Reviews

Senghennydd, Gresford and Aberfan are three villages whose names are still etched in the Welsh historical memory, and although a century has now passed since the first of these major disasters, the three names still send a chilling reminder to us all of the human cost of coal extraction. And the comparatively recent events in Chile, China, Russia, Ukraine, and more close to home at the Gleision private mine in Cwm Tawe, serve to illustrate that this is still an incredibly dangerous industry which claims many lives every year. The colliery disaster at the Universal Colliery at Senghennydd, which occurred on 14 October 1913, claimed 439 lives. We tend to forget that an earlier disaster at the same colliery in 1903 also resulted in the loss of 81 lives. Both disasters are covered in this book, which is a miscellany of short chapters ranging from contemporary newspaper reports, responses in prose and poetry, and contributions from people who responded to the publishers' invitation to submit relevant material or reminiscences for inclusion in the volume. I was one of the people who responded to that appeal, as I knew that a family from my village had been badly affected by the disaster, losing a father and a son. Reading similar contributions, one is immediately struck by the fact that this was not just a local disaster affecting one small valley in south Wales, but that, because of the make-up of the community which had mushroomed almost overnight, with immigrants from all parts of Wales and beyond, the impact of the disaster was felt throughout the British Isles and the Empire. To compound the tragedy, many of these families were to endure further losses in the impending Great War (1914--1918), which broke out nine months after the Senghennydd disaster. The disaster left 205 widows and 542 fatherless children, and 62 parents dependent on their son's income. Many families were forced to return home after the death of the breadwinner, as the colliery owner heartlessly turned the widows and children out of their tied miners' cottages. The book chronicles the generous response of the whole country to the fund-raising committee established in the wake of the disaster. It also covers the enquiry reluctantly established by the Government which revealed the owners' appalling disregard for safety, punishable only by a paltry GBP24 fine. The book includes many illustrations, both contemporary and modern, to supplement the text, and it strikes me that an index of personal names might have been a useful addition for family historians searching for information on ancestors killed in the disaster. Apart from this, and some occasional lapses in proofreading, Dr Jen Llywelyn should be congratulated on producing an eminently moving and readable compilation to mark the centenary of this most tragic of events. Richard E. Huws It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatad Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council