My memory of my childhood is scant if not quite non-existent. There are huge tracts of my time, especially when I was young, of which I have no memory at all. I do remember, vividly however, sitting in my classroom, looking out of the window at an old slag heap and thinking about the disaster at Aberfan. We had recently moved to the former mining community of High Shincliffe and I was in a new and very modern school. I had convinced myself that I was remembering the very day of the disaster.
This would have been the 21 October 1966, when a slag heap perched on a hill side in Aberfan near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, slipped down the slope, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and a row of houses, killing 116 children and 28 adults. Although mining had long since ceased in our village, it is a disaster that resonated throughout every colliery community across the United Kingdom.
The problem for me is that we didn’t move to High Shincliffe until 12 September 1968 and while there was a small slag heap remaining, it was nowhere as close to the school as my memory makes out. It is a false memory, probably caused by the anniversary of the disaster. Either my mother or probably one of the teachers must have mentioned it. It was a very likely subject to be raised.
Perhaps it was the sense of tragedy and loss that has left its mark on me or perhaps I could empathise with those innocent children who were so wantonly killed. This was my first time living in a mining community and the mood must have been palpable. It still affects me today and so I can’t begin to imagine how it is for those actually involved. My heart goes out to them
It turns out then that some of my earliest memories are not memory at all but an amalgam of feelings. I doubt then that I could ever rely upon anything that my mind dredges up.
The school is definitely there and according to Wikipedia, the centre circle of the school’s football pitch lies over the original shaft. I do remember a shaft opening up on the pitch and us not being allowed to play on it for some time. My sister also remembers this and so, at least I know this part to be true.
As I have said, my heart goes out to anyone affected by the disaster at Aberfan.