Grangetown Local History Society will start meeting again monthly at Glamorgan Archives, Leckwith, Cardiff, from Friday 24th September 2021 (2pm-4pm). Because of Covid restrictions, numbers are strictly limited and places must be booked in advance by emailing the secretary, Ray Noyes raynoyes06@gmail.com. Social distancing will be in operation and attendees will be required to wear a face mask. Follow our Twitter feed @GLHS1 for updates. 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 "A wonderful online resource that the society is building up: a series of outstandingly good and carefully researched articles on the history of the area" - Who Do You Think You Are magazine? "For a wonderfully comprehensive chronicle of Grangetown history since those drunken monks turned up..." - Dan O'Neill - South Wales Echo 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

There are, however, some limitations, due to Covid-19 restrictions at indoor venues:

• Only 15 of us may attend, which is less than we normally had
• We must be separated by at least two metres
• We must all wear masks
• Doors and windows must be open
• Attendees must book their places (with secretary Ray Noyes by email, raynoyes06@gmail.com) ahead of any meetings. The list will be given to the Archives under current test and trace regulations. When booking your place please make sure you send me your address and phone number

The first meeting will take place on Friday 24th September at 2pm, in the large room on the left of the entrance.

Cardiff based children's theatre company Theatr Iolo is creating a theatre show about Jonah, the whale that toured UK towns in the 1950s , and visited Cardiff in 1954.

Producers are particularly interested in connecting with people who might have seen Jonah themselves as children, or perhaps remember their parents or other adults talking about it, and are asking if we can help.

If you have any queries about Grangetown history or local family history, email us and we will do our best to try to help, as time allows. We can also post your queries here, in case anyone out there can help.

