The Cardiff Book of Days (41 page)

1922:
A garage in Salop Street, Penarth, was destroyed by fire. A lorry and a motor-car belonging to the garage's owner, Mr Allen, were destroyed, as was timber stored in the adjacent yard, the property of Mr Paul Elmer. The Salvation Army's premises were above the garage and all their brass instruments were lost. Luckily their banner was being stored elsewhere, at the home of Colour-Sergeant Thomas Wallace. (Roy Thorne,
Penarth: A History
, Starling Press, 1975)

2010:
Protesters took their campaign against the proposed incinerator at Trident Park, Splott (
see
July 23rd), to the steps of the National Assembly. Waste Management company Viridor branded the actions of the campaigners ‘distasteful'. (
South Wales Echo
)

1762:
Margaret Williams, described as ‘an old lady aged between 60 and 70 years' was returning from Cardiff Market to Cogan Pill along Leckwith Causeway when her horse stumbled in the ebbing tide. She was thrown off and drowned but the horse swam safely to Ely. (William Rees,
Cardiff: A History of the City
, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)

1898:
‘A sad accident, which cost brakesman George Rotheroe his life, occurred on the Rhymney Railway, Cardiff, on Thursday. The man was engaged under the Crwys Road bridge when a London & North Western goods train came along. Rotheroe, not seeing it approach, was knocked down and terribly injured. He was taken to the Cardiff Infirmary where he expired. Deceased lived at 22 Moira Street' … ‘A meeting of the local Vegetarian Society was held at the Railway Hotel, Cardiff, on Thursday night for the purpose of making arrangements for the public meeting to be held at the Andrews Hall on the 24
^th
inst., when two London speakers – one a lady – will deliver addresses on vegetarianism. Alderman Ebenezer Beavan will be in the chair.' (
Western Mail
)

1876:
The newly-formed Cardiff Rugby Football Club held its inaugural team practice at the Arms Park. The team's kit included black shirts with a white skull-and-crossbones motif. (Andrew Hignell,
From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff
, The History Press, 2008)

1918:
The Captain Scott Memorial Lighthouse in Roath Park was dedicated and a plaque unveiled by the lighthouse's donor, Mr F.C. Bowring. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1961:
61,056 people – a record attendance for Ninian Park – watched Wales play England. Long-time football supporter Brian David recalled the occasion in 2009, when Ninian Park staged its last game after ninety-nine years. He told BBC Wales ‘my first trip was as an eleven-year-old with my father. Stood at the wall at the back between the Grange End and the Bob Bank, I can remember shouting “Come on Wales” for most of the match but for one dreadful moment when I shouted ‘Come on England'. About 1,000 faces turned around. My father reckoned that my face was as red as my rosette.' (
www.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales
)

1993:
The Queen officially opened the Cardiff International Arena. The following day she opened the Courtyard Galleries and the Queen's Gate entrance to the Bute Tunnel. (
Western Mail
)

1233:
Llewellyn the Great, taking advantage of the quarrel between Henry III and Richard the Marshal, joined Richard and his fellow barons in revolt. There were outbreaks of fighting in Gwent and Glamorgan. Cardiff Castle was taken over by the King's forces but on October 15th Richard the Marshal and his supporters stormed the castle. Ships from Cardiff and Newport were also involved in the conflict. (William Rees,
Cardiff: A History of the City
, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)

1932:
Nearly 400 hunger marchers, led by Whitchurch-born Communist leader Will Paynter, left Cardiff to walk to London where they were to join a total of 2,500 protesters from all over Britain. They were campaigning against proposed cuts of 10 per cent in Unemployment Benefit and other cuts in social service spending. On November 1st the marchers presented a petition to Parliament. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)

1964:
Future Prime Minister James Callaghan comfortably held his Cardiff South East seat in the General Election that saw Labour, led by Harold Wilson, back in power at Westminster after ‘thirteen years of Tory misrule'. The defeated Conservative candidate was former England cricket captain, Ted Dexter. (
Western Mail
)

1937:
The Royal Welsh Ladies Choir, dressed in full national costume, left by coach for France where they were to perform at the prestigious Paris Exposition. They were waved off by the Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman Sir Herbert Hiles. The choir had been founded by Madame Clara Novello Davies, mother of Ivor Novello (
see
March 6th). Her husband's career was a shade more prosaic – he was the head of Cardiff's Rates Office. The choir Madame Clara founded performed to audiences all over the world.

Another popular Cardiff entertainer of the time was Hilda Banwell of Romilly Road, Canton. In the 1930s she formed an accordion band. For almost forty years she gave concerts all over South Wales in aid of various charities. During the Second World War the band helped keep up morale by entertaining factory workers and the Armed Forces. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1977:
Glenys Darling, the young and pregnant wife of Llandaff Cathedral assistant verger James Darling, was electrocuted when her husband – allegedly deliberately – dropped a lethally-live electric heater into her bathwater. This was, as Mark Isaacs describes in
Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Cardiff
, ‘a gruesome death punctuated by screams, convulsions and a mass of sparks'. James Darling had come to Llandaff ‘highly recommended with a glowing reference from the Bishop of Pontefract.' However, he was divorced with two young children. It was made clear to him that the cathedral would ‘look favourably' on a married man. James then ardently courted Glenys, a pretty young chorister, and wed her within weeks. Strains soon became apparent after their move to Cardiff. Afterwards he changed his story several times and was unsurprisingly convicted of murder. ‘Every now and again a judge has the misfortune to look upon a cold-blooded killer,' said Judge Tasker Williams. ‘I have that misfortune now.' Released from prison in 1990, James Darling found work at Leeds parish church. He suffered bouts of depression and in 1998 his body was found floating in a canal near Halifax. (Mark Isaacs,
Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in Cardiff
, Wharncliffe, 2009)