President and Vice-President Visit Aberfan 60 Years After Disaster

The President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference paid an emotional visit to the village of Aberfan as part of commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the horrific disaster which killed 116 children and 28 adults.

In the morning of 21 October, 1966, Pantglas Junior School was submerged in coal slurry after a slag heap overlooking the Welsh mining village collapsed following heavy rain.

Led by David Davies – who was a child in the school and miraculously survived the disaster – the President, the Revd Mark Slaney, and Vice-President, Caroline Stead, visited the memorial to all the people lost in Aberfan cemetery as well as the former school site which has been reborn as a memorial garden on 10 October.

Many of the school’s children were members of the Methodist Sunday school, and the minister for the area, the Revd Irving Penberthy, was one of those on hand to witness the horrific aftermath.

Mr Davies was pulled from the rubble unconscious but presumed dead and laid under a blanket with others on the pews of the makeshift morgue at Bethania Church, where his foot was seen to move, and he was removed for medical care.

The memories of that day still affect the village community.

Starting off at the Revd Irving’s former Zion Chapel church, which is now a centre for Scouts in the area, the President and Vice-President were accompanied by the Revd Andrew Charlesworth – District Chair for Wales – members of the Revd Irving’s family and other members of the Methodist community in the tour of the community.

Arriving at the village cemetery, they were joined by Mr Davies, who explained how the hauntingly beautiful white granite memorial honouring those killed came about.

They then journeyed on to the former site of Pantglas School, where the President and Vice-President read out a message to the people of Aberfan from the Revd Irving, now aged 96.

A prayer from his son-in-law Gareth Hill, also a Methodist minister, was also read out to the assembled group while the Vice-President – herself a former teacher – recalled her feelings hearing about the disaster which happened during her childhood.

She said: “It’s wonderful to be here in Aberfan, a place that is very close to my heart in many ways because it was the day after my tenth birthday when this disaster happened.

“I can remember vividly my parents were very moved by this and they made me sit down and watch what was happening on television and hear the reports, because I was the age of those children who were lost in that disaster.

“This morning, we have been up to the graveyard where we have been accompanied by Joy, the Revd Irving’s daughter, and we have seen the graves of those many children.

“So, for me it is incredibly moving to be here in what was Pantglas school.”

The message from the Revd Irving, read by the President, said: “Though Aberfan was the smallest chapel, it had many children, for we were English speaking among three Welsh chapels, so I knew many of the children at the Junior School.

“I came to Aberfan on the day of the disaster and shared with many parents in their sorrow and pain. As a church we shared with the other churches through the distress that followed and would never be forgotten.

“I encouraged them to stand fast in their faith and worship, to keep in touch with heaven, where I had always believed our lost children to be with the Lord, for Jesus said of children, ‘of such is the kingdom of heaven’.

“We must be faithful unto death to receive the crown of life; then sorrow will be turned into joy – and all will be revealed.”

Reflecting in the former Zion chapel at the end of the tour on the Presidential theme of ‘sorrow and joy’, the Revd Slaney said: “Obviously there is plenty of sorrow, held in memory, in a place like Aberfan that we have heard in the stories that we have been told.

“It’s interesting that as we went through the graveyard, David – who himself was a survivor – was telling us those stories of those families. So, there is sorrow but there is joy in the telling of those stories of the people and remembering who they were and why their memory is held and loved and cherished, certainly by David and by the community here.

“There is sorrow and joy in this particular place now, there is sorrow in that this used to be a Methodist chapel and its Sunday school was wiped out in that disaster. The Sunday school went and the church itself has ceased to worship.

“But now it is finding new life as a regional Scout adventure centre. It is beginning to get a new lease of life, so the building in a sense is reflecting what is happening in the community.”

The Revd Charlesworth said: “This part of Wales was very much full of mining communities and now, of course, none of the mines are here anymore.

“You have that depression from the closure of that industry but from that is coming this regeneration of the lands and the places themselves.

“I think the 60th anniversary is in some sense a moment to remember that past, those challenges, but also now to look to the future as well.”

Mr Davies said: “The horrors that people saw, I’m sure, would have led to some people having ongoing mental health issues – for life in many cases.

“In 1966, I don’t think PTSD was really properly recognised.

“People come in their thousands here every year to remember what happened here. I’d like to think that over time there are some lessons being learnt.”

Read about the Revd Irving’s reflections on the Aberfan disaster here: https://www.methodist.org.uk/about/our-stories/sixty-years-since-aberfan-a-minister-remembers/

A prayer from the Revd Andrew Charlesworth, Chair of Methodist Cymru.

God of refuge, at this time of remembering and sadness, hear our prayer.

God of peace, we hold the people of Aberfan in our hearts at this moment.

God of compassion, bring comfort to those who continue to mourn the loss of loved children and adults.

God of mercy, give strength to those who still struggle to rebuild shattered lives.

God of history, in our remembering may we learn from past mistakes.

God of justice, may always we seek the welfare of the forgotten and the downtrodden.

God of love, may your light bring new hope wherever there is destruction and despair.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The video of the visit can also be viewed on YouTube via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbHAh3LdnyM