by Mike Hall
THE
CARDIFF
BOOK
OF
DAYS
MIKE HALL
My thanks are due to my wife Linda for all the gems she discovered through her internet research, and also to my fellow writer and local historian Richard Jones, who checked my text for accuracy. Any factual blunders that remain are my fault entirely.
I am also indebted to the many unwitting contributors whose work on Cardiff I trawled through. My primary source was the late Stewart Williams (see January 15th). Without him and all the others acknowledged for each date this book could not have been compiled.
Mike Hall, Redwick, Monmouthshire, 2011
First published in 2011
The History Press
The Mill, Brimscombe Port
Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG
www.thehistorypress.co.uk
This ebook edition first published in 2012
All rights reserved
© Mike Hall, 2011, 2012
The right of Mike Hall, to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 8593 5
MOBI ISBN 978 0 7524 8592 8
Original typesetting by The History Press
Contents
January
January 1st
January 2nd
January 3rd
January 4th
January 5th
January 6th
January 7th
January 8th
January 9th
January 10th
January 11th
January 12th
January 13th
January 14th
January 15th
January 16th
January 17th
January 18th
January 19th
January 20th
January 21st
January 22nd
January 23rd
January 24th
January 25th
January 26th
January 27th
January 28th
January 29th
January 30th
January 31st
February
February 1st
February 2nd
February 3rd
February 4th
February 5th
February 6th
February 7th
February 8th
February 9th
February 10th
February 11th
February 12th
February 13th
February 14th
February 15th
February 16th
February 17th
February 18th
February 19th
February 20th
February 21st
February 22nd
February 23rd
February 24th
February 25th
February 26th
February 27th
February 28th
February 29th
March
March 1st
March 2nd
March 3rd
March 4th
March 5th
March 6th
March 7th
March 8th
March 9th
March 10th
March 11th
March 12th
March 13th
March 14th
March 15th
March 16th
March 17th
March 18th
March 19th
March 20th
March 21st
March 22nd
March 23rd
March 24th
March 25th
March 26th
March 27th
March 28th
March 29th
March 30th
March 31st
April
April 1st
April 2nd
April 3rd
April 4th
April 5th
April 6th
April 7th
April 8th
April 9th
April 10th
April 11th
April 12th
April 13th
April 14th
April 15th
April 16th
April 17th
April 18th
April 19th
April 20th
April 21st
April 22nd
April 23rd
April 24th
April 25th
April 26th
April 27th
April 28th
April 29th
April 30th
May
May 1st
May 2nd
May 3rd
May 4th
May 5th
May 6th
May 7th
May 8th
May 9th
May 10th
May 11th
May 12th
May 13th
May 14th
May 15th
May 16th
May 17th
May 18th
May 19th
May 20th
May 21st
May 22nd
May 23rd
May 24th
May 25th
May 26th
May 27th
May 28th
May 29th
May 30th
May 31st
June
June 1st
June 2nd
June 3rd
June 4th
June 5th
June 6th
June 7th
June 8th
June 9th
June 10th
June 11th
June 12th
June 13th
June 14th
June 15th
June 16th
June 17th
June 18th
June 19th
June 20th
June 21st
June 22nd
June 23rd
June 24th
June 25th
June 26th
June 27th
June 28th
June 29th
June 30th
July
July 1st
July 2nd
July 3rd
July 4th
July 5th
July 6th
July 7th
July 8th
July 9th
July 10th
July 11th
July 12th
July 13th
July 14th
July 15th
July 16th
July 17th
July 18th
July 19th
July 20th
July 21st
July 22nd
July 23rd
July 24th
July 25th
July 26th
July 27th
July 28th
July 29th
July 30th
July 31st
August
August 1st
August 2nd
August 3rd
August 4th
&n
bsp; August 5th
August 6th
August 7th
August 8th
August 9th
August 10th
August 11th
August 12th
August 13th
August 14th
August 15th
August 16th
August 17th
August 18th
August 19th
August 20th
August 21st
August 22nd
August 23rd
August 24th
August 25th
August 26th
August 27th
August 28th
August 29th
August 30th
August 31st
September
September 1st
September 2nd
September 3rd
September 4th
September 5th
September 6th
September 7th
September 8th
September 9th
September 10th
September 11th
September 12th
September 13th
September 14th
September 15th
September 16th
September 17th
September 18th
September 19th
September 20th
September 21st
September 22nd
September 23rd
September 24th
September 25th
September 26th
September 27th
September 28th
September 29th
September 30th
October
October 1st
October 2nd
October 3rd
October 4th