email grcarinfo@yahoo.co.uk

War memorial centenary marked - and WW2 names added online The centenary of the unveiling of the Grangetown war memorial has been marked with a ceremony. Wednesday 7th July marked 100 years to the day that the Portland stone and bronze work was unveiled, remembering the names of more than 330 men who died in World War One. The ceremony then was attended by hundreds of relatives, local residents and dignatories and also coincided with the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Mametz Wood in the Somme, in which thousands of Welsh soldiers were killed. Grangetown Local History Society - which was involved in researching the names of the hundreds of local men who died - organised a short ceremonial event at the monument in Grange Gardens. A pamphlet has also been produced telling the story of the memorial and there will be a display telling the story of Grangetown and World War One in Grange Pavilion afterwards. In addition, another major piece of research work is being unveiled - the details of more than 230 local men, women and children who died in World War Two. Their names are available on an online memorial, which covers casualties from the Army, Navy, Merchant Navy and RAF, as well as local people who died in The Blitz. A simple plaque remembers those who died in World War Two but there was no room for any names on the 1921 memorial. The online WW2 memorial, accompanies the existing and updated online WW1 memorial - which was launched at the start of the Society's four year Grangetown at War project in 2014. The new WW2 online memorial can be found here and the full Grangetown War project website can be found here Artists commemorate Blitz in Grangetown online Three artists and a group of young Grangetown people marked the 80th anniversary of the Cardiff Blitz online with the The Night-time Blitz Experience. Bomb damage on the corner of Clive Street - corner of Ferry Road The project, backed by Heritage Lottery funding, explored the impact of the Blitz on Grangetown, a neighbourhood particularly hit by the World War Two bombing. Due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the work was being shared online on the anniversary of the worst night of the Blitz - including a "real time" feed of events on the evening and in the hours leading up to it. You can still catch-up on the work onthe Blitz Experience webpage Also follow @BlitzCardiff on Twitter Eighty years ago, on Thursday 2nd January 1940 at just after 6.30pm the Blitz hit Grangetown. These were dramatic and life-changing events for many people – 165 people across Cardiff were killed and 6,000 made homeless in one night. Artists Alec Stevens, Jason and Becky, Secondson and a group of 11 local young people worked through a research-based process, supported by material provided by Grangetown Local History Society and the Glamorgan Archives, to make work that responds to some of the people and places affected by the Bliz in Grangetown. The Night-time Blitz Experience was due to be a live in-situ event at the Grangetown sites that were bombed 80 years prior, it was outside and social distancing measures had been put in place, however due to covid regulations we are now migrating online. A book Cardiff and the Blitz, written by Steve Duffy, will be published in 2021, which will tell the story of nearly three years of bombing, with accounts and personal memories, many not shared before. Some of the this research was used as material for the artists to work from. The artists involved: Jason and Becky: Swansea-based collaborative artists who work in audio-visuals and installations, as well as engaging with local people, and who presented their live performance on a stream. As The Sky Darkens was inspired by the impact of the Blitz on Clydach Street, including a boy who traded comics with a young neighbour and victim of the boming. Alec Stevens: A Bristol-based fine artist and sculptor who telks the story of Hollyman's bakery, involving the stories of different individuals around the tragedy, which left some of the victims unidentified. There was a Zine which can be downloaded at the website. Copies were also given away to local residents at the site of the bakery, along with barra brith. There is also a short video 22 Unknown inspired by the unidentified victims of the tragedy. Secondson playing the halldorophone at the Temple of Peace. Photo: Tessa Salt. Secondson - Leon West: A Butetown-based musician, DJ and record producer - who created a soundscape, using recorded and archive memories from Grangetown Local History Society and his own interviews. He colloborated with a visual artist for Bomber's Moon, exploring the story leading up to the bombing. Secondson also plays the unique halldorophone - like an electronic type of cello, which provides a tone in the background, similar to the hum of aircraft overhead. "My performance will focus on the tension and anxiety the community would have felt in the days and hours in the lead up to the blitz, I will use the halldorophone as a tool to amplify and manipulate the sounds, the instrument itself will resonate and respond to the audio that will be controlling it, creating a unique, one-o? performance." He added: "The Grangetown community plays a large part in my day to day, a place very familiar and relevant to me and my work, with my studio is a mere stones throw across the Clarence Road bridge in Butetown. I am most grateful to be involved in this commemorative event with Art Shell and Grangetown Local Historical Society.” A group of young people, aged 16 to 25, was set up to work with artists on the project to produce a creative interpretation of the story of the Blitz at Ferry Road. There is a video of their artwork and projection based on the story of people who lived and survived, side by side. You can read more on the Artshell website. Despite the huge logistical challenges, we'd like to thank all the artists for producing such thought-provoking work, which was followed by a large number on the evening. BOOKS ABOUT GRANGETOWN There have been a number of books published about the history of Grangetown. Most are still in print, available online or on eBay and also some copies may be available by arrangement from Grangetown Local History Society. Urban Development in the Victorian Era: A Case Study of Grangetown, Cardiff, 1100-1900 by Ray Noyes, 2020. Tracing the development and building of south Grangetown from early times and particularly detailed on its Vicotorian growth. Available from Wordcatcher Publishing, priced £15, and also on Amazon. Island in the City by Ray Noyes (Wordcatcher, 2019, £15) A memoir of childhood growing up in Grangetown and the story of the suburb's growth. Available on Amazon It Touched Every Street by Steve Duffy (Wordcatcher, 2018, £15) Stories of the soldiers, sailors, and civilians from Grangetown who served and died in World War One, based on research of the men on the war memorial in Grange Gardens. Available direct via the history society, via Wordcatcher Publishing and also via Amazon Grangetown by Barbara Jones (Vol 1, Images of Wales series, Tempus, 1996) Mainly pictoral tracing the history of Grangetown in photographs. Available on eBay and Amazon Grangetown The Second Collection by Ian Clarke (Vol 2, Images of Wales series, Tempus, 1999). Available on eBay and Amazon Old Grangetown Memories Book Two was published in 2013 by Grangetown Local History Society. Copies are sometimes available on eBay and there are some available directly from the society, when arrangements allow. Old Grangetown Memories Book One was published in June 2011. There is also a book Old Grangetown Shops. Copies are also available at Cardiff and Grangetown libraries.

A photo of the stadium in 1905. People's Collection/National Library of Wales.

But by the summer of 1920, the post-war "attendances of the general public has not been of the best" for the prize athletics and whippet races. Then the promoters put up what was claimed to be Wales' biggest prize for a whippet race, £50.

Armistice Day this year also marks the 80th anniversary of the deaths of four Grangetown seamen when their boat hit a mine in Swansea Bay.

The SS Skarv was a dredger but was believed to be carrying a cargo of sand when she was sunk off the south Wales coast, somewhere between Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel. Five Cardiff crew members were killed including two brothers William and Charles Self, sons of a local grocer and fishmonger from Hewell Street.

