A RISCA church received a special visit this week when the Band of the Welsh Guards gave a special performance to raise money for the church’s miners’ memorial window.

For the last four years St Mary’s Parish Church has been raising money for a stained glass window dedicated to the miners of the area through various fundraisers.

But they are still a few thousand pounds off the target needed to fund the window.

The Venerable John Blackburn said the project is about remembering the industrial history of Risca and the valley in general.

He said the mining industry was extremely important in Risca during the industrial revolution of South Wales and arranged for the Band of the Welsh Guards to perform at the church on Tuesday night to add to this fund.

More than 240 people attended the concert, for which tickets were sold for £5 each, with all of the money going to the memorial window fund.

The window will particularly commemorate those who died in the Blackvein Colliery disaster in 1860.