2 weeks Ago
TAKE a look at these old archive pictures of landslips that happened in the 70s and 80s in Gwent. The images of the landslide in Cwmtillery, Abertillery during Storm Bert are still fresh in our memory. The incident triggered calls by members of the public and politicians to address the dangers of old coal tips.
There is growing concern over the increasing danger of coal tips to residents as climate change increases rainfall. However, if you turn back the clock, concerns were raised by locals all the way back in the 70s. In 1976, there were fears that slurry pond at Chapel of Ease, Abercarn may slip on to the school in this picture.
In 1982, a landslip left two resident's bungalows in Abertillery perched precariously at the top of a quarry. The council told the occupants to quit their homes as quickly as they could after their gardens sank away. One resident was Mr Dave Hutchings and only a couple of feet of his garden were left after the retaining wall fell into the quarry.
"For the last six months we've been trying to get some satisfaction from the insurance company to accept some responsibility," he said at the time. There had been gradual movement over the years, especially leading up to the landslip. "I could see it was moving and had been doing so every winter with the frost.
" His next-door neighbour Mr Brian Jones, his wife Kay, and his daughter Sarah discovered a corner of their garden had dropped ten metres. Mrs Jones said: "I pulled back the curtains in the morning and the garden was gone. I called the police and then the council immediately.
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