THE SIX BELLS MINERS MEMORIAL

 Yesterday afternoon, we took one of our pensioners down for a medical appointment. Heading back home and I was amazed to discover that he had never seen the Memorial statue up close. So we parked up by the chapel and having letting the dog out for a roam around in the now long grasses, we headed up the newly laid tarmac path  towards this simply amazingly crafted construction of corten steel on its plinth of welsh sandstone.

The ground we were walking across is now no longer recognisable as the site of a colliery.

Originally it was known as Arrael Griffin but in 1960, Six Bells Colliery employed 1,200 men and on the morning of Tuesday 28th June in that year an underground explosion reverberated through the floor of the valley. Out of the 48 men working on one seam in the W district, 1000ft down, over a mile away underground from the pit shafts ..only three survived despite the efforts of all the many mine rescue workers. A very sad day for all.

Approaching this 20m tribute to those miners one can clearly see the huge almost 13m steel spine that is the internal support for the whole figure which is made from slices of Corten steel. This type of steel has been designed to rust unlike mild steel. Originally designed for use in shipping containers which were exposed to much rough weather, the deliberately rusting finish provides a stable, protective barrier to the steel underneath. It therefore also makes an ideal material for statues that are open to the elements such as this. Designed by Sebastien Boyesen it is a cleverly crafted figure.

As you approach it, the see through quality of the figure changes, especially with the early evening light behind it, which is when these photographs were taken. The head and shoulders start to darken and become more solid and the lower part of the body starts creating almost swirling patterns as light shines through.  To those who have not seen this statue, it is not yet clear that the figure is of a miner, but that is part of the seeming magic of the experience and as one gets closer it gets better.

The figure of the miner with his lamped helmet, becomes a solid dark being with his arms outstretched as he regards the now regenerated site area beneath him. The details are quite amazing, though one cannot fully appreciate them yet with the evening sunlight behind him making this dark silhouette with his arms outstretched and it is up to you to wonder what such a figure might be thinking about this once disfigured landscape of pit head baths, winding wheels and industrial activity that looks so very different now, just over 50 years on from that fateful  disaster.

Then ... stood underneath this now solid seeming structure, it seems that he is raising his arms to the heavens, maybe asking "Why?"

Why the loss of 45 lives? Several in their 50's, the youngest a mere 18 years old all due to an explosion caused by an ignition of coal dust and gas. The reverberations of that tragedy still live on in those living in the surrounding communities today. Everyone knew of someone lost in the explosion or ... of members of the families concerned ... it was a close knit community and the effect on this area is still very strongly felt.

Behind, with the sun shining on the memorial miner one can clearly see the names cut out of the band of Corten steel that gives the details of all 45 that died on that fateful day in June 1960. My friend recognised so many of the names and I left him in quiet contemplation as ... like so many who live locally, he circled the stone plinth, quietly revisiting memories of those that lived and survived and those that died, it was a sad, quiet, little spoken moment.

From behind the details of the creases in the trousers, the musculature of the arms, seem so solid, but that is the amazing achievement of this monuments design.

It was an evening of ever changing skies as the clouds sped overhead, creating a very odd sensation ... it seemed as if it was the figure moving ... not the fast racing clouds. At times it was as if the miner was swaying in the little wind there was ... very disorientating!  We spent quite a while looking upwards marvelling at the odd sensation of perspective ... moving clouds above and us on the ground. As my friend read the information board of all those who died in that massive explosion, including their ages and trades, I took one last photo to mark the end of the day ... 

A now reassuringly peaceful scene where the elders can remember and the young, healthy descendants  can play, not knowing the pain of such loss that our community suffered.  These valleys, will never see the same sort of loss again.