Our 'Theme Book'

Ychydig cyn 8.30 y bore ar 14 Hydref 1913, bu farw 439 o ddynion a bechgyn mewn ffrwydran ofandwy yng ngloddfa Senghennydd. Dim ond wyth oed oedd John Williams pan symudodd ef a'i deulu o un o bentrefi chwareli'r gogledd i fyw i Senghennydd yng nghymoedd y de. Edrychai ymlaen at ei ben-blwydd yn dair ar ddeg oed, pan fyddai'n cychwyn gweithio yn y pyllau glo gyda'i dad a'i ffrind o'r ty drws nesaf, Bili Dando. Ond doedd John ddim yn gwybod bod yna gwmwl du ar ei ffordd i Senghennydd - cwmwl a fyddai'n bwrw ei gysgod dros y cwm cyfan am byth.

Just before 8.30 a.m. on 14 October 1913, 439 men and boys died in an awful explosion at Senghennydd colliery. John Williams was only eight years old when he and his family moved from one of the quarry villages of north Wales to live in Senghenydd in the south Wales valleys. He looked forward to his thirteenth birthday, when he would start working in the mines with his father and friend from the house next door, Billy Dando. But John didn't know there was a black cloud on its way to Senghennydd - a cloud that would cast his shadow over the whole valley forever.