Welsh museums to mark 60th anniversary of Aberfan disaster

Nation Cymru staff

Two museums will mark the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster with a programme remembering those who died, and preserving the stories and personal belongings of those affected.

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has confirmed a programme of activity at Big Pit National Coal Museum and St Fagans National Museum of History, including displays open to the public from 1 October.

Aberfan 60 will bring together collections, community voices, oral histories, new learning resources, digital access and creative responses to support remembrance, reflection and a fuller understanding of the disaster’s impact.

A new display at Big Pit will share personal items, memories and oral histories collected with communities connected to Aberfan, with some being displayed for the first time.

At St Fagans, existing Aberfan content in the Wales Is… gallery will be given renewed focus with additional objects acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru.

One such object is a clock, donated in 2022 by Mike Flynn, which had been kept in the care of his father, one of the rescuers.

The clock stopped at 9:13am, the time the disaster struck, and has since been on display in the Wales Is… gallery at St Fagans National Museum of History.

Since the donation of the clock, more items have been brought into the care of Amgueddfa Cymru including:

• A bible which was recovered from a house in Moy Road following the disaster
• Dolls owned by schoolchildren Eryl Mai Jones and Norma Mumford, who both died in the disaster
• Letters of condolence sent by schoolchildren and their teacher from Santa Rosa, California in the aftermath

More recently, personal items belonging to brother and sister Carl and Marylyn Minett, who both died in the disaster, were donated by their family. Their sister, Gaynor Madgwick is a survivor of the disaster.

The museum hopes to collect more items to remember and tell the story of one of Wales’ worst disasters, ensuring they are conserved to protect the memory of the disaster for future generations.

Ceri Thompson, Senior Curator of Coal at Amgueddfa Cymru says: “Aberfan is an important moment in modern Welsh history and is a deeply personal tragedy for so many people.

“As a museum, we are marking this milestone by sharing items from the collection to remember and reflect on the human loss, while also providing access to resources and platforms for people to learn more about the disaster’s setting within the wider social context.”

Oral histories have also been recorded and collected, with many of these focusing on the rescue efforts in the aftermath of the disaster.

Hundreds of people went to Aberfan to help including colliery rescue teams, St Johns Ambulance, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the armed forces, and many private firms were also involved in the rescue attempts.

Ceri Thompson continues: “The people who came from far and wide to Aberfan to help in the rescue effort goes to show the impact the disaster had on people across Wales and the world.

“This is a key part of the story and as well as documenting and remembering the tragedy itself, it’s important that we remember this outpouring of help, compassion and solidarity with the community.”

Artwork

Following a CELF digital callout to invite creative responses to the anniversary, four artists have been commissioned to create works inspired by objects and artworks within Amgueddfa Cymru’s collection.

The proposals include mixed media artworks, paper weaving, and creative non-fiction, and will now be developed by the artists, supported by CELF.

The final responses will be showcased online as part of the wider Aberfan 60 programme.

Learning resources

As well as the collections, new learning resources are being developed to support schools to tell the story of Aberfan, placing its sensitive history within the wider context of Wales’s industrial heritage and the Welsh coalfields.

These resources have been developed by the museum’s Learning team who have reached out to other museums to share expertise and learnings from similar resources relating to disasters and events of national significance.

The programme will be brought together through a dedicated online page, providing access to Aberfan-related collections, learning resources, creative responses, and further information.

This forms part of Amgueddfa Cymru’s longer-term commitment to collecting, preserving and sharing material connected to Aberfan for future learning, research and reflection.

Sioned Hughes, Head of History and Collections Development at Amgueddfa Cymru says: “Aberfan remains a deeply significant and sensitive part of Wales’s history.

“Through continuing to collect objects and oral histories, and developing new learning resources and creative responses, this programme is intended to support remembrance, careful learning and deep reflection, while ensuring that the stories and memories connected to Aberfan are preserved and shared with future generations.”

More information about Aberfan 60 is available on the Amgueddfa Cymru site here.

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