The Cardiff Book of Days

by Mike Hall

  August 26th

  2008: The day after performing at Bryn Terfil’s Faenol Festival opera singer Shân Conti set off on Bank Holiday Monday on a charity pony-trekking expedition from Talacre Beach near Prestatyn, aiming to complete the 300-mile journey to the South Wales coast. The trek was to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer, the disease that had killed her long-term partner Justin Smith, the editor of the BBC Wales political programme, Dragon’s Eye. Justin had formerly been bass-player in the Cardiff-based glam-rock band, Tigertailz. Shan had met Justin in 1998 at the Avanti television production company when he had the job of editing her show on S4C. They lived in Cardiff but he became ill in 2006. The diagnosis came too late for treatment to be effective. They were married at his beside in a Penarth hospice a month before Justin’s death. Shan later set up the charity Amser Justin Time to provide support for patients and their families. (www.amserjustintime.org.uk)

  August 27th

  1921: Cardiff City’s first game in the top flight of the Football League, the First Division was held. The match programme for their eagerly-awaited opening game, against Tottenham Hotspur (the FA Cup holders) advised fans that ‘the ground has undergone considerable improvement during the close season. No doubt the most necessary has been the improvement of the playing pitch. This has been done with sea-washed turf by expert men, the pitch now being equal to the best in the country. An appeal is made therefore to all not to run over the field after the match.’ The 60,000 who turned up for the match did not have much to celebrate – Cardiff lost 0-1 and went on to lose their next five matches. (Dennis Morgan, Farewell to Ninian Park, 2008)

  1981: Thirty-six women, together with four babies in pushchairs and six token males, set off from Cardiff City Hall on the ‘Women’s Peace March’ to the American base at Greenham Common near Newbury where they were to set up camp outside the perimeter fence. They were protesting about ground-launch nuclear missiles targeted at the Soviet Union being deployed there. The Peace Camp at Greenham Common remained there for nearly twenty years. (T.D. Breverton, The Welsh Almanac, Glyndwr Publications, 2002)

  August 28th

  1763: John Wesley was on his travels in South Wales visiting Methodist congregations. He was much impressed by the fellowship he found at Trevecca, between Talgarth and Llangorse, describing it as ‘all diligent and constantly employed, fearing God and working righteousness’ but on his return from Swansea via Cowbridge and Wenvoe, he was less impressed. ‘A man had need to be all fire who comes now into these parts when almost everyone is as cold as ice,’ he wrote. At Cardiff on this date he found that the movement was ‘in a ruinous condition’ for which Wesley blamed ‘mysticism’ which had crept in and ‘well-nigh extinguished the last spark of life’. He claimed that he found more vitality among the group at Aberthaw ‘than I ever found in Glamorgan’. This was not the first time he had been disappointed in Cardiff. Revisiting the Wesley Society there on 10th August 1758 he had been so distressed at the state of decline into which the group had fallen that he made a hurried return from Bristol to visit again on August 21st ‘to gather up the fragments of the Cardiff Society’. (William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969, quoting from Wesley’s letters and diaries)

  August 29th

  1887: Lady Fanny Henrietta Walker died after an accident in her pony and trap in Queen Street. She was returning with two of her eight sons from a cricket match at Fairwater when the pony slipped on greasy cobbles on the descent under the railway bridge. The trap overturned and she received severe head injuries. She was taken to the nearby Alexandra Hotel where she died four days later. The two boys were uninjured. At the next meeting of the Borough Council concern was expressed about the hazardous road conditions at this location. However, Stewart Williams in Cardiff Yesterday commented that ‘many of my cycling contempries would no doubt agree that the tramlines and uneven wood-block surface there posed problems as late as the 1950s’ Lady Walker (née Morgan) was a daughter of the first Baron Tredegar and a sister of Viscount Tredegar of Balaklava fame. Her husband was the grandiosely-named Sir George Ferdinand Radzivill Forestier Walker of Wentloog Castle, Castleton. Walker Road in Splott was named in her memory. (Dennis Morgan, Illustrated History of Cardiff Suburbs, 2003)

  August 30th

  1861: ‘What a pity it is that our stipendiary and Borough magistrates cannot be compelled to take up their residence in Butetown for one year. Almost every street has its low beer-house or other licensed establishment and, as a rule, two or three brothels. In front of these houses may be seen drunken sailors and prostitutes dragging each other about in the most obscene and disgusting manner. It is notorious that many of these drinking establishments are kept open for these classes, yet a conviction is scarcely possible before Cardiff magistrates – A Voice from Butetown.’ (Letter in the Cardiff Times, quoted in Trevor Herbert & Gareth Elwyn Jones, People and Protest: Wales 1815-1880, University of Wales, 1988)

  2006: ‘It would be easy to bemoan the fact that Cardiff’s first staging of a one-day international ended in abandonment but the truth is we were lucky to have any cricket at all. The more pessimistic weather forecasters predicted rain reaching Cardiff just in time for the start of this floodlit encounter so for 56.2 overs to be played was some achievement.’ (Steve James’ report for the Daily Telegraph)

