A Welsh Coal Mines web page

"I WAS THERE"                                                      
 Cambrian Pit Disaster.May 17th 1965
                 
Pit hooter screaming,that fateful day,      
With nightmare scream,did startle dismay,       
Ominous soundng of pious despair,
Vending the fear midst the valleys still air,     
Rescuers scrambled to heed forth their aid,   
In responce to the cry which the pit hooter had made,  
Explosions were certain,how much the cost?  
How many buried,dead or lost?   
Disciplined workers, for tragedies trained;  
Gaunt were their faces, anxious and strained,   
They offered assistance, whatever the goal, 
The risk of their lives, down that filthy black hole,  
Rescuers descended with determined face, 
Their passions aroused by natures disgrace.                        

Deep into the bowels they ventured with care, 
Aware of the dangers, the foul smelling air, 
Stealthily crawling, slowly making their way,
Amongst all the carnage that had befallen that day,  
Past broken timbers,where bent were the nails,  
Showered by hell in clamourous wails,  
Arrived at the place where the explosion occured,  
Took toll of the victims,with emotions all stirred,   
Thirty-one was the total who died on that day,  
Hell, Fire,Explosion,when HELL had its way.

By unknown, rescued by Ivor Evans