October 5th
October 6th
October 7th
October 8th
October 9th
October 10th
October 11th
October 12th
October 13th
October 14th
October 15th
October 16th
October 17th
October 18th
October 19th
October 20th
October 21st
October 22nd
October 23rd
October 24th
October 25th
October 26th
October 27th
October 28th
October 29th
October 30th
October 31st
November
November 1st
November 2nd
November 3rd
November 4th
November 5th
November 6th
November 7th
November 8th
November 9th
November 10th
November 11th
November 12th
November 13th
November 14th
November 15th
November 16th
November 17th
November 18th
November 19th
November 20th
November 21st
November 22nd
November 23rd
November 24th
November 25th
November 26th
November 27th
November 28th
November 29th
November 30th
December
December 1st
December 2nd
December 3rd
December 4th
December 5th
December 6th
December 7th
December 8th
December 9th
December 10th
December 11th
December 12th
December 13th
December 14th
December 15th
December 16th
December 17th
December 18th
December 19th
December 20th
December 21st
December 22nd
December 23rd
December 24th
December 25th
December 26th
December 27th
December 28th
December 29th
December 30th
December 31st
January 1st
1864: The opening of a link between Portskewett Pier and the Chepstow to South Wales line was formally approved after a visit of an officer from the Railway Inspectorate. This enabled the introduction of through fares between Cardiff and Bristol. This was a great convenience for passengers as previously separate bookings had to be made for travel on railways either side of the ferry crossing, as well as a separate ferry toll. (John Norris, The Bristol & South Wales Union Railway, Railway & Canal Historical Society, 1985)
2011: Business leaders attacked a decision by Arriva Trains not to run any Valley Line services into Cardiff on New Year’s Day, despite the fact that it was a Saturday and expected to be a very busy day for shopping in the city centre. Steven Madeley of the St David’s Centre said, ‘it is causing us a significant headache because a lot of our staff will not be able to get their regular train to work.’ A spokesman for Arriva Trains said that the company had received no formal request from any business or organisation for them to run a service and added that it would have considered a request had it been made. (South Wales Echo)
January 2nd
1941: Cardiff suffered its worst air raid of the Second World War. On a cold moonlit night the city was attacked by 100 German bombers. The raid began at 6.40 p.m. and the all clear did not sound until 4.50 the next morning. One hundred and sixty-five people were killed, 100 houses destroyed and many others badly damaged. A shelter at Hollyman’s Bakehouse at the junction of Corporation Road and Stockland Street received a direct hit and thirty-two people, including the Hollyman family, lost their lives. Seven people were killed at a house in Neville Street as were all members of a funeral party sheltering at an address in Blackstone Street. Llandaff Cathedral was hit and the Dean, the Revd D.J. Jones, was thrown through the West Doors when a landmine exploded. All Saints’ Church, Llandaff North, was set on fire. A parachute mine fell on the Arms Park damaging stands and terracing and there was an unexploded mine at the castle. A higher death toll was only avoided because many of the bombs fell in the castle grounds and in Sophia Gardens. (J.H. Morgan, ‘Cardiff at War’ in Stewart Williams (ed.) The Cardiff Book, Vol.3, 1974)
January 3rd
1819: St John’s School opened. It had been built at a cost of £700 as a Free School for poor children on a site donated by the Marquis of Bute, who also subscribed 50 guineas and later gave another grant of land to increase the size of the playground. There were two schoolrooms, one for boys and one for girls. The boys got the usual lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic but the girls were also instructed in sewing and housewifery. (William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)
