas Junior School destroying most of the school as well as a farm and twenty houses. Children in the school had just left their morning assembly when an avalanche of half a million tonnes of waste debris crashed in to the classrooms. 116 children aged 7-10 were killed out of a total death toll of 144. The subsequent inquiry firmly blamed the National Coal Board, which owned and managed the colliery; the tip, which covered several springs, was known to be unstable - there had been slides before - and prior to the day of the disaster there had been a prolonged period of rain.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Stephen McKay and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Burial ground, Crematorium
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Rows of White Arches Marking their Graves [3] Title Clusters: · Aberfan Cemetery [8] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
SO0600, 33 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Stephen McKay   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 19 March, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 21 March, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SO 0685 0006 [10m precision]
WGS84: 51:41.4922N 3:20.9410W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SO 0684 0005
View Direction
East-northeast (about 67 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image classification(about): Geograph
This page has been viewed about 302 times
You are not logged in login | register