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The Cardiff Book of Days

Page 1

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)

 

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