If you have visited the National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales recently, you may have noticed a new addition – a monolithic structure featuring a depiction of the famous girl & baby photograph which was taken during the 1913 Universal Colliery Disaster. Due to the unfortunate deterioration of the wooden girl & baby statue which was already in place at the memorial garden, the Aber Valley Heritage Group decided to replace it with something more resistant. The committee were successful in receiving a grant to pay for the new structure, thanks to Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Aber Valley Ward Councillors and the Community Empowerment Fund, and work was carried out by The Render Mason

Andrea Davies, Aber Valley Heritage Group Committee Member remarked “We are so happy with the detailed work that The Render Mason has provided. It’s a beautiful memorial piece which will be seen by thousands of visitors in future years. Thank you Dan!”

Dan, The Render Mason said:

“We were approached by Aber Valley Heritage Group Committee and asked if we could construct a feature piece depicting a famous photo of a girl & baby looking over the scene of the 1913 Universal Colliery disaster.

Myself Daniel Ayres, and colleague Daniel Smith, both originally from Senghenydd, were more than happy for the opportunity to add something to the garden with this project and hope visitors will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed building it.

Once we had laid the foundation, we built a block structure & reinforced it with steel mesh. A thick layer of concrete was applied which covered the entire structure. After leaving for a few hours to set, we were able to carve it into shape, adding texture to replicate stone. We then carved in the frame and the feature using the photo for reference. Once fully set we were able to add the colours and seal it.”

If you would like to see the new statue, the National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales, located in Senghenydd is open daily 9:00am – 6:00pm (1st March – 30th September) or 9:00am – 4:00pm (1st October – 29th February – closed on Christmas Day). Last entry 15 minutes before close. The Memorial Garden postcode is CF83 4GY.