Grangetown Local History Society meets every month in Cardiff in the Llynfi room at Glamorgan Archives, Leckwith on the first Friday of month (2pm-4pm). All are welcome to come along, and bring photos and stories if you have them. Next meeting: At the Archives on Friday 7th February, 2pm. Grangetown Local History Society holds its meetings at Glamorgan Archives in Leckwith. There is a carpark, there is also parking at the nearby Cardiff retail park close to Cardiff City FC. The No 1 city circle bus has a stop close to the Archive opposite the Cardiff Bus garage, with the bus running down Grange Gardens (13.30 and 14.00, eight minutes) via Corporation Road, Clare Road and Cornwall Street. The No 2 City Circle returns by the same route (15.23 and 15.59 outside the bus garage). Lifts from centre of Grangetown can be arranged via the chair and secretary. We are a group of people interested in local history, many Grangetown born and bred, but others who have come to live in the area. We also welcome visitors, including people from overseas on a visit back to their roots! Email: grcarinfo@yahoo.co.uk Click on the images in the map above for an online history of Grangetown Click here for older Grangetown Local History Society news and photos

Displays: The society displays photos, slideshows and audio memories at local community events and fairs, including the annual Grangetown Festival in June. It has also taken part in local and family history fairs and exhibited at the local library.

Visits: We undertake occasional visits - the most recent one was to Port Talbot transport museum. Others have included the Island Farm prisoner of war camp near Bridgend, Cardiff Museum, Glamorgan Archives, Margam Abbey, Risca Museum and the Cardiff Bay Barrage. Members have also joined in research projects involving the early history of Cardiff docklands and how it came about, with the Glamorgan Archive and Parlimentary archive.

Research starts for World War Two project

Following the success of our World War One centenary project, the society is busy researching for a project to mark the 80th anniversary of World War Two in Grangetown and the Cardiff Blitz.

Bomb damage on the corner of Clive Street - corner of Ferry Road; click on the image to how it looks now.

As well as researching war casualties, the society also wants to tell stories of civilian experiences - from rationing, evacuation, life at school and in factories to air raids. We will also be telling stories of men and women who served. We are collating memories we have already gathered with local people - but want to record more memories and details of family members who served in different capacities in the war.

The eventual aim is for an exhibition and a book to coincide with the anniversary of the Blitz in Cardiff - with Grangetown and Riverside the two worst hit areas in January 1941.

We already have details of more than 260 Grangetown casualties, including civilians, who died between 1939 and 1945. We may discover more. There is no list of names on the Grangetown war memorial, unlike for World War One, but we hope to create an online memorial to mark all those who died.

We are already starting to link up with schools and would be interested in hearing from other groups in 2020.

Anyone who has any family stories or casualty details or knows someone from Grangetown who remembers the war, please get in touch on grangetownwar@yahoo.co.uk or come along to our monthly meeting.

Society notes: January meeting

There were 15 people present at Glamorgan Archives, with apologies from three members.

Techniquest expansion: Kelsey Barcenilla from Techniquest outlined a new future for the science centre as it faces possible reduced government funding but also a refurbishment. It is seeking to improve its connections with local communities as a way of involving more people and of connecting with the history of the area. The organisation has received a grant of £1,500 towards history projects and GLHS was asked if it wanted to be involved. As a first step, the Society received an invitation to tour the new wing of the building currently under construction. This will take place on 29th January. One of the local communities that will have exhibits related to its history will be that of Flat Holm. Members were asked to think of any ideas that would connect Grangetown with the new strategy for Techniquest.

Guest speakers: Rhys had made contact with Peter Finch, poet and author of Real Cardiff books, as a possible speaker. Steve suggested we contact Prof Bernard Knight, the Grangetown-born former HM pathologist, who gave an interesting talk about his writing and work in Rhiwbina before Christmas.

Grange Pavilion: Its opening has been delayed until May and in order to be financially sustainable it will need to charge for the use of its facilities, although a proportion of hire will be free to community groups. As yet, it is not known if a local organisation like ours would be charged.