  August 31st

  1919: The SS Orcas, owned by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company sailed from Cardiff bound for the West Indies carrying 225 coloured men, mostly sailors, returning home under the terms of a voluntary repatriation scheme which had been introduced following the race riots in Cardiff in June. Men were offered just £1 on departure and £5 on arrival at their destination. Those married to ‘non-white’ women could go if they had a guarantee of accommodation but men with white wives were not eligible. The ship’s captain complained to the shipping company that the men came on board with the apparent intention of defying his authority and had knives and revolvers in their possession. (John Richards, Cardiff: A Maritime History, The History Press, 2005)

  1946: Glamorgan beat Hampshire at Bournemouth to win the County Championship for the first time. Rain washed out play on the first day and it seemed that Glamorgan would be denied the victory they needed. ‘The following day,’ writes Andrew Hignell in From Sophia to Swalec, ‘prayers were uttered in the churches and chapels of South Wales’. They seem to have been effective. The weather improved and Glamorgan won by an innings!

  September 1st

  1855: Opening of St David’s Roman Catholic School in Stanley Street. The school was established by Father Signini, a much-loved priest who gave over forty years’ service to the people of Cardiff. (Stewart Williams, Cardiff Yesterday)

  1910: Ninian Park, the new home of Cardiff City Football Club was officially opened by Lord Ninian Crichton-Stewart. Seven thousand spectators turned up for the inaugural game, a friendly against Aston Villa, Division One champions and four-time FA Cup winners. Only 200 of them could be accommodated in the tiny ‘grandstand’. City, then a Southern League side, acquitted themselves well against a much stronger team, largely thanks to their goalkeeper, Husbands, but eventually lost 1-2. A week later City defeated Ton Pentre 3-2 in their opening Southern League fixture. (Dennis Morgan, Farewell to Ninian Park, 2008)

  1911: Pioneer aviator Benjamin Hicks became the first pilot to fly an aircraft across the Bristol Channel, flying from Weston-super-Mare to Cardiff. (Stewart Williams, Cardiff Yesterday)

  September 2nd

  1916: The South Wales Daily News expressed concern about the influx of foreign sailors recruited to make up for the wartime shortage of seamen stating that ‘these alien classes, Arabs, coloured men and Chinamen, have benefited considerably from the changed conditions. Today there are more Arabs and coloured men entering Cardiff than ever before.’

  1939: In the last Football League match played at Ninian Park before the outbreak of the Second World War, Cardiff City lost 2-4 to Notts County in a Division Three (South)
game. The following day all the players’ contracts were terminated by League clubs. Football grounds and other places of entertainment were closed on government orders because of fears that air-raids could cause enormous casualties at theatres, cinemas and sporting venues. Later, when it was realised that entertainment was important in keeping up morale, the rules were relaxed. Football grounds were reopened and regional leagues formed. Clubs were allowed to enlist ‘guest’ players serving in the Armed Forces and based locally. One who turned out for Cardiff was a young Bill Shankley, later the iconic manager of Liverpool. (Dennis Morgan, Farewell to Ninian Park, 2008)

  September 3rd

  1952: Forty-two-year-old Lily Volpert was found dead in the docks area of Cardiff. Her throat had been cut and £100 stolen. A Somali seaman, Mahmoud Mattan, was soon arrested and charged. He had very little English and was not allowed an interpreter. At his trial his defence counsel witheringly described him as ‘half child of nature, a semi-civilised savage’. With ‘friends’ like that, it was perhaps no wonder that he was convicted and hanged. Tragically, his wife turned up at the prison to visit him on September 3rd, unaware that he had been executed that morning. In 1981 it was finally established that the wrong man had been hanged. The real killer was another Somali who was sent to Broadmoor in 1954 after being found guilty of a different murder. (John O’Sullivan & Bryn Jones, Cardiff: A Centenary Celebration, The History Press, 2005)

  1990: Cardiff-born oil worker Patrick Trigg (54) found unwelcome fame as one of Saddam Hussein’s ‘human shield’ hostages in Kuwait at the start of the Gulf War. (John O’Sullivan & Bryn Jones, Cardiff: A Centenary Celebration, The History Press, 2005)

  1991: Four days of rioting occurred on the Ely Estate, believed to have had its origins in a row between two Wilson Road shopkeepers, one Asian and one white, in a dispute over selling bread. (Wikipedia)

  September 4th

  1895: A labourer, Henry James, appeared at Penarth Magistrates Court charged with riding a bicycle without lights at Cogan. He was fined 5 shillings. L. Bishop, a tramcar conductor, was in court to answer a charge of allowing a tram to be overcrowded. Mr Thorp, appearing on behalf of the Corporation, explained that there was no desire for a prosecution in this case as there was great difficulty experienced in regulating the number of passengers. Bishop was cautioned and discharged. Three boys were charged with stealing apples, the property of James Harding, at Llandaff. They were discharged on paying costs. James Potter of Radyr was charged by the Conservators of the Rivers Taff and Ely with ‘fishing for trout without a licence in the daytime on land not adjoining a dwelling house’. On the first charge he was ordered to pay costs. The second charge was dismissed. (Western Mail)

