A MINING disaster in Torfaen was commemorated today - on the 130th anniversary of the day when 176 men and boys died in an explosion at Llanerch Colliery.
Around 60 people turned out to pay their respects to those who died at the Abersychan pit, some of whom were as young as 12.
Councillor Chris Tew, Friends of Llanerch Memorial Fund's Carol Watkins and Clive Davies, and pastor John Funnell at the ceremony at the Llanerch memorial site. Picture: Chris Tew
The service was led by pastor John Funnell, of Noddfa Church in Abersychan, and a reading was given by Torfaen County Borough Council leader Anthony Hunt.
Local poet Sean Edward also gave a reading and children from Garnteg Primary School sang.
The service was held at the location of the former shaft at the pit, which is now marked by a plinth bearing the names of the 176.
Pastor John Funnell during the service dedicated to the 176 men and boys who died in the 1890 colliery disaster at the site of the Llanerch Colliery shaft, which is now a memorial. Picture: Chris Tew
There are also the names of five miners killed in an explosion just days earlier at the nearby Glyn Pits.
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The memorial site was unveiled in September 2019, four years after Friends of the Llanerch Memorial Fund began planning for a permanent memorial. A second phase of the memorial is almost complete, with wooden sculptures showing the devastating effect the disaster had on the community.
Llanerch Colliery disaster memorial is located at the shaft of the pit and features the names of all who died in the explosion there, and at the nearby Glyn Pits just 10 days earlier. Picture: Chris Tew
In the explosion, which happened just after 9am on February 6 1890, 44 children under the age of 16 died, and a total of 223 children were left without parents.
An inquiry into the explosion found that it was caused by miners’ candles igniting gas in the pit.
The pit was re-opened within a month of the disaster and eventually closed in 1947.
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