Cardiff remembered: Memories of school friends, holidays and the theatre

Kevin with his wife Robilee in Vermont.Image:Maurice O’Brien.

Written by Brian Lee

In the second chapter of GF Courtney’s reminiscences which were published in a now long-gone weekly Cardiff newspaper, he recalls his school days and some names which subsequently became associated with our beloved Cardiff.

This is what he wrote:

“I was sent to a private school for juniors, this was Simpsons, known as St Mary’s Hall and situated in Park Grove. It is now a nursing home. There were two houses, one for the boys who were under the charge of Mr. Simpson, and the other for the senior girls under Mrs. Simpson, who also had a great deal to do in the boys’ department.

“Mr. Simpson was a disciplinarian of the old type and didn’t spare the rod, or rather the ruler, which was his favourite instrument of punishment.

“To Mrs. Simpson, efficient and  energetic, many Cardiff boys and girls owe much - there is a memorial to her in our National Museum.

“Among my compatriots at this school I may mention Jimmy Howell of St Mary Street, then living in a new house his father had built in The Walk, now the Princess of Wales Hospital; the Forsdike brothers, Bill and Frank, the latter a future Lord Mayor of Cardiff; Sidney Case; the eccentric Jack Taylor, son of the still more eccentric James P Taylor, overseer of the parish of St John’s, a remarkable man as a walker who knew every inch of south Wales and who, in addition to being a nature lover, was a singer with a magnificent bass voice and keenly interested in music and the opera. His son Jack will be principally remembered for his efforts, with the late Billy  Bowden, in welcoming the earlier Australian cricketers to Cardiff.

“Then there was Tom England, Ernest Noel and Phil Wale, who only died a short while ago in the Cotswolds. In regard to the latter, we knew each other before we were 10 years of age and were corresponding at nearly 80. Phil became the father of that well-known man, Professor Barrett Whale, who occupies the chair of Economics at Liverpool University.

“During the school holidays in 1877 I was lucky enough to be taken on a Mediterranean trip and visited the south of France, Spain, Portugal and northern Africa, touching Gibraltar, of course. The adventure concluded with Holland.

“In this year, the Theatre Royal, standing on the site of the present Park Hotel, was destroyed by fire. It is still in my memory with its Corinthian pillared entrance approached from Crockherbtown by broad stone steps. Its pit, situated much on the level with the adjacent feeder, was sometimes flooded during the rainy seasons.

“The New Theatre Royal was soon afterwards opened under the management of Edward Fletcher. It occupied the site of the existing Playhouse, and I have seen many stirring dramas within its walls.

“Recurring to my memory are such Drury Lane productions as The World and New Babylon, with those popular plays The Shaugraun, Lights o’ London, Green Bushes, the Colleen Bawn and later on Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas, Patience (about 1880) and their subsequent successors. I continued to see most of the operatic and dramatic programmes up to 1889, when I left Cardiff.

“Vivid in my recollection are the Carl Rosa operas with their fine casts in Faust, Figaro, Manon and others. Further old-time operas such as Les Cloches de Corneville, with Shiel Barry as the Miser, The Broken Melody, with Van Biene and his cello, Falka and Dorothy. Actors and actresses including Henry Irving with  Ellen Terry, Wilson Barrett with Maud Jeffries, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, Mr. and Mrs  Kendal, Genevieve Ward; that fine and clever actor Edward Compton and his wife, Virginia Bateman, in Shakespeare, Sheridan and plays of that calibre, Edward Terry in The Magistrate, and many other stars and celebrities.

“Yes, there were good shows under the Fletcher regime and admission prices ranged from 6d.”

BRIAN’S BLAST FROM THE PAST

In years gone by, visitors to Cardiff would have seen a Russian cannon in High Street that had been captured during the Crimean War. It was presented to Cardiff Corporation by the War Office in recognition of the town’s contribution in the struggle to capture the Great Redoubt. Several soldiers from Cardiff are said to have lost their lives, and Corporal Shields, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, was also a native of the town.

Another Cardiffian who took part in the action was Luke O’Conner, who had joined the 23rd Regiment in the capital. At the Battle of Alba, the 23rd Regiment was ordered up a steep bank and under heavy fire captured the Great Redoubt.

The cannon stood in front of the Marquis of Bute’s statue

YOU WRITE

My name is Maurice O’Brien and I’m a former player with Glamorgan Wanderers RFC. Do you know who is the only Welsh coach to have won a Rugby World Cup trophy? Well, it’s my brother Kevin O’Brien who coached the USA women’s rugby team in 1991, which was the first ever women’s rugby world cup tournament which was played in Cardiff – and they beat England in the final. Due to the prestigious nature of the win, Kevin, with his team, won the USA team of the year trophy which was presented to him by President Bush in the White House.

After more than 30 years coaching a huge number of teams and being involved with USA rugby, he is being honoured by being inducted into the USA Rugby Hall Of Fame later this month in Las Vegas. Not bad for a former Newtown boy who played for St Davids, Ciacs, St Josephs’s, the Glamorgan Wanderers and a number of other teams on his travels around the world.

Kevin was educated at St Illtyd’s Grammar School. He did his teacher training course in St Mary’s, Twickenham. In his gap year when he was 18, he went and stayed with my sister in South Africa and worked in a gold mine for 12 months playing rugby for the Old Jeds.

He is married to Robilee and has two children, Michael and Julianna who are both in their 20s.

He has lived in Vermont for the last 20 years.

He has completed a number of charity bike rides for the MS society including riding across the USA. Four years ago he came back with his wife to the UK and they both to cycled from John Groats to Land’s End and raised thousands of pounds for the charity.

He still has his Cardiff accent and loves his Brains beer! After completing his teacher training, he travelled the world and when he returned to Cardiff he worked on the docks and in the steelworks before heading off to coach in Boston, USA.

• 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.

Get all the latest news, updates, things to do and more from Cardiff's dedicated InYourArea feed