Appeal for relatives of miners who died in blasts

IT WAS one of Wales’ worst ever mining disasters, claiming the lives of 178 South Wales men and boys.

And now a search has been launched for relatives of the 1867 Ferndale disaster, as preparations are made for the 150th anniversary of the tragedy.

Organisers want to hear from people with relatives who died in the catastrophe, or those who have any memorabilia or pictures relating to the former colliery.

It comes ahead of a day of events to commemorate the disaster on November 8, which will involve a service at the memorial before an evening of reflection at Darran Park Primary School.

Organised by Ferndale Grassroots, a spokesman said: “We are keen to ensure that those who lost their lives are remembered by all generations in the community and we have been working with both young and old to bring this significant event in the life of Ferndale to the fore.”

Two consecutive explosions took place at Ferndale No.1 colliery, which killed those who were working down the mine, devastating the communities of Ferndale and Blaenllechau.

Rescuers were hampered by roof falls and it took a month for the bodies to be recovered, with many so severely burned and disfigured that it made identification impossible.

At a subsequent enquiry, a lamp keeper said safety locks had been tampered with and incidents regularly occurred that breached the company’s rules, but these breaches were ignored by the mine manager.

A jury later returned a verdict that the explosions took place as a result of accumulation of gas in certain working of the colliery, due to the neglect of the manager, and as a result of the gas being fired by one or more of the colliers carelessly taking off the tops of their lamps and working with naked lights.

The commemorative events will include a service at the Ferndale Miners’ Memorial before the community follows in the footsteps of miners to Penuel Chapel.

There, the young men and boys will be remembered through an evening of reflection by children from Darran Park Primary School and songs from Cor Meibion Morlais and music from Tylorstown Silver Band.

The commemorations in November come after the recently completed miners’ memorial in Ferndale was destroyed by vandals back in May.

After many months of fundraising and hard work in the South Wales Valleys town, the new memorial was unveiled, with a statue depicting a coal cart with four benches surrounding it.

But the celebratory feeling was shortlived after the renovation, when one of the benches was ripped out by vandals.