1882: The birth of John Lewis Williams, a rugby winger noted for his magical ability to side-step and swerve past opponents. He played seventeen times for Wales, only being on the losing side twice. He was part of three Welsh Triple Crown-winning sides and scored 17 tries in internationals. He played for the British Lions and was a fixture in the Cardiff team for many years. During the First World War he served in the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division. He died at the Battle of the Somme during the attack on Mametz Woods. (T.D. Breverton, The Welsh Almanac, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)
January 4th
1940: The birth in Cardiff of Brian Josephson who went on to become an eminent scientist, joint winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Physics. A great original thinker, he won a research fellowship at Trinity, Cambridge; contemporaries claimed that he could sniff a flawed proposition a mile off. Josephson discovered how an electrical current could flow between two superconductors, even when an insulator was
placed between them. This became known to physicists as the ‘Josephson Effect’. The practical application of this research was in the development of extremely sensitive scientific instruments, for example used in the magnetic field around the brain. He later became fascinated by the links between the brain and paranormal phenomena. His ideas in this area are still controversial and have been criticised by fellow academics. Nevertheless, he insisted that experiments in telepathy have consistently produced results that cannot be explained by mere probability. He claimed his motto was that of the prestigious Royal Society: ‘nullius in verba’ – ‘take nobody’s word for it’. (T.D. Breverton, The Welsh Almanac, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / John O’Sullivan & Bryn Jones, Cardiff: A Centenary Celebration, The History Press, 2005)
January 5th
1873: The funeral of PC William Perry (37) took place. He had been stabbed to death by a mentally-ill butcher, John Jones, in the entrance to the Westgate Hotel, Cathedral Road. Jones was buried with full honours at Adamsdown cemetery. A former soldier, he had served in the Cardiff Borough Constabulary for eight years. Ironically, he had been planning to move to West Wales soon. Such was the public sympathy for Perry that over 12,000 people lined the route from his home in Heath Street to the cemetery and a week later there was a memorial service at St John’s. Perry’s assailant died in custody on January 8th. The cause of death was given as a brain haemorrhage and he was buried in unconsecrated ground at Cathays the following day.
1969: Twenty-three-year-old prostitute Margaret Sennett’s half-naked body was found in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Bute Street. It had been partially hidden among leaves and some rubble from recently-demolished houses. An attempt had been made to burn her clothing, some of which was missing. Twenty-eight-year-old Royston Slater from Splott was charged with her murder. After evidence was presented of his mental state, Slater was placed in a secure hospital. (Mark Isaacs, Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Cardiff, Wharncliffe, 2009)
January 6th
1913: Escapologist Harry Houdini began a week-long run at the Cardiff Empire. The theatre bills (illustrated by Stewart Williams in his Cardiff Yesterday series) proclaimed it ‘the Great Performance of his Strenuous Career, liberating himself after being locked in a WATER TORTURE CELL. Houdini’s own invention, whilst standing on his head, his ankles clamped and locked above in the centre of the Massive Cover – A Feat which borders on the supernatural. Houdini offers £200 to anyone who proves that it is possible to obtain air in the upside down position in which he releases himself from this WATER-FILLED TORTURE CELL’. (Stewart Williams, Cardiff Yesterday)
2002: Crowd trouble marred Cardiff City’s 2-1 FA Cup third round victory over Leeds United. Cardiff had come from behind to win with a goal three minutes from time. Some Cardiff fans invaded the pitch and confronted the Leeds supporters. Coins and plastic bottles were thrown, the ugly scenes marring the underdogs’ victory. However, the worst casualty was believed to be a Leeds supporter bitten by a police dog as he boarded a bus. (Dennis Morgan, Farewell to Ninian Park, 2008)
