Aberfan, Tryweryn and the fate of the Welsh language
A campaign to stop the flooding of Tryweryn near Bala in order to provide a water supply for Liverpool failed in 1965. In 1964 Jim Griffiths was appointed Secretary for State for Wales. Plaid Cymru grew to be an important political force in Wales as Gwynfor Evans was elected to Westminster in a 1966 by-election.
The economy was under pressure. Many quarries and coal pits closed, in the countryside machinery took the place of workers, and the jobs of 20,000 farm hands disappeared from 1951-71.
On the playing field, the Commonwealth Games were held in Cardiff in 1958 and in 1964 the national rugby team began a golden period in its history whilst Lynn Davies took gold in the long jump at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.
On the 21st of October 1966 a school at Aberfan was buried under a pile of waste from the mines. 144 people were killed, 116 of them children.
