The Cardiff Book of Days (29 page)

2012:
In February 2011 it was announced that the first event of the London 2012 Olympics would be a women's football match staged at the Millennium Stadium at 4 p.m. on this date, two days before the actual Opening Ceremony. ‘In terms of the first event taking place in Wales, it sits well with the work we have done in the nations and regions that the very first event will take place in Cardiff,' said Lord Coe. ‘We have been clear that the football tournament should be UK-wide'. (
South Wales Argus
)

[Readers of this book in the future will be better placed than me to judge how this event went – author.]

1909:
The National Pageant of Wales opened at Sophia Gardens. 30,000 people at each performance saw members of the South Walian Society re-enact scenes from Welsh history, with the castle providing a magnificent backdrop. The Marchioness of Bute, portraying ‘Dame Wales', and ‘a number of ladies of high social distinction' took part in the opening ceremony. Llewelyn the Great was played by Mr Morgan Williams, King Arthur by Mr R. Graham and Merlin by Ifano Jones. Some 500 footballers appeared as Welsh clansmen storming Cardiff Castle in the revolt of 1158. In a more tranquil scene ladies and courtiers danced a pavane. Another scene depicted the Act of Union of 1536 (
see
also August 7th.) (Dennis Morgan,
The Cardiff Story
, D. Brown & Sons, 1991)

1969:
The birth in Cardiff of athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson. Born with spina bifida, she became one of Britain's most successful paralympians. She won a bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and gold at Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens in 2004. She was made a Life Peer in 2010 and is much-involved in broadcasting, education and charity work. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1928:
Two 15 year olds from Penarth, Edith Parnell and Dennis Tidball successfully swam from Flat Holm to Penarth in 4¾ hours, leaving Flat Holm at 6.30 a.m. They were accompanied by a boat carrying officials from the Welsh Amateur Swimming Association who were there to verify the record. In August 1929 Edith swam from Penarth to Weston-super-Mare. She later married the journalist Hugh Cudlipp but died in November 1938 aged just 25. Dennis Tidball made unsuccessful attempts at swimming the Bristol Channel in 1928 and 1929. He died at the age of 49 in October 1961. (Roy Thorne,
Penarth: A History, Vol.2
, Starling Press, 1976)

1932:
A three-day ‘Test Trial' match between England and The Rest began on this date but was almost entirely washed out by rain – only three hours of play were possible on the first day and none at all on the other two, depriving local cricket fans of the opportunity to see top players including Herbert Sutcliffe, Walter Hammond, Frank Woolley, Douglas Jardine and Harold Larwood. The loss of gate revenues and the expense of staging the game plunged the Glamorgan club into financial crisis. (Andrew Hignell,
From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff
, The History Press, 2008)

1923:
The Melangriffith Volunteer & Cadet Corps Band turned out to play at Hazelwood, Llandaff, the festivities to mark the Silver Wedding of Mr and Mrs Hubert Spencer-Thomas. Mr Spencer-Thomas was owner of the Melangriffith Tinplate Works. The band has a long and distinguished history and claims to be the oldest in Wales. Its origins lie in a Drum & Fife Band formed in Whitchurch in 1798 to assist the recruitment of a Company of Volunteers to defend the country against Napoleon's army who were threatening to invade. In 1850 it became the band of the Glamorgan Rifle Volunteers and had its premises at Melingriffith, beginning a long association with the tinplate works until it closed in 1957. The band still carries on, now as the City of Cardiff (Melingriffith) Band. (
www.cardiffbrass.com
)

1971:
Cardiff yachtswoman Nicolette Milnes-Walker arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, in her 30ft yacht
Aziz
to become the first woman to sail single-handed across the Atlantic. She had set sail from Milford Haven on June 12th. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1645:
King Charles I arrived in Cardiff to raise fresh forces following the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Naseby. He was met with very little enthusiasm. Much of Glamorgan was still loyal to him but people realised that his cause was lost. (William Rees,
Cardiff: A History of the City
, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)

1727:
The birth of William Thomas, ‘The Rural Pepys of the Eighteenth Century' at St Fagans. An itinerant schoolmaster, land surveyor and clerk to the Commissioner of Taxes, he is best-known for the diaries he compiled between 1751 and 1795 which record births, deaths, marriages, scandals, calamities and social occasions in the area around St Fagans and Michaelston-super-Ely. It was all there – except for his own affairs, about which he kept quiet! (Charles F. Sheppard, ‘The Parish of St Fagans',
Glamorgan Historian
, 1972)

1976:
A massive fire in their store in Newport Road destroyed most of the costumes belonging to the Welsh National Opera Company. (
Western Mail
)

1995:
Shirley Bassey gave a concert at Cardiff Castle, attended by 100,000 people. (
Western Mail
)

1819:
The first record of a cricket match at Cardiff. The
Carmarthen Journal
stated that a club had been formed in the town that ‘such is the rapid proficiency of the members that they bid fair to rival in a very short time any similar club in Glamorganshire'. Despite this accolade, it does not seem to have lasted very long. (Andrew Hignell,
From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff
, The History Press, 2008)

1977:
The last greyhound races to be run at Cardiff Arms Park took place. The Welsh Rugby Union took the decision to end racing because it needed to extend the terracing at the stadium. 1,128 fans saw ‘Lilyput Queen', owned by Cardiff butcher Malcolm Davies and trained by Freddie Goodman, win the very last race. For over fifty years greyhound racing was a regular attraction on Monday and Saturday evenings. The regular fixtures included the Welsh Greyhound Derby and the Welsh Greyhound Grand National. (
www.walesonline.co.uk
/ Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)