- Published
For almost 60 years, many of Aberfan's lost children have watched over living rooms, hallways and family gatherings across the village.
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many → publish → village
Some were painted from faded school photographs.
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Some → paint → photographs
Others were shaped by the memories of grieving parents, who wrote letters to an artist describing the children they had lost: the colour of their eyes, their favourite clothes, the flashes of personality that made them unique.
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them → shape → personality
The portraits arrived in the years after one of Wales' darkest days.
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portraits → arrive → days
And for many families, they became far more than paintings.
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they → become → paintings
In a new BBC programme, Unseen: The Aberfan Portraits, some have shared their paintings and spoken about how the art helped them grieve.
"
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them → share → paintings
It brought her back to life," said Denise Morgan, whose younger sister Annette was among those who died in the Aberfan disaster.
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who → bring → disaster
On 21 October 1966, a coal tip collapsed above the village.
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tip → collapse → village
The torrent of slurry engulfed Pantglas Junior School and nearby homes, killing 144 people including 116 children.
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torrent → engulf → children
The disaster remains woven into everyday life in Aberfan.
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disaster → weave → Aberfan
It is felt most strongly in the memorial garden on the site of the fallen school, and among the white arched monuments of the cemetery.
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It → feel → cemetery
But it's also felt in the empty places left behind at family tables, in childhood bedrooms which were suddenly occupied by one child instead of two, and in the portraits that came to represent those who never grew up.
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who → feel → those
Jeanette Keane has fond memories of her sister Edwina.
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Keane → have → sister
"It was just such an idyllic childhood really," she said.
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she → say → ?
She had a mischievous streak as well."
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She → have → streak
The morning of the disaster remains painfully vivid, as Jeanette recalled how Edwina quickly returned home before the school day had begun.
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day → remain → disaster
"She came running back and she said, 'Mammy, I forgot to give you a kiss'," Jeanette said.
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Jeanette → run → kiss
"And so my mother gave her a kiss.
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mother → give → kiss
"My mother always said that, at that time, she wanted to keep her home.
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she → say → her
"And my mother rued that day for the rest of her life.
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mother → rue → life
She just wished she'd listened to herself."
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she → wish → herself
Jeanette's father found eight-year-old Edwina trapped beneath the wreckage.
"
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Edwina → find → wreckage
She was alive," Jeanette said, but it was a heartbreaking situation.
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it → say → ?
He couldn't get her out because the roof would have fallen in.
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roof → get → her
The men all said, 'Teddy, you can't,' and my father laid by the side of her, held her hand and she suffocated."
The trauma echoed through the years that followed the disaster.
"
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that → say → disaster
It explains to me why we used to hear him walking back and fore in the corridor at night, banging his head on the wall," Jeanette said.
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Jeanette → explain → wall
Everything changed."
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Everything → change → ?
Denise Morgan was attending a different school when word began to spread that something terrible had happened in Aberfan, where her little sister Annette was in class.
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sister → attend → class
"They didn't really give us any details," she said.
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she → give → details
Racing off the train, the devastation was clear.
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devastation → race → train
"When we looked across to Aberfan, we could just see this black mass."
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we → look → mass
As rescue efforts began, families across the village waited for news.
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families → begin → news
Some of the memories remain too painful to revisit.
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Some → remain → memories
For the surviving siblings, that sense of loss seemed to arrive in the most ordinary moments.
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sense → survive → moments
"We always slept together," said Jeanette.
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Jeanette → sleep → ?
"And suddenly I was alone."
Denise remembered the same absence.
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Denise → remember → absence
"We shared a bed... and then she was gone.
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she → share → bed
The scale of grief was impossible to escape.
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scale → escape → grief
"In our street, five children were lost in 25 houses," Denise said.
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Denise → lose → houses
"Four children died in my street," Jeanette recalled.
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Jeanette → die → street
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
