A commemorative event has taken place to mark the 50th anniversary of one of Wales’ worst boat tragedies.

Fifteen people, including four children, drowned when the Prince of Wales ferry hit a bridge in Penmaenpool, near Dolgellau, and sunk.

An inquiry found the skipper negligent because the vessel was undermanned and carried too many people.

Dolgellau Town Council marked 50 years to the day of the tragedy on July 22 by laying a wreath and erecting a plaque to remember those who drowned.

Fogmen searching the scene of the accident

It was also created to honour the efforts of the locals who saved a number of tourists who were on board the Prince of Wales.

Although a number of the rescuers are still alive, no-one has been officially recognised for their bravery in pulling 27 people out of the fast-flowing incoming tide.

Among those saved was Andrew Green, 58, of Melton Mowbray, who met his probable rescuer Ronald Davies, 82, for the first time since the disaster.

Recovery work after the Penmaenpool boat disaster

Mr Davies, then a joiner working locally, recalled: “I saw the boat sailing upstream as I had done many times before but the tide was very strong that day.

“The boat hit the bridge broadside. I waded into the water and grabbed a boy of eight or nine and managed to get him to the bank.”

Mr Green, who lost his grandmother but whose parents and brother were saved, shook his likely rescuer by the hand.

Mr Green, a watch collector, said :”It’s nice to say ‘thank you’. Looking back, it is all a bit of a blur.”

Frogmen at the scene of the sinking, near the mast

Brother Kevin, 55, said: “I do remember being taken to the hospital at Dolgellau. We weren’t told until afterwards that our grandmother had died.”

Another rescue hero was Bob Jones, 82, a barman at the George III Hotel whose landlord John Hall and a chef had managed to save some victims in a boat.

“I waded out and grabbed two little boys,” said Mr Jones. “I had to climb over a ditch with one of them. I had never seen the river run so fast.

I can’t pass by now without thinking about that day.”

Police searching for survivors

Two other survivors at the event were Ian Fowler, 60, of Accrington, and his 63-year-old brother Alan, of Blackburn, who lost their mother.

The commemoration, in which a plaque was unveiled and wreaths laid, had been organised by Dolgellau town council.

Chairman Dyfrig Siencyn said: “Looking at one of the most beautiful places in the world, it’s hard to imagine something so horrific could have happened in such a way.”

An inquiry into the incident lead to changes in the law governing insurance and the number of passengers boats could carry.