  1991: Wales, captained by Ieuan Evans, lost 9-22 to France in the first floodlit international match played at the Arms Park. (Robert Cole & Stuart Farmer, The Wales Rugby Miscellany, Sports Vision Publishing, 2008)

  September 5th

  1927: Kathryn Thomas (20) became the first person to swim the Bristol Channel. She swam from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare in 7 hours 20 minutes. She started from Penarth Head, went south to Lavernock Point and then across the channel near Steep Holm. In all, she swam a distance of 18 miles. (Roy Thorne, Penarth: A History, Vol.2, Starling Press, 1976)

  1969: Glamorgan beat Worcestershire at Sophia Gardens to secure only their second County Championship. Wins at Swansea over Middlesex and over Essex in the last fortnight of August had put them into a strong position. In Glamorgan’s second innings wicket-keeper Eifion Jones (who had won the Essex match by whipping off the bails with Essex’s last man inches from the crease going for the winning run) was felled by a bouncer from Worcestershire’s West Indian fast-bowler Vanburn Holder. There were no batsmen’s helmets in those days and he had to be helped from the field in a dazed condition. (Andrew Hignell, From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff, The History Press, 2008)

  2008: Heavy rain caused flooding in parts of the city. The Cardiff Pride Festival due to take place next day was cancelled. Peterston-super-Ely was virtually cut off and rail services disrupted. (Western Mail)

  September 6th

  1538: The Dominican (Black Friars) Priory, which lay just west of the castle, was suppressed as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. This was carried out by Dr Richard Ingworth, Bishop of Dover, himself a former Dominican, who had been authorized ‘to visit and vex’ Welsh priories. The tolling of the bell summoned the seven remaining brothers of this impoverished community and ‘with one assent and consent, without any manner of coercion or counsel’ they signed the deed which disposed of their property. The only item of any value was a silver chalice which Ingworth retained to pay his expenses. (Dennis Morgan, The Cardiff Story, D. Brown & Sons, 1991)

  1916: The Torridge, owned by Tatems of Cardiff, was attacked by a U-Boat 40 miles off Start Point. The crew were picked up by the Germans but the Torridge was sunk. (John Richards, Cardiff: A Maritime History, The History Press, 2005)

  1997: In common with the rest of Britain, Cardiff came to a standstill for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had been killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31st. (Western Mail)

  September 7th

  1835: With the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act voting for borough elections in Cardiff no longer depended on the old semi-feudal burgess privilege. Instead election was based on residence of at least three years, a property qualification and payment of Poor and Borough Rates. Ancient offices such as that of Aletaster were abolished. The last holder of this post was the appropriately-named Edward Philpott. (William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)

  1970: Cardiff schoolgirl Vicky Halton was released after being one of the hostages held on a BOAC VC10 aircraft that had been hijacked while on a flight from Bahrein to London. The hijackers, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were demanding the release of one of their number involved in a previous hijacking, the charismatic Leila Khaled. The headmistress, Miss M. Lewis, told the South Wales Echo that ‘she’s a very sensible and capable girl. I’d expect her to cope with the situation as well as anyone.’ Vicky had been travelling alone for the start of term. Her mother worked for a Bahrain newspaper and her father was a Security Officer for an oil firm. He had previously been landlord of the Vulcan pub in Adamsdown.

  September 8th

  1855: Cardiff-born Corporal Robert Shields (28) of the 23rd Regiment of Foot, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in the Crimean War. With assistant surgeon William Sylvester, Shields volunteered to go out to an exposed part of the battlefield to bring in a severely wounded officer who subsequently died. Shields later went out to India where he died in 1864. He was buried at St Thomas’ Cathedral, Bombay. (T.D. Breverton, The Welsh Almanac, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

  1939: Tatems’ ship the Winkleigh became the first British ship to be lost through enemy action in the Second World War. She was sailing from Vancouver to Manchester with a cargo of grain when she was torpedoed in the North Atlantic. All thirty-seven men on board were rescued and taken to New York. Over 100 Cardiff-owned ships were lost during the war, a third of them in 1940. (John Richards, Cardiff: A Maritime History, The History Press, 2005)

  September 9th

  1767: John Wesley visited Cardiff during his tour of South Wales. Of the evening meetings at the Court House on the 9th and 10th he wrote: ‘there were present most of the gentry of the town and the hearers were more than for many years, to give hope even for this desolate town’. (Quoted in William Rees, Cardiff: A History of the City, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)

  1822: First issue of the Cardiff Reporter, just one of many short-lived newspapers published in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Others included the Advertiser, Times, Mercury, Chronicle, Standard, News, Examiner, Independent, Free Press, Citizen and Leader. Many of these were unearthed by Mr Brynmor Jones of Cardiff Central Library, who compiled an exhaustive list of
Cardiff papers in the 1970s. Names chosen for newspapers do not seem to have changed much. All of these can be found somewhere – but possibly not in Cardiff! (Gerald Talfon Davies, ‘When the Capital Made News’ in The Cardiff Book, Vol.2, 1974)

  1963: It was the end of steam on the former Great Western main line as diesels took over operation of all trains between Cardiff and London. (Western Mail)