WW2 Project: The Lottery application is being submitted for the Blitz commemoration arts project. The research work continues, with 1943 and 1944 casualties now having been completed and for 1945 remaining. Among numerous stories, Steve is researching details of a local nun who set up a war-time school in Germany for internees. We are still interested in hearing from anyone with a family member's PoW experiences.

St Paul’s Church Bell: The society will check on what is to become of the old bell, with refurbishment work under way.

Finance: A financial statement will be given to next month’s meeting.

Grangetown School Scroll: Doug Knight brought in an "emulation ladder" scroll, which showed his mother Dorothy Richards's class at Grangetown National School in 1919/20. There is a list of the 47 girls in the class and how they ranked based on performance.

The names are: Ethel DAVIES; Gladys LINK; Lily GILLESPIE; Edith UMPLEBY; Lily ROACH; Emily HITCHINGS; Winnie SHAW; Lily BROWN; Lily OWENS; Kitty SMITH; Laura LONG; Laura NOWELL; Gladys NOAD;;Clara GREENWOOD; Elsie GILMORE ;Winnie WOODGATE ; Kitty LEWARNE; Nelly POPE; Maud STONE; Miriam BUSSELL; Jane or Janet? and Belinda? (left) and Hilda WHITE; Gladys BRUCE; Winnie BILSON; Lily DILLON; Beatrice WILLIAMS; Violet NEWBERRY; Susie WESTACOTT; Irene APPLEBY; Jessie KENDALL; Gladys THOMAS; Maggie PRITCHARD; Ivy PHELPS; Veta LEWIS; May JAMES; Gertrude HARRIS; Ivy PATTERSON; Doris COOPER; Ada CORNELIUS; Rose BRINKWORTH and Flossie GLOVER (right hand side)

Compiled by Ray Noyes, secretary

• A WW2 research project was proposed, aiming to complete the research for the spring of 2020 so that a book may be published
• Zena sent a resume of the history of our society for inclusion in the magazine of The Royal Army Medical Corps.
• The closing of the Conservative Club had been announced. Photographs of the inside of the club had been taken and any documents of historical interest will be saved if possible.
• Grange Gardens was granted Centenary Fields status which protects it in perpetuity. The bowls pavilion had been demolished and plans announced for the construction of a sizeable new facility there.
• Steve had been asked by the organisers of the Voices of War and Peace Great War Legacy Project to give a presentation on the Society’s WW1 project at the Community School in Ely in July.
• A number of original WW1 POW letters from soldiers had been donated to us.
• An illustrated presentation entitled The Voices and Images of the South Wales Jewish Community was given by Mr Stanley Soffa.
• During excavations for the new Grange Pavilion on the site of the bowling green, some interesting artefacts had been unearthed. It was agreed that the Society would finance the purchase of a suitable display cabinet for them.
• During our work for the WW2 project, some 260 local casualties have so far been identified, including civilians who died in the Blitz. It was agreed that an arts project of some kind be undertaken in order to bring the people of Grangetown together and remember the 80th anniversary of the worst night of the Blitz in January 2021.
• The Society remembered the passing of Mr Alan Barnett who had once been a Society member and president of the Grange Albions.



• In July, Zena, assisted by Don Gerrard (Cowbridge History Society), gave an illustrated talk on the paupers of Grangetown. Zena offered us fascinating details of Grangetown families who were on the paupers’ list, covering the principle streets in which they lived. Click on the image above for more information.


Ray Noyes signs the handover document

Grangetown Local History Society officially handed over the contents of its archives to Glamorgan Archives for safe-keeping. The idea is to ensure its continuing legacy and also to improve public access. The filing cabinets of photos and other documents are already kindly stored by the Archives in Leckwith, where the society holds its meetings. But this will ensure the contents are linked to the wider collection and also guarantee that they will be preserved for the future. The society's secretary Ray Noyes signed the handover document prior to the meeting. The donation includes our digital archive as well as the contents of our cabinets, all of which will now be conserved and catalogued. The archive remains our property. The Society expressed its thanks for the help given by the Archives staff and agreed to make an annual financial contribution towards their work.

