Papers compiled and/or consulted by the National Coal Board during and after the Aberfan Tribunal. Contains a full set of transcripts recording the proceedings of each day of the Aberfan Tribunal as well as incomplete sets annotated by members of the National Coal Board's Legal Counsel. Also contains summary bundles of evidence submitted to the Inquiry and photocopies of a large number of documents placed before the tribunal as evidence, including, but not limited to, geological reports; plans; memoranda; minutes; correspondence; and witness statements. Also includes post-disaster photographs of the tips and surrounding area; newspaper cuttings from local and national publications, including, but not limited to, articles concerning the Aberfan Disaster, the Aberfan Inquiry, the Aberfan Disaster Fund and tip clearance; log books recording communications, events and actions taken by the National Coal Board following the Aberfan Tip slide; and hydrology reports. Post tribunal material comprises a file of correspondence concerning the Aberfan Disaster Fund; papers concerning colliery tips and tip control procedures introduced by the National Coal Board as a result of the disaster; and a copy of the published Report of the Tribunal appointed to Inquire into the Disaster at Aberfan.
Aberfan Tribunal
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- ReferenceGB 214 DNCB/4/1
- Dates of Creation[c1947-1972]
- Physical Description312 files, 188 volumes, 132 plans, 90 photographs, 18 plastic negatives
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
On the 21 October 1966, 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed when a tip of coal waste slid onto the village of Aberfan. On the 26 October 1966, after resolutions by both Houses of Parliament, the Secretary of State for Wales, Cledwyn Hughes, appointed a Tribunal to inquire into the causes of, and circumstances relating to, the Aberfan disaster. The Tribunal sat for 76 days. 136 witnesses were interviewed, 300 exhibits examined and 2,500,000 words heard. Evidence was given on everything from the history of mining in the area to the region's geological conditions. Those who took the stand were as varied as schoolboys and university professors. The Tribunal retired on the 28 April 1967 to consider its verdict. [Source: http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/politics/aberfan/tri.htm (accessed 7 Apr 2017)].
Arrangement
An artificial structure has been imposed upon the collection at series level, determined by type of record (eg. log books, Tribunal Transcripts, newspaper cuttings) and original reference numbers. Original order has been maintained and reconstructed where identifiable, with material arranged according to original document reference numbers (eg. series described as ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘E’ etc).
Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements
46 boxes
Conditions Governing Use
Normal Glamorgan Archives conditions apply.
Appraisal Information
Duplicates destroyed
Accruals
Accruals are not expected.