The Albert Medal and the Tynewydd Inundation Edward Besly, 25 June 2012 The reverse of Isaiah Thomas's Albert Medal.
craftivists Sian Lile-Pastore, 19 June 2012 On saturday, the Craftivists (well, the wonderful Sarah Corbett) came to Oriel 1 to help us make mini protest banners dealing with asylum seekers and refugees. In the gallery at the moment we have an exhibition called Refugee House which is a recreation of a typical refugee or asylum seeker dwelling in Cardiff.One of the intentions of the exhibtion is to raise awareness about the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales and the rest of the UK.We thought making banners with other Crafitivists would raise even more awareness about the issues - while stitching slogans and quotes on our mini banners we could really think about the words and discuss their meaning, and when we hung the banners up afterwards other people could read the quotes and perhaps want to investigate more.It was a really interesting day and I met lots of lovely new crafters, we've hung up most of the banners, but there will be more to come - let me know if you see any!oh and do go and see what other things the Craftivists do and see how you can get involved.Thanks to Reynette from Oasis who gave us a bit more of an insight into the lives of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales by telling us about her work and experiences at Oasis Cardiff.
looking at buildings with 'families learning together' Sian Lile-Pastore, 19 June 2012 I met a lovely group this morning from 'families learning together' who took part in one of my looking at buildings sessions. I sent them out to do some sketches and they came back with these beauties! We then turned the sketches in to 3d models and they were really wonderful!
The Tynewydd Mining Disaster Ceri Thompson, 19 June 2012 In August 2010 a roof fall at the San Jose copper/gold mine in Chile trapped 33 miners 700 metres underground. After 69 days underground and a massive rescue operation, which involved NASA and more than a dozen international corporations, all 33 men were rescued over a 24 hour period. After winching the last trapped miners to the surface the rescue workers held a placard up for the cameras reading "Mission accomplished Chile". This was seen by an estimated television audience of more than a billion viewers around the world. Tynewydd rescuers with the rescued Tynewydd disasterThe Chilean rescue reminded many of a similar incident which occurred in the Rhondda Valleys over 130 years before. On the 11th April 1877 Tynewydd Colliery in Porth became flooded by water from the abandoned workings of the nearby Cymmer Old Colliery. At the time of the inundation fourteen miners were underground at Tynewydd and rescue attempts were begun to find them.Five of the survivors were located after sounds of knocking were heard and rescuers had to cut through 12 yards of coal to reach them. Unfortunately, when the area was broken into, one of the trapped men was killed by the force of the air rushing out through the rescue hole. There were now nine men unaccounted for. "Bringing the miners Out", Tynewydd Colliery disaster Desperate rescue attemptsFurther sound of knocking were heard from working places beneath the water line which led to the rescuers assuming that there were other survivors trapped in an air pocket. An attempt was made by two divers from London to reach the men but the amount of debris blocking the roadways made this impossible. It was decided that the only way now was to cut a rescue heading through 38 yards of coal.During the ten days it took to reach the five trapped men, the rescue attracted the attention of the world's press and telegrams were even sent by Queen Victoria who was concerned about the men's plight. The trapped miners were reached on Friday, April 20th; they had been without food and had only mine water to drink for ten days. The five rescued miners were found to be suffering from 'the bends' because of the rapid decompression of their air pocket and had to spend time in hospital but otherwise recovered fully. The four other missing miners were all drowned.Brave and heroic rescuesAlbert Medals and other presentation items were awarded to the rescuers in a ceremony held at the Rocking Stone above Pontypridd. It was estimated that up to forty thousand people attended.The Tynewydd rescue was the first time that Albert Medals had been awarded for bravery on land. Five of these medals are now held by Big Pit National Coal Museum along with examples of presentation silverware and other items connected with the rescue. Survivors of the Tynewydd Disaster
Mission accomplished Ceri Thompson, 19 June 2012 The team of rescuers Postcard commemorating the disaster Caption reads: 'Cross section of "stalls" and cutting, showing the imprisoned men, and their rescuers at work. Note: The first engraving exhibits the condition of the affairs before any opening had been made, while the other shows the rise of the water in the "stall" consequent upon the escape of the condensed air when the boring machine had pierced the three feet thickness of coal that only then remained.' Five of the survivors In August 2010 a roof fall at the San Jose copper/gold mine in Chile trapped 33 miners 700 metres underground. After 69 days underground and a massive rescue operation, which involved NASA and more than a dozen international corporations, all 33 men were rescued over a 24 hour period. After winching the last trapped miners to the surface the rescue workers held a placard up for the cameras reading "Mission accomplished Chile". This was seen by an estimated television audience of more than a billion viewers around the world. Tynewydd disaster The Chilean rescue reminded many of a similar incident which occurred in the Rhondda Valleys over 130 years before. On the 11th April 1877 Tynewydd Colliery in Porth became flooded by water from the abandoned workings of the nearby Cymmer Old Colliery. At the time of the inundation fourteen miners were underground at Tynewydd and rescue attempts were begun to find them. Five of the survivors were located after sounds of knocking were heard and rescuers had to cut through 12 yards of coal to reach them. Unfortunately, when the area was broken into, one of the trapped men was killed by the force of the air rushing out through the rescue hole. There were now nine men unaccounted for. Desperate rescue attempts Further sound of knocking were heard from working places beneath the water line which led to the rescuers assuming that there were other survivors trapped in an air pocket. An attempt was made by two divers from London to reach the men but the amount of debris blocking the roadways made this impossible. It was decided that the only way now was to cut a rescue heading through 38 yards of coal. During the ten days it took to reach the five trapped men, the rescue attracted the attention of the world's press and telegrams were even sent by Queen Victoria who was concerned about the men's plight. The trapped miners were reached on Friday, April 20th; they had been without food and had only mine water to drink for ten days. The five rescued miners were found to be suffering from 'the bends' because of the rapid decompression of their air pocket and had to spend time in hospital but otherwise recovered fully. The four other missing miners were all drowned. Brave and heroic rescues Although the incident was a minor one in terms of loss of life (an explosion at Cymmer Colliery had killed 114 men and boys in 1856), the perseverance of the rescue teams attracted great press and public interest. Twenty four First and Second Class and other presentation items were awarded to the rescuers in a ceremony held at the Rocking Stone above Pontypridd. It was estimated that up to forty thousand people attended. The Tynewydd rescue was the first time that Albert Medals had been awarded for bravery on land. Five of these medals are now held by Big Pit National Coal Museum along with examples of presentation silverware and other items connected with the rescue. Article by: Ceri Thompson, Curator, Big Pit National Coal Museum