• In August, we remembered with great sadness the passing of our dear friends Ray Shaw and John ‘Dusty’ Miller. Ray had been a founder member of the Society with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Grangetown. His steadfast work in support of the Clive Street Baptist Chapel was particularly acknowledged. Dusty was an energetic supporter of the cadets in Penarth.
• Messrs Purchase and Grey from the Ebenezer Chapel reminded us that the chapel would be holding its 120th anniversary on October 5th and 6th and invited us to contribute to information on its history.
• An illustrated presentation was given by Brenda John and Keith Fruin describing the work that had been done to straighten out the River Ely, prior to the construction of what is now a retail park and previously a waste tip. Using maps and numerous photographs the meeting discussed the topic with some enthusiasm.
• In September, Mr Brendan Bowles described the history of the Bowles Sand and Gravel Company Ltd which began in 1893 in Harrowby Street. The company once had a fleet of 25 ships, some operating off the continental coast. It was taken over by British Dredging. Mr Bowles was attempting to record the details of the company’s past and to produce a publication on his findings.
• The last funeral had been held at St Pauls’ Church prior to most of it being converted into apartments.



The society had a bus trip to the Port Talbot transport museum in October.

Those of us who went had a most amazing, enjoyable afternoon viewing the many items collected by Harold Wilson and also viewing some wonderful sculptures using recycled slate. Those who didn’t go missed a wonderful treat.

• A new book on the history of Grangetown had been published, entitled Urban Development in the Victorian Era, a case study of Grangetown, by Ray Noyes.
• Ray gave a talk on Grangetown to students at the Welsh School of Architecture. Grangetown is being studied as part of their degree in urban development.
• A site visit to the new Grange Pavilion took place on 1st November to see progress. Mike Farr particularly enjoyed it, offering him the opportunity of wearing his hard hat.
• Zena announced she was researching the many brides who had been married in Grangetown for a possible talk.
• The application for a Lottery grant was being made, in order to finance the intended commemoration of the 1941 Cardiff Blitz.
• A successful Christmas lunch was held at the Cedar Tree Restaurant to end the year.

Grangetown author and local historian Ray Noyes has produced a new book, which charts the history of the neighbourhood's development - with particular emphasis on its rapid growth in the Victorian era. Ray was born and brought up in Grangetown but his career in engineering took him away from the area, including abroad. He is secretary of Grangetown Local History Society.

Q How long did it take to build the Grangetown we now know? Most of Grangetown was built over 30 years, with some houses along the Taff and Avondale Road area added in the twentieth century once flood defences had been built along the Taff. Corporation Road was once a flood barrier which is why it is slightly higher than the houses and Grange Gardens on one side.

Q When and where did it all start? Construction started in 1857, at the same time as Penarth Docks. Grangetown was intended to house workers at Penarth harbour and docks as well as in an iron works and the gas works. With no public transport until 1873, workers had to live near their work. Penarth was easier to get to than Cardiff and Grangetown belonged to Penarth. It could have been name Clivetown after the Windsor-Clive family who built most of it.

Q How many of those original houses survive or were rebuilt? The vast majority of the original small terraced houses still exist, except for the very earliest ones that were on Oakley Street, Knole Street and Hewell Street. The National School and police station have also gone, they were some of the earliest public buildings.

Q Where does your own particular fascination with construction and engineering come from? My fascination with the history of Grangetown as an engineer is in its construction techniques. Discovering it was once a marsh on a thick bed of clay made me wonder how on earth it was done. It was not the best place to build anything and for centuries no-one dared. During construction, foundations and even entire buildings (Such as the main school) began to sink. As an engineer this caught my imagination, knowing that all had to be done by hand, without machinery. Even the roads and drains began to sink and eventually 22,000 tons of gravel had to be used to stabilise them, all quarried, transported and broken up by hand. The Marl Field is named after the clay beneath it which was quarried there in a large excavation so big it was used as a stadium.

