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Cardiff remembered: Facts you might not know about our capital’s history part-4

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: Facts you might not know about our capital’s history part-4

SWIMMING ANYONE: The partly demolished swimming baths at Guildford Crescent pictured in 1985 (Image: Media Wales)

Written by Brian Lee

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

  • Female conductors were employed on Cardiff trams for the first time during World War I.
  • The Western Mail was first published in Cardiff on May 1, 1869.
  • The original Clarence Road Bridge was opened by the Duke of Clarence on September 17, 1890.
MODERN DAY: The Clarence road bridge, Cardiff, pictured in 2020 (Image: Rob Browne/ Media Wales)
  • The Battle of St Fagans was fought in May 1648.
  • The ruins of Herbert House in Greyfriars Road were sadly demolished in 1958 and the Pearl Assurance Building (later Capital Tower) was built on the site.
  • The Guildford Crescent Swimming Baths opened in 1886 and closed in 1984.
SWIMMING ANYONE: Pupils from St Philip Evans School get some life-saving instruction from Mrs Pat Richards at the Guildford Crescent Swimming Baths and the partly demolished swimming baths in 1985 (Image: Media Wales)
  • Local legend had it that Duke Street, widened in 1924, was named after Robert Duke of Normandy who was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle in 1126.
  • Home Office pathologist and crime writer Professor Bernard Knight was born in Cardiff in 1931.

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  • Screenwriter and actress Diana Morgan was born in Cardiff in 1910.
  • Protestant martyr fisherman Rawlins White was burned at the stake in Cardiff in 1555. Some believe the site of his death was near what was once Frederick Street close to The Hayes.
RAWLINS WHITE: The plaque that used to be on the front of the former Bethany Chapel ( Image: Media Wales)
  • 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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