Blaenavon Iron and Steel Company...

Tomorrow is 28th November.  On Wednesday, 28th November, 1838, the town of Blaenavon, Gwent (then Monmouthshire) in South Wales suffered a terrible tragedy.  Mining accidents were not rare in those days, but this one was a little different.  There was no explosion.  There was no cage accident.

After a period of snow, and then rain, the ground was saturated.  On that fateful day, there was another violent cloudburst over the Blaenavon area, and the valley soon flooded.  The waters poured over an embankment protecting the mouth of the cinder pits owned by the Blaenavon Iron and Steel Company.

While the damage to the mine was minimal, the sudden deluge claimed the lives on fifteen miners and children - including nine-year-old Elizabeth Havard.

The mine closed in 1895.