Q Are there any buildings in the area you're particularly fond of? The buildings I am most fond of may come as a surprise. I love the many stables and cart sheds that were built at the time and are now mostly used as garages but some have been converted into small houses.

Urban Development in the Victorian Era: A Case Study of Grangetown, Cardiff, 1100-1900 is available from Wordcatcher Publishing, priced £15, and will also be on Amazon. Ray, who is secretary of Grangetown Local History Society, is also happy to order copies which he can bring along to our monthly meetings.

Read more about Grangetown streets here

Ray on the left at a meeting a few years ago.

We have heard the sad news of the death of a founder member of the society, Ray Shaw, aged 81.

Ray was a member of Grangetown Baptist Church and an expert on its history and archive. With a family hailing from Hewell Street, he was a fount of knowledge about Grangetown people and its characters. He will be much missed - and was a regular at meetings from his home in Dinas Powys with his wife Margaret, despite bearing with a long-term illness over the last few years.

History society member and former chair Zena Mabbs said: "Ray was a staunch supporter of all our activities over the years until his illness prevented him from participating. He always helped to sell our annual calendars, and was present every year at the Grangetown Carnival, and supported our talks and presentations.

"We all valued immensely his knowledge of Grangetown and his wonderful ability to always be on hand to help anyone he could. Some of his Grangetown memories are preserved in one of our Grangetown books and in our oral history archive.

"His presence will be sadly missed by all of us who knew him for so many years," she added.

Ray had run a greengrocer's business in Barry Island before he retired. After a committal at Barry crematorium on Wednesday 17th July (11am), there will be a celebration of his life at Grangetown Baptist Church at 12.30pm. Donations to Parkinsons UK are requested instead of flowers. The society sends condolences to Margaret, his son and family.

This topic was discussed at recent meetings. A number of questions arose, principal amongst which were: (a) Are we a group that is seriously researching the history of Grangetown, or are we a group of people who meet because our personal histories just happen to stem from being born in or associated with the area?
(b) If the former, then shouldn’t each meeting address a specific history topic that has been researched, rather than (as now) being a rather large committee meeting discussing the business of the society?” (Shouldn’t the business of the society be discussed by an executive group at another time and place?)

There appears to be a limited number of options open to us as follows:
Option 1) Continue as we are, as an informal group of Grangetown friends, with the inevitable diminution in numbers as we age; Observations: This ‘do nothing’ option would see the demise of the Society.
Option 2) Transform society meetings so that each deals with a specific history topic, as in today’s meeting, making our meetings less like committee meetings - which ought to take place separately anyway. Observations: this solution requires many more members to undertake research and make presentations of their findings, and/or drawing up a comprehensive list of external speakers – with their associated costs, perhaps requiring us to charge a membership fee. If hiring external speakers, who will do it?
Option 3) Try and recruit new, younger members, by holding our meetings in a public place outside working hours. Observations: There would be costs involved in this too, which may require us to charge a membership fee and it would require diligent planning and organising – who will do it? It was felt that these days younger people are no longer interested in attending groups such as ours and would prefer using social media to maintain contact with others. There is so much of interest on line that we have to compete with it.
Option 4) Bearing in mind that the language of younger people is now the language of social media, shouldn’t we be speaking their language and consider a more active online presence such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook? Observations: We would face the problem of who would do this technical work and maintain it. There continues to be just a tiny number of members who do all the work, notably any research, so that any options requiring more effort should be judged in that light.
It was agreed to discuss this topic again once members had thought about it.

End of an era as Grangetown Cons Club closes its doors

Grangetown Conservative Club has closed its doors - just short of its 125th anniversary.

Julie Biggs has been stewardess since 2012. Pictured with committee member Mario Felices and Terry Woodroff, treasurer and acting chairman.

The club has been in its current home in Corporation Road, close to Grange Gardens, for more than 110 years. Grangetown Local History Society heard of its imminent demise a few weeks ago, and went along to take a few photographs, as well as receiving some archive material.

The original "Grangetown Conservative Workingmens Club" was founded in May 1894, on the corner of Holmesdale Street and Ferry Road. Previously it had been the location for a local rope manufacturers.

