Maerdy mining memorial and garden unveiled

It is three years since the idea for a memorial will be first mooted

The coal-mining heritage of the Rhondda Valley is to be remembered with the unveiling of a memorial and opening of a memorial garden.

Residents in Maerdy launched an appeal three years ago to create a memorial to those who lost their lives working in the coal industry.

It will be at the foot of the mountain road linking Maerdy with Aberdare.

The pit wheel of the Maerdy colliery will form part of the memorial.

Opened in 1875, it was the main employer in the area for many decades, going on to become the last deep mine in the Rhondda Coalfield, which was once home to 79 coal mines.

Rhondda Cynon Taf councillor Keiron Montague said: "The closure of the Mardy Colliery at the end of 1990 truly was a sad day for the community, and it was a loss that was felt throughout the whole of the area that was once known as the South Wales Coalfield.

"This wonderful memorial in Maerdy will be a fitting reminder of the sacrifices made by generations of workforces who worked in often treacherous circumstances such as through two World Wars and the 1885 colliery disaster."