The Cardiff Book of Days (34 page)

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
)

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!

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
)

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)

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)

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)

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)