The association had been set up in the year before - described as a "rallying call for Grangetown working men", with membership numbers rising in that time from 60 to 300. Subscription back in those first days was four pennies a year and the chairman was Sidney Herbert Nicholls, at the time living in Pentrebane Street.

A drawing of the original club - and William Baird, who was steward of the club with his wife Alice in the 1930s and 1940s.

A committee photo from 1936. Back row left to right: E Addicott, FD Bradford, JW Bryant, JH Robson, H Smale, JE Townsend, W Long, AJ Cusse and PE Jeans. Front row: W Roberts, FS Moore (treasurer), LW Mountjoy (secretary), H Sheppard (chairman), T Llewellyn (vice chairman) and J O'Brien.

By 1908, it had moved to Corporation Road - its present home. The old building back in Ferry Road was later converted into flats in the early 1930s and then bombed during the war.

Rugby photo preserved

A rare photo of a Grangetown rugby team winning a trophy nearly a century ago has been partially restored and placed in our archive.

The photo was bought from eBay but was in a poor state and disintegrating but has now been patched up and preserved by staff at Glamorgan Archive.

It shows Cardiff Gas Athletic RFC - the Grangetown gasworks team - who won the Mallett Cup in 1922-23. They beat Cardiff Welsh 11-5 at Cardiff Arms Park, after losing the final the previous year. The Cardiff and District rugby cup competition is the second oldest in the world and this is the only time the gasworks side won it.

It has special significance to one of our members, Keith Fruin, whose grandfather Arthur Fish - a war veteran and also ex-Cardiff City footballer - played in the game. Keith has his medal from that game but had never seen a photo before. Arthur, a carpenter who was a sporting all-rounder, also played baseball for the works side until in his 50s.

The team line-up: P Sullivan (trainer), J Snell, A Keay (vice capt), W Snell, W Silver, T Donovan, W Davies, HS Bartlett (Sec)
P Roach, A Giles, RP Jones, A Brockway (capt), A Fish, R Podd, TAL Richards
I Dunscombe, R Wyatt

Grangetown archive catalogued

Click on the image above to view the catalogue.

The documents and photos of old Grangetown collected by the history society over the years have finally been catalogued and properly archived.

The growing archive, made possible from donations and copies of originals, has been kept in filing cabinets by the society.

Thanks to the diligent work led by society member Brenda John, the bulk of the old files have been collated, sorted and properly archived and the Grangetown local history archive is now available to view online and also downloadable in Excel format

This version has already been updated - and will continue to be so as the archive and the project progresses. We hope to link to some of the images we are storing digitally in the future. It will be really useful for local people researching aspects of Grangetown or their family's history.

Grangetown history fact sheets

Ray Noyes, society secretary, and Zena Mabbs have been involved in producing some fact sheets on aspects of Victorian Lower Grangetown. Another has now been added by Ray on the building of some of Grangetown's churches and chapels and Steve has contributed one on the history of The Grange pub to mark its re-opening and 160th anniversary, while Zena and Ray have put together the presentation on Penarth alabaster, which is a feature of so much local architecture.

These have been created to print off - and have been handed out at recent meetings - and now we're starting to put some of them up on the website here, for wider interest. Click on the images above to download the PDFs . The second fact sheet on street names has been reproduced instead as a webpage here, as it is too large a document to download.

Click here for archived Grangetown Local History Society news and more photos

The Society was founded in 1995 and has a committee; there is no membership fee and it is open to anyone who has an interest in local history, particularly, living, working or having been born or brought up in Grangetown. Doug Knight - chairman; Email: grcarinfo@yahoo.co.uk Michelle Derby-Charles and Helen Stradling - email queries; secretary - Ray Noyes; treasurer - Alan Collier. The society cannot undertake family history research but please inquire as we may be able to help on an ad hoc basis. Websites: grangetownhistory.co.uk and grangetownwar.co.uk Postal address for mail order or to send photographs (please include your details): Grangetown Local History Society c/o 28 Llanmaes Street, Grangetown, Cardiff CF11 7LQ