The Cardiff Book of Days (25 page)

1903:
At 6.15 in the morning competitors set off for the Accountants' Road Walking Race to Caerphilly and back (a distance of 22 miles). It was a very warm day and several cases of sunstroke were reported. G.W. Evans won in a time of 3 hours 54 minutes and 38 seconds. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1940:
Sudden death of Alderman F. Harold Turnbull, Lord Mayor of Cardiff in 1921-2. Born in 1881, he was 40 at the time of his investiture and the city's youngest-ever mayor. A popular figure, he was posthumously awarded the Freedom of the City. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1998:
Wales suffered their heaviest rugby defeat – a 13-96 drubbing in South Africa. (Robert Cole & Stuart Farmer,
The Wales Rugby Miscellany
, Sports Vision Publishing, 2008)

1905:
The Prince of Wales (later King George V) visited Cardiff to lay the Foundation Stone of the new University College. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1953:
The Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood, inspected members of the Red Cross at Cardiff Castle, having earlier in the day attended a Service of Dedication and presentation of new Colours to the Glamorgan Branch of the organization at St John's Church. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1980:
Opponents of women priests staged a demonstration at Llandaff Cathedral when the Church in Wales ordained its first woman deacon, Revd Iris Thomas. When the chancellor asked whether there were any objections to her ordination fourteen people stood up, led by Revd Kenneth Gillingham of St Mary's Church, Bute Street. Their objections were over-ruled and the service continued as planned. (John O'Sullivan & Bryn Jones,
Cardiff: A Centenary Celebration
, The History Press, 2005)

1905:
The Royal Hamadryad Seamen's Hospital was opened by the Marquis of Bute. The building replaced the former frigate HMS
Hamadryad
, which had been used as a hospital ship since 1866. He was having a busy day – he also inspected the Cardiff Railway Company's dock and Guest, Keen & Nettlefold's steelworks and received the Freedom of the Borough. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1912:
At a demonstration in Cathays Park Anglicans protested against the disendowment provisions of the Established Church (Wales) Bill being put forward by the Liberal Party Home Secretary, Mr McKenna. There seemed to be a dispute about numbers – one banner pictured in
Cardiff Yesterday
read ‘Mr McKenna said there were 13 churches in Cardiff. Royal Commission figures said 25 churches and 13 Mission Rooms. Is this playing the game?'

2001:
The official dedication of the Wooller Gates at Glamorgan's Sophia Gardens ground took place on the first day of the county's match against Northamptonshire. The honours were done by the president, former Test Captain Tony Lewis, and former England batsman Tom Graveney. Wilf Wooller had been a stalwart of Glamorgan cricket for over fifty years. (Andrew Hignell,
From Sophia to Swalec: A History of Cricket in Cardiff
, The History Press, 2008)

1790:
At a meeting of ironmasters at the Cardiff Arms Inn the contract for the canal from Merthyr to Cardiff was given to Thomas Dadford & Son (canal builders) and Thomas Sheasby (engineer). As the canal fell some 600ft along its 25-mile route, fifty-one locks would be needed. An expenditure of £60,000 was authorised for the work. (John Richards,
Cardiff: A Maritime History
, The History Press, 2005)

1852:
The
John Brown
, the first iron-screw collier, was launched at the Palmer Brothers' yard in Jarrow. These ships were to transform the coal trade out of Cardiff. They were longer, cheaper to build and could carry more coal than traditional wooden boats. Five years later the
William Cory
, built on the River Tyne and capable of carrying 1,500 tons, started regular trips to London. The Cory partnership also owned the Deep Duffryn Colliery at Mountain Ash. (John Richards,
Cardiff: A Maritime History
, The History Press, 2005)

1969:
One day before the Investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon, a bomb left by dissident Welsh nationalists exploded at the Sorting Office at Victoria Park, Cardiff. No one was hurt. (
Western Mail
)

1892:
The Lord Mayor of London, Llantrisant-born Sir David Treharne Evans, visited Cardiff. The Town Hall was decorated in his honour and he received the Freedom of the Borough. (Stewart Williams,
Cardiff Yesterday
)

1948:
The Welsh National History Museum at St Fagans first opened. The 18-acre site had been donated by the Earl of Plymouth. St Fagans Castle had been built by Dr John Gibbon in the late sixteenth century. It later passed to the Plymouth family who owned it from 1730. The first director of the museum was Dr Iorwerth Peate, best known for his classic book
The Welsh House
(1940). In the years that followed, St Fagans has become home to a representative collection of vernacular buildings from all over Wales. In his Foreword to a new edition of the book (2004), Dr Greg Stevenson of Lampeter University wrote that ‘Peate's warning against the loss of traditional buildings remains as relevant today as when it was first published, as does his assertion that these homes and their owners are inseparable from the traditional Welsh way of life.' Iowerth Peate died in 1982.