The Cardiff Book of Days (38 page)

1836:
In a report to the Directors of the Gloucester and South Wales Railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel recommends that ‘a line from Gloucester by way of Newnham and Chepstow to Newport and thence to Cardiff would be a really easy route to build'. (Stephen K. Jones,
Brunel in South Wales, Vol.2
, The History Press, 2006)

1914:
Cardiff-owned ship
Cornish City
was sunk by the German cruiser
Karlsruhe
250 miles off the coast of Brazil. She had been sailing from Barry to Rio de Janiero with a cargo of 5,500 tons of coal and was the first Cardiff vessel to be lost in the First World War. Her crew was rescued and later landed in Brazil. (John Richards,
Cardiff: A Maritime History
, The History Press, 2005)

1876:
At a meeting held in the Swiss Hall in Queen Street it was agreed that the existing Glamorgan and Wanderers rugby clubs should merge to form Cardiff Rugby Football Club. Rugby football was at that time much stronger in Newport and Swansea whose teams regularly beat all opposition, to the chagrin of Cardiff men. On September 22nd 1951, as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, Cardiff played a British Isles XV. Among the players taking part was a young Cliff Morgan (
see
April 7th). Another was Jack Matthews, an outstanding centre for Cardiff and Wales, once described as a ‘crash-tackling human torpedo', whose great partnership with the legendary Bleddyn Williams contributed much to Cardiff's post-war success. (Andrew Hignell,
From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff
, The History Press, 2008)

1923:
The birth in Cardiff of Danny Abse, younger brother of the politician Leo. Although best known as a poet, he was active in his chosen profession of medicine and was a specialist at a chest clinic for over thirty years. His memoir of his wife Joan, published the year after she was killed in a road accident, won the Wales Book of the Year in 2008. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1871:
The
Cardiff Times
reported that ‘on Thursday night no less than six vessels were stranded on Breaksea Point, a dangerous reef which runs out from West Aberthaw. In the course of Friday a Cardiff steam tug came to the assistance of the stranded vessels but after persistent efforts only succeeded in getting off
Eliza
, a brigantine of Whitehaven.'

1988:
Death in Cardiff of composer Arwel Hughes (born at Rhosllannerchrugog near Wrexham in 1909). Best remembered for his pieces for choir and orchestra, he was in charge of the music for the Investiture at Caernarfon in 1969, the year in which he was awarded the OBE for services to Welsh music. He had joined the BBC's Music Department in 1935 and became Head of Music at BBC Wales in 1965. His son Owain Arwel Hughes (born 1942) was conductor of the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra and founder of the Welsh Proms held in Cardiff. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1963:
TWW (Television Wales & West) took over the Cardiff-based WWN (Wales West & North) station, agreeing to cover its losses of £220,000. WWN was ‘the first and only example of an ITV company going broke. The famous “licence to print money” (a phrase coined by Lord Thompson referring to his Scottish TV franchise awarded in 1957) did not extend to this region of Wales.' (Jane Harboard and Jeff Wright,
40 Years of British Television
, Boxtree, 1992)

1966:
A new Day Centre for Spastics (a term which would never be used now) was opened at 127 Cyncoed Road. It was the realisation of a dream for Mr and Mrs Gil Jones of Keppoch Street who, with other parents, had set up the Cardiff and District Spastics Association to raise funds for such a centre.

Their fifteen years hard work in fundraising were rewarded when the Mayor and Mayoress of Cardiff officially opened the £6,000 centre who described their campaign as ‘a story of love and devotion'. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1993:
Hindus from all over the world processed through Cardiff city centre before making their way to Grangetown for the opening of the Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Merches Gardens. The Hindu community, which dated from the 1950s and '60s, had worshipped in a disused synagogue since 1979 but this had become too small to meet their needs. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1996:
Hooker Barry Williams set a record for the fastest debut try by a Welsh player. He took just two minutes to cross the line in a friendly match against France. Despite this promising start for Wales they lost the match 33-40. (Robert Cole & Stuart Farmer,
The Wales Rugby Miscellany
, Sports Vision Publishing, 2008)

1597:
Nicholas Hawkins was elected Member of Parliament for Cardiff. He was the son of the celebrated Admiral Sir John Hawkins, scourge of the Spanish. Nicholas's sister married Sir Rowland Morgan of Llandaff, hence the connection with Cardiff. The Hawkins family wealth was largely founded on the slave trade. John Hawkins set up a syndicate of merchants dealing in slaves and is generally believed to have been its pioneer in Britain. In June 2006 a descendent, Andrew Hawkins, issued a public apology for his ancestor's actions. Some suggest that it was Hawkins, rather than Sir Walter Raleigh, who introduced both potatoes and tobacco to Europe. (W.R. Williams, ‘Members of Parliament for Cardiff' / Wikipedia)

1953:
The Foundation Stone of the Welch Regiment Memorial Chapel at Llandaff Cathedral was laid by Major General C.E.N. Lomax, CBE, DSO, MC. The chapel was built using stones from cottages near the cathedral that were destroyed by German bombing in January 1941. The owner of the land where the stones lay made a gift of them to the Dean after the war ended. (Llandaff Cathedral guidebook)

1738:
Sir Thomas Stradling of St Donats was killed in a duel at Montpelier, France. He was the son of Sir Edward Stradling who had been Cardiff's MP from 1698 to 1701. His eldest brother had been elected for Cardiff in 1722 but had died young. The Stradlings had lived at St Donats since the Middle Ages. Sir Thomas's death led to much litigation over the estate and a special Act of Parliament was ultimately required to resolve matters. (W.R. Williams, ‘Members of Parliament for Cardiff' / Wikipedia)

1923:
It was the penultimate day of the Big Tent Mission which was taking place in Cardiff. The evangelists pitched their tent on waste ground behind the General Post Office in Westgate Street. A photograph in Book 9 of Stewart Williams'
Cardiff Yesterday
series shows a large and serious-looking crowd in front of it. Some of them carried placards with such slogans as ‘The Coming of the Lord draweth nigh', ‘The Lord Is At Hand', ‘Ye Must Be Born Again', ‘Christ Died For The Ungodly'. The tradition lives on – street preachers proclaiming the same message are a not uncommon sight (and sound) in Queen Street.