1966: Aberfan - a generation wiped out It took just five minutes for the coal tip above Aberfan to slide down the mountain and engulf a farm, several houses and a school. Pupils at Pantglas Junior School were just beginning their first lessons of the day when the rushing landslide of mud and debris flooded into their classrooms. Some children were able to escape, but 116 were killed. Another 28 adults also died. The local community was devastated by the tragedy and the whole country was shocked and saddened when the news hit the headlines. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/21/newsid_3194000/3194860.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/21/newsid_3194000/3194860.stm
The Aberfan Disaster On the 21 October 1966, 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed when a tip of coal waste slid onto the village of Aberfan in South Wales. These pages were initially set up as part of a project to catalogue and conserve an archive of material relating to the disaster held at Merthyr Tydfil and Dowlais libraries. Their objective is to act as a starting place for those interested in finding out about the disaster. They provide an overview of the circumstances surrounding the disaster and, more importantly, a guide and link to the more detailed sources of information available elsewhere. http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/politics/aberfan/home2.htm
Thank you Tony Church is 175 miles from Aberfan so the family must have a connection with Edgware nw London regards Clive
The parents of the poor children were Robert Minney and Kathleen Locke who married Q2 1947, registered in Hendon. Both children's births were registered in Merthyr Tydfil. Fairly certain that Robert Minney was born in London and that Kathleen Locke was Welsh, the newspaper article states he was a miner, so that perhaps explains why he was in Wales but cannot explain the Hendon connection. Would speculate that Kathleen came to London for employment, met Robert and they returned to the valleys. Edit: Grave of Bobby, Barbara and Kathleen https://billiongraves.com/grave/Barbara-Minney/9256953
Clive wherabouts is St Margarets Church. I lived in Edgware for nearly twenty years but can't think where it is, nor can I find it on Streetmap. Such a sad, sad day. My husband's family came from Mountain Ash so there were lots of connections to those lost.