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Cardiff remembered: 15 facts you might not know about our capital’s history part-2

Author Brian Lee writes a weekly history and nostalgia column for the South Wales Echo

Saffron Jenkins

Saffron Jenkins, InYourArea Community

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Cardiff remembered: 15 facts you might not know about our capital’s history part-2

READY STEADY GO: The start of the ladies long distance championship of Wales over one and a half miles, twice around Roath Park lake, August 1960 (Image; Media Wales)

Written by Brian Lee

The second of my “Did You Know?” little known facts about Cardiff, our beloved capital city.

  • Ifor Bach, the Welsh Lord of Senghenydd, attacked Cardiff Castle in 1158 and kidnapped the Earl of Gloucester and his wife.
  • The equestrian statue in front of the City Hall is that of Lord Tredegar and his charger Sir Briggs.
  • In 1928, the wall mounted by animal figures outside the entrance to Cardiff Castle was moved to its present site.
  • During the First World War, there was a proposal put forward to return the famed Billy the Seal of Victoria Park to the sea.
DINNER TIME: Billy the Seal pictured at Victoria Park, Cardiff (Image: Media Wales)
  • The masthead of Captain Scott’s ship Terra Nova was at one time displayed in Roath Park near the light house.
  • Local custom has it that Llanrumney Hall, said to be the birthplace of the famed pirate Captain Morgan, was the burial place of Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, the last Welsh Prince of Wales.
  • The Castle Arcade was opened by the Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman David Jones on October 28, 1849.
  • Cardiff’s Tiger Bay is thought to have got its name from a song sung by Harry Moreton in the 1870s.
  • The land near the junction of City Road, Crwys Road and Albany Road was at one time known as Gallows Field and two priests – Father Philip Evans and Father John Lloyd – were executed there on July 22, 1679.
GALLOWS FIELD: The junction of City Road, Albany Road, Mackintosh Place and Crwys Road in Cardiff (Image: Richard Swingler/ Media Wales)
  • In 1876, the 3rd Marquess of Bute placed a sum of £1,000 of which the yearly income be given “to some girl of the poorer classes in Cardiff whose marriage might be impeded by the want of such sum”. It was known as the Bute Dowry and until a few years ago was still being granted.
  • Before Maindy Stadium opened in 1951, and long before the current leisure centre was built, the site was home to an old water-filled clay pit known as Maindy Pool where several adults and at least nine children drowned.
BEFORE MAINDY STADIUM: The notorious Maindy Pool which became Maindy Stadium. It was where a number of adults and children drowned (Image: Media Wales)
  • The Theatre Royal, Cardiff’s first purpose-built theatre, was erected in 1826 on a site now occupied by a hotel.
  • Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan, later to become US President, visited Cardiff in 1948 to publicise his film Voice of the Turtle.
  • The Taff Swim was held in Roath Park from 1931 until 1961.
READY STEADY GO: The start of the ladies long distance championship of Wales over one and a half miles, twice around Roath Park lake, August 1960 (Image; Media Wales)
  • Cardiff boxer Jack Petersen was British Heavyweight champion from 1932 to 1936.

  • Please send your pictures and stories to Brian Lee, Cardiff Remember, South Wales Echo, Six Park Street, Cardiff, CF10 1XR
  • or email brianlee4@virginmedia.com
  • If sending a letter, please include your phone number.

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