The tragic history of Aberfan as survivors of disaster which killed 144 meet William and Kate

As survivors of the Aberfan disaster met with the Prince and Princess of Wales today, the royal couple appeared haunted by their harrowing stories of the 1966 tragedy.

Gaynor Madgwick and Gareth Jones, 63, spoke to Kate and William about their experiences ad very young children when their primary school, Pantglas, was hit by the avalanche which killed 144 people including 116 children.

Meeting with the royals today and reliving their tragic ordeals, the survivors spoke of their affection for the royal family and continued a decades-long bond with generations of royals, following Prince Philip’s visit to Aberfan the day after the disaster.

Today mother-of-three Kate, 41, expressed her sympathy for bereaved parents and looked visibly moved during the visit, echoing how Queen Elizabeth had been personally affected by the disaster when it occurred.

It has often been reported that one of the late monarch’s only regrets from her reign was not immediately visiting the Welsh mining town when the disaster happened in October 1966 and instead waiting a week to travel there – but as Gareth revealed today, many survivors have never held resentment towards the royals and instead feel a ‘close bond’ with them.

The Aberfan disaster almost wiped out an entire generation in the village when 150,000 tonnes of coal waste slid down the hillside before engulfing Pantglas Junior School on October 21 1966.

The disaster unfolded following days of heavy rain, when excavated mining debris from the Merthyr Vale Colliery was dislodged and came thundering towards the village.

An official inquiry into the tragedy blamed National Coal Board leaders who had ignored repeated warning about the spoil tips that sat on slopes above the villages, which created a landslide after days of heavy rain. 

Speaking today, Gareth Jones, now 63, revealed he feels like the tragedy occurred just yesterday as he recalled his escape from the classroom when the avalanche struck.

Just six years old at the time, he managed to crawl out of a window and freed himself as the coal buried his classmates alive.

Gaynor (pictured as a schoolgirl, middle row, second from right) was pulled from the rubble at Pantglas Primary School

Gareth Jones (pictured as a child) crawled out of a window to escape the avalanche which killed his peers

Gareth (pictured as an adult) met with Prince Philip the day after the disaster when he visited Aberfan

The day after the tragedy, Gareth met Prince Philip, who had travelled to Aberfan without the Queen. It is thought the late monarch decided to stay away so she didn’t distract from rescue efforts and instead visited eight days later, for which she faced criticism.

But father-of-three Gareth never blamed the Queen for not turning up to console villagers for more than a week.

He said: ‘To me, she held back as a mark of respect to the families who lost children.

‘The Queen waited for the dust to settle, I still think it was the right thing to do. She was showing respect to the people of Aberfan.’

Mr Jones was 14 when he was picked to attend the official reception for the Queen when she officially opened the Aberfan Memorial Garden in 1974.

Speaking today Gareth said: ‘The Royal Family have never forgotten us and it was lovely to see the new Prince and Princess of Wales here to pay their respects.

‘People think the disaster is ancient history but to me it feels like it happened the other day.

‘I’m sure Prince William was told what happened here when he was growing up, it’s embedded in the royal family – there’s a special bond between us.’

He also revealed the Princess of Wales’s horror at learning about the tragedy as a mother of three young children herself.

‘I told her I was a survivor – I think she was quite surprised,’ he said.

‘She said she has three little children herself and can’t imagine what we went through. She said she felt for all the bereaved parents.’

At 9.15am on October 21, 1966, however, tip No 7, swollen by heavy rain, started to slide. With an almighty roar, which locals at first put down to a blast of thunder or a low-flying plane, it crashed down the mountainside, engulfing everything in its path, including Pantglas Primary School, where lessons had just begun. Pictured, the aftermath of the tragedy 

The children of Aberfan had grown up in the shadow of the towering No 7 tip — a man-made mountain made up of a quarter of a million tonnes of coal waste and rocks dumped by the National Coal Board. But disaster struck when it collapsed. Pictured, in the wake of the disaster

After disaster struck in the mining village on 21 October 1966, the late Queen Elizabeth did not visit Aberfan for eight days in a move that was criticised. However after she did make the trip, she was visibly moved upon meeting the community and went on to make visits to the community throughout her reign

The last photograph taken of the class at Pantglas School before a massive coal waste tip crashed down the mountainside of the Welsh mining village, killing 116 children and 28 adults

Another survivor who gathered to see the Prince and Princess of Wales today was Gaynor Madgwick, who lost her younger brother Carl and older sister Marylyn in the tragedy.

At the time of the disaster, her late father Cliff Mynett was chairman of the memorial gardens trust at the time. 

Speaking today after meeting the royal couple, Gaynor said: ‘Prince William said he visiting the gardens was very moving and poignant. You could see he was very emotional coming out.

‘He said he could understand how his grandmother felt about Aberfan, that it was very close to her and dear to her heart.

In the series, the Queen is shown dabbing her eye after talking to the bereaved. She later says: ‘I dabbed a bone-dry eye and by some miracle no one noticed’ 

‘He said he would be coming back so hopefully we will see him on the 60th anniversary in three years time.’

Gaynor has previously revealed the terror she felt at being trapped under the rubble following the avalanche when the disaster occurred.

In 2021 she told BBC Sounds podcast Aberfan: Tip Number 7 how she held the hand of a dead classmate, willing it to move.  

‘Within seconds, this noise appeared from nowhere. Thunder. It was the most horrific noise, thunder,’ she said. ‘Like explosions. Rumbling. But it got louder, and louder and louder. And it literally froze people in their seats.

‘I just remember turning my head and seeing this black mass and then I tried to get up to run for the door. Then it was black out, it was complete black out.

King Charles has always held the community close to his heart and met with the Aberfan Wives Group on his first visit to Wales as monarch in September 2022, eight days after his accession to the throne

‘I never remember the slurry hitting me. I never remember the pain or discomfort. The only pain was when I woke up and I was literally catapulted to the back of the classroom, more or less into the corner of the classroom.’

Gaynor woke up on the other side of the room, on top of her classmate, Gerald.

Gaynor continued: ‘I just remember just looking around, desks, chairs, mud, slurry, which was high up in the classroom.

‘I just lay there, I just lay there, I wasn’t screaming, I was in shock. I couldn’t see my legs because this huge radiator had come off the wall and landed on my lap. Looking back now I think it saved me from suffocating.’

Gaynor, who had blood trickling down her head, recalled reaching out to touch a hand of a child lying nearby. The child had been in the next door classroom, the same as her brother, Carl, but had been partially forced through the wall by the pressure.

‘For some reason, I was just holding on pinching this hand because I wanted this hand to move,’ she said.

‘When I look back now, and when I heard, that my brother had died, I always hold onto the hope that it could have been my brother’s arm. It gives me comfort.’

Ever since the disaster occurred in 1966, members of the royal family have held the Aberfan community close to their hearts.

The late Queen Elizabeth made five visits to the village during her reign while King Charles also met with the community several times.

Shortly after his accession to the throne, the King met with the surviving members of the Aberfan Wives Group, which was set up shortly after the disaster as a group of solidarity for the women in their thirties who had lost children and partners in the avalanche.

He attended a reception to which the group was invited on his first visit to Wales as monarch.