William was 35 and left a widow and at least three children and lived near his parents in Hewell Street. He was a fireman on the dredger. Charles, 31, who had moved to Cathays, was married to Annie.

A wreath was laid by Grangetown history society at the merchant seaamen's memorial last weekend, in the absence of the usual Remembrance Day services

Master Raymond Cook, 43, a Gloucestershire-born mariner and father-of-five, lived in Newport Street with his second wife Lily - a Grangetown girl. He had been at sea since he was a boy and was the son of sea captain.

During World War One Raymond (pictured above) joined the Royal Naval Reserve and served on minesweepers. Another crew member who was killed in the tragedy on November 11th 1940 was Thomas Murt, 56, a Lancashire-born ship's engineer who lived at 155 Corporation Road with wife Lizzie. They had a 15-year-old daughter Elizabeth.

Lizzie's first husband William Hooper had died of Spanish Flu in a military hospital in France in World War One and is on the Grange Gardens memorial.

The other crew killed was mate William Brewer, 49, from Caerphilly Road, Whitchurch, who came from a Dorset maritime family.

Unexploded bomb tragedy story uncovered

The story of a war-time bomb explosion in a suburb north of Birmingham, which killed 13 people, has been uncovered, 80 years on, during research on a young soldier from Grangetown.

Seven men with a Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit were killed when three bombs exploded at the back of a house in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, on the afternoon Sunday 25th August 1940.

Five of them were from south Wales. Six local civilians also died when the delayed-action devices detonated.

Due to wartime censorship, few details of the event were published – with only a mention of the deaths of the seven Royal Engineers, but not what had happened or where.

The incident happened at the back of 117 Welwyndale Road in Sutton Coldfield – part of a number of recently-built houses, on the edge of the Birmingham district of Erdington.

The soldiers were digging down to the bombs when they heard a fizzing sound, which one water board official attributed to a burst main. But the bombs exploded.

Records indicate that a 45-strong unit, led by a Lt Campbell, had been sent to Birmingham a month before to deal with the aftermath of air raids. Problems included delayed action bombs, which were designed to explode up to 80 hours after landing.

There had been an air raid on Birmingham on the night of Saturday 24th and the Birmingham Mail reported on the Monday that there had been “delayed action bombs over a wide area.”

A pre-war map showing the area, while the new housing was being planned.

“During the morning several of them exploded but there were no casualties reported as, in every case, the police had taken stringent precautions and had cordoned off all these districts and evacuated the tenants of houses and premises in the immediate vicinity.”

But the paper went on: “The danger of these bombs, it is pointed out, is very great and exemplified by the fact that casualties were caused by one which exploded yesterday afternoon while efforts were being made to render it innocuous. Spectators had narrow escapes.”

On the 25th, the bomb disposal unit war diary reads: “Explosion of three bombs during removal killed seven other ranks, one died in hospital subsequently. Four were injured. All the casualties were from No 68 section.”

Who were the seven men who died?

William Fergusson, 19, from Penarth Rd, Grangetown, Cardiff was a driver. His elder brother Thomas would die three years later serving in Italy in a battle with the German Tenth Army.

Cpl Arthur Haines, 22, of System St, Adamsdown in the city - was the youngest child of the late Charles and May Haines; his parents had died by the mid 1920s and he lived with a family in Daisy Street, Canton, while going to Lansdowne Road School. Arthur, a carpenter with a shop fitting firm, had already volunteered with the Royal Engineers in the territorials in the spring of 1939 and was promoted to corporal at the start of the war.

William Henry Thorne, 27, of Dogfield Street, Cathays, Cardiff. He left a year-old son and a pregnant widow Winifred.

William Ward Davies, 20,was the second son of dairy farmer John William Davies and mother Agnes Hamilton Davies, of Kincoed Farm, Oakdale. He died in hospital the same day and was buried in a churchyard back at home.

Mervyn Tasse Andrews, 20, was the son of Frederick W. Andrews and Jane Andrews, of Clydach near Abergavenny. His father, 76, a retired quarryman had also served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers during World War One.

Norman Cryer, 37, of Barnoldswick, Lancs, left a widow, a son and three daughters, of Green End Road, Earby. He was a weaver before the war.

Arthur Rabinowitz, 21, also known as Knight, of 67 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool. His obituary said he was very popular in Livepool amateur dancing circles.

The civilians who died were: ARP warden Tom Hatton, 59. He lived at 86 Berwood Farm Road, having formerly lived in Aston and Arthur Road, Erdington. He was the husband of Providence Martha Hatton and father of seven children. His nephew was with him and also died. Albert Hemming, 24, was with the Home Guard.

Albert Montague Bird, 61, a shopkeeper from Southend-on-Sea, who seemed to have retired and moved to nearby 78 Berwood Farm Road, another new house, with his wife Julia.

Thomas Blake, 49, lived at 76 Welwyndale Road, Erdington. Husband of C. Blake.

Another Home Guard man was Leslie Arthur Maddox, 31, who was also a St John’s volunteer. He lived at 72 Berwood Farm Road and was a cash register mechanic. He left a widow Mary Elizabeth – they had been married nearly five years – and two young daughters. He was the son of Ada E. and George Maddox, of 27 Upper Thomas Street, Aston. His father, a firewatcher, would die in an air raid at this home on 30 July 1942.

The youngest civilian to die was John Squires, 19, a bank clerk and only son of John Walter James, bank manager, and Maud Mary Squires, of 843 Chester Road, Erdington.

Thanks to Ted Richards of Roath History Society. Details have been passed to Sutton Coldfield History Society, although they were unaware of the tragedy before.

Victorian Grangetown, prone to flooding

Here is the story of two high tides, which in Victorian times saw Grangetown very vulnerable to flooding with its then lack of defences.

The Ely burst its banks after continual rain one Thursday morning on July 15th 1875 causing "widespread devastation" in Canton and Upper Grangetown. The Cardiff Times reported it vividly and also underlined how semi-rural Grangetown still was at this time: "The Grange, principally occupied by working men and their families, is completely surrounded by water to the depths of at least four feet, the highway to Penarth at seven o'clock in the evening being only passable to vehicles and horsemen. On the right of the highway the large field extending northward to the Great Western Railway resembles an inland lake, varying in depth from 4-7ft, and the water is just beginning to overflow the roadway opposite to the Grange Hotel.

"The streets which seem to be in imminent danger of being undermined by the swiftly rising waters are Thomas and Rosemary Street. The houses appear to be toppling over. Most of the furniture has been removed from the upper rooms, but a number of sick persons could not be removed in the ordinary way. A number of young men volunteered to procure a boat from the adjoining river Taff, and had succeeded in getting it partly on the way when darkness set in.

Hairdresser Sam Thomas drew this sketch of flooding in Ludlow Street in October 1883.

The report continued: "Willing hands were not wanting to cut the traces of the horses, and help the men, who otherwise would have been carried away and drowned. Scores of men we saw carrying their little ones towards Cardiff, and two men we noticed had what appeared to be aged females in their strong arms, carefully wrapped up in coverlets and blankets.

"Our reporter, who visited Upper Grange at 11pm, says the left side of the main roadway to Penarth opposite this place is completely submerged to an equal extent with the meadow, lands and fields on the opposite side, the water having increased fully three feet. The only drain pipe, said to be nearly nine inches in diameter, the entrance being opposite the Grange Hotel, is choked up with hay swept into it from the adjoining field."

Then on the evening of October 17th 1883, another high tide - with gale-force winds - saw water burst through the sea dyke opposite Kent Street, reaching a height of between 4ft and 7ft at around 8pm. A man rushed into the harvest thanksgiving service in Ludlow Street shouting "the flood is coming," Sam Thomas recalled. The preacher reportedly urged calm, before promptly fainting!

Flood water almost reached the first floors of houses, while people were wading up to their waists. Livestock was lost, with the whole area said to resemble a lake. Newspaper reports from the time give a long list of shopkeepers in Holmesdale Street who sustained losses - from shoemakers to grocers, nine pubs were affected including the landlord of The Plymouth (in Clive Street) who claimed he was down £200 after water flooded his cellar. Mr Edwards the grocer in Oakley Street lost £100 worth of stock. A third of homes lost their back walls between the streets. Those living in Kent Street were said to have suffered the greatest loss in terms of "spoilt furniture."

Schoolmaster James Buck - a small man - was carried to his home through the