Parc Slip Mining Memorial.

 Visit Date 03-2019. 

Parc Slip in the village of Tondu was one of many small coal mines that scattered the south Wales valleys at the end of the last century.

This area was very poor in monetary terms was very rich in community and in these small villages people were very close.

At 8.20 am on Friday 26th August 1892 when 146 men and boys were working in the mine the unthinkable happened, there was an explosion in the mine.

Fathers, sons and brothers, 112 in all, lost their lives that day leaving sixty women widowed and 153 children without a father.

Many heroes came to light that day helping the community, one such man was a local doctor Frederick Twist who managed to reach the men below ground and, despite a high risk of further collapse and at great risk to himself he tended the injured and stayed with them until they were all brought out.

Mr Granville a local historian tells "Everybody was eventually brought to the surface," "Fifteen of the horses that died underground were also brought out - there was only one which was too difficult to reach. That's how carefully they went about it."

The mine was closed in 1904 and this memorial stands in a local nature reserve which is now on the original site of the mine.

The stone memorial fountain is made up of 112 stones – one for every person who lost their life.

An annual memorial service is now held on the anniversary of the disaster to remember all who were affected by the event.

I have two additional references for this place the first is a newer memorial that has been placed on the site since this visit.

this can be found on my blog here

And the second is a reference to another sculpture of s miner and son close to the site and that blog is  here

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Visit Information:-

Google Reference
51.539548735113236, -3.618187109403901

Google Search reference: Parc Slip Memorial

What Three Words reference : ///ranks.fixed.rally

The site is easy to find just 15 minutes from M4 motorway at junction 46

The car park //////joystick.plod.painting
Google Maps (51.54538490015156, -3.6143532913911733) is free and there are toilets and a café nearby.