ne of the great joys of watching Netflix’s The Crown is following along with the historical events highlighted through its royal lens. In its third and latest season, the show follows its cast of royals through a changing political climate and increasing global unrest, sending them into the fray of political unrest in Greece and the global space race, among other historical happenings.
In Season Three, Episode Three, Queen Elizabeth II deals with the fallout from the Aberfan Disaster, a catastrophic landslide in a Welsh mining town that led to the death of dozens of children. Yet for anyone who isn’t British, the disaster may be a complete mystery. Here’s what you need to know about what really happened.
What was the disaster at Aberfan?
Aberfan was a Welsh mining village founded in the late 1800s—one of many such villages that burgeoned near the Methyr Vale colliery, which began its operations in 1869. In the fall of 1966, Wales was deluged by weeks of heavy rain, which caused a nearby spoil tip (a mountainous pile of mining waste) to liquefy into a thick slurry. On October 21, 1966, the slurry hurtled into the village of Aberfan like a landslide of black quicksand, inundating buildings, streets, and most notably, the local schoolhouse.
