Gaynor Madgwick was one of the very few children pulled alive from the wreckage of the school in Aberfan engulfed by the spoil tip that slid from the mountain in 1966.

After she finished her talk to U3A Abergavenny in May, Gaynor invited members to visit the memorial garden and cemetery in Aberfan. A coach was booked on September 19 and the weather was fine. ??Gaynor was unable to join the group, but another resident met them by chance and gave his memories of the traumatic events of that day. The dignified cemetery was bright marble and many of the family messages on the graves evoked powerful emotions.

A visit to Cyfarthfa Castle in the afternoon completed a very informative day. This was the home of the illustrious Crawshay family and is today considered the finest surviving example of an 18 century ironmaster’s residence. The castle houses a museum and an art gallery with furnishings from the Victorian era.

At the U3A monthly meeting on September 28, Martin Rhodes gave an informative talk entitled English Coinage through the Ages. He explained the Roman origin of LSD. Librae denoted a pound in weight while Solidi and Denarii were Roman coins. The first attempt at decimalisation over two centuries ago failed. However when coins were made of precious metals like silver, milling the edges of the coins was found to prevent fraudsters from clipping the edges.

Coming up are talks by Tony Care on the work of Tools for Self Reliance Cymru in Tanzania and Crickhowell on October 26, and Roman Entertainment by Steve Addis in November, also a fish and chip lunch and Beetle Drive.

The U3A network is all about learning- starting new skills and developing those we never had time for when we were employed full time or raising a family. It is also about teaching each other and many members choose to have a go. For further information please see our website www.u3asites.org.uk/abergavenny or ring John Pratt, Chairman, on 01873 890613.