Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. A hundred and twenty seven years ago on 23 June 1894, a tremendous explosion occurred at the Albion colliery in Cilfynydd. The blast was heard four miles around. It and a thick volume of sulphurous smoke were the terrible omens of the devastation that had occurred. Iron structures were stripped, bent like wire and propelled significant distances by the force of the blast. More traumatic still was the loss of live. The Cardiff Times and The South Wales Weekly News described Cilfynydd as resembling a city of the dead. Two hundred and ninety men and boys were killed that day, the youngest just 13 years old. It was the second-worst mining incident in Wales after the 1913 Senghenydd disaster. Whilst most of the victims were identified, the names of 11 remained unknown. In 1907, a memorial was unveiled in their honour at Llanfabon cemetery by Mabon, the well-known president of the South Wales Miners Federation.

Last week, I held the first of what I hope will become an annual event at that memorial in honour of those who lost their lives in the Albion. In a moving service led by Father Gareth Coombes, and along with representatives from Cilfynydd Primary School and Pontypridd High School, we laid floral tributes and had a moving service to remember the impact on their families and the wider community. The miners, their families and the community suffered a grievous loss that day. The least that we can do is to remember that tragedy.