I've just been re-reading the always-interesting "Documents & Articles" section of this great site (thanks yet again). I found a Newpaper clipping to the above Memorial which I hadn't previously heard of. I've thoroughly Googled the subject and have learnt more about it but have two questions I'd appreciate help with, please:

1. What does the name "Pan Tod" mean ?. Is it Welsh ?. With the Hill apparently being an ancient beacon as per May Hill, I guess that maybe Pan means something like "view", as in panoramic or to "pan" a camera ??.

2. The Memorial commemorates five Ruardean miners who lost their lives working underground – Henry Edwards, James Roberts, George Parsons, John Roberts and Leslie Jones.
Although I don't think it's the same man, I have a Leslie Graham Jones in my tree, a collier and my father's uncle, all from the Ruardean area.

Please can anyone shed more light upon the fate of the Leslie Jones commemorated on the Memorial ?.
I've found possible references to some of the five men on the great Coalmining History Resource Centre website, some date from the 1800s. However typical of my luck I've not found a Leslie Jones, perhaps not surprisingly as there are an awful lot of Jones' in the site's 160,000 accident records.

I look forward to any replies, please.

Jones Leslie
date 04/05/1951
age 45
where Northern United
accident detail Killed by the falling of a 15 cwt bell of stone which fell from the roof whilst moving
the conveyor at the face where he worked.

Name: Leslie Frederick Jones
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1906
Registration district: Westbury On Severn
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 297

Name: Leslie F Jones
Birth Date: abt 1906
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1951
Age at Death: 45
Registration district: Forest of Dean
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 7b
Page: 349

Name: Leslie F Jones
Spouse : Florence M Warren
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1933
Registration district: Westbury On Severn
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume Number: 6a
Page Number: 672

nine children ?

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

Pantod is also the name of a small mine worked on the summit of Ruardean Hill

--
Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>

The following fatalities may be relevant.

Surname/Name/Date/Age/Occupation/Mine/Cause

Henry Edwards;

Edwards Henry 20/09/1851 28 Collier Pluckpenny Fall of roof.

James Roberts;

Roberts James 15/12/1855 29 Collier Pluckpenny Fall of coal on head.

George Parsons;

Parsons George 04/02/1926 63
True Blue No2 Killed by the falling of dirt from the roof whilst trying to replace a lintel at a road junction

John Roberts;

Roberts John 21/05/1936 50
Northern United Killed by the falling of 3 cwt of dirt from the roof of the face. Death due to internal haemorrhage and fracturing of nearly all his ribs

Leslie Jones;

Jones Leslie 04/05/1951 45
Northern United Killed by the falling of a 15 cwt bell of stone which fell from the roof whilst moving the conveyor at the face where he worked.

The memorial has been vandalised several times (see http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Monument-wrecked-metal-thieves/story-11938878-de... and http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/forester-the-cinderford-uk/mi_8123/is_20091022/... ). It was OK when I last looked at it but I'm not exactly sure how long ago that was!

-Colin

Thanks to you all for your replies.
I'm particularly impressed wrt the detail of the collier's sad deaths. "My" Leslie Jones is not the one listed as I had thought.
Please is anyone willing to share the source, would this be on the Roll Of Honour CD I've heard about (via this forum, of course!). I did see the book in Cinderford Library last month but I don't recall any added detail beyond the lists of names ?.

Re the meaning of the name, thanks yet again "slow"hands for pointing me towards two "new" (for me) reference lists of local mines, but neither gave any extra detail and they even differed whether it was a coal or iron mine. This name doesn't appear on the C19th century references, clearly its a very old mine indeed. Websearching Pantod shows it in several foreign languages including Greek, sadly I know not their meaning. One website which deeply analyses the words of the Old Testament, while attempting to define God's "Spirit", makes references to classical scholars such as Plato and Socrates:

"Word or Wisdom of God, personified as his agent in creation and world-government, ho pantod unamossou"

I'm afraid my school dropped Latin in my second year in 73, so ??...

Finally, re the vandallism, yes I noticed that while first Googling the subject, very sad indeed. I abhor such criminality, I hear recently of graves & monuments recently being desecrated for socalled "scrap" metal, disgusting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15704549
Unfortunately and as much as I enjoy the modern world and particularly technology I must say my views re upholding law & order have always been somewhat medieval ! Then again sadly it seems the internet, which I love, perhaps in some geography and news related sites inadvertantly assists the efforts of such heartless people, yet another misuse of an excellent resource.

Suspend disbelief for just a moment. If Clowerwall can be Clearwell, and there are other examples of place names morphing over time, one possibility would be Pen Tal, pen being head and tal being the brow of a hill. I know its a bit of a stretch but given the location it makes a certain amount of sense.

Ah the wisdom of the fairer side, thanks for throwing your ore into the mix...
Sounds possible to me.
BUT are these Welsh words you use, or what, please ?.

Yes, indeed, they are Welsh words. I suppose I should have mentioned that. It's as good a theory as any at the moment. I love the Welsh place names. Garndiffaith, for instance, translates as "Cairn in the Wilderness".

While I cannot attest to the provenance of the name “Pan Tod” I did see the memorial the summer of 2016 when I visited Ruardean Hill, the birthplace of my Grandmother, Dorothy Jones-Howard. Her father, Edwin Jones, and her brothers were Colliers in that area. I found the memorial to be beautiful, somber, and thankfully free of any vandalism. If someone can kindly explain to me how to insert photos into this forum, I will happily share the pictures I took that day. This is my first post on the forum and I’m so very grateful to have found this website, I’ve spent a nice quiet afternoon reading up on posts that may or may not be about my Grandmother’s family.

Good evening and a very warm welcome to this website and forum.
Thanks to for your helpful post, we hope it won't be your only one, and we look forward to seeing your photos in due course.
We're also very pleased you've found the old posts of interest.

To add your own photos to the site's Gallery please use the page at the end of the link below. This and a great many other helpful parts of this website is normally found via the blue menu bar across the top of the page.

https://forest-of-dean.net/joomla/index.php/photo-gallery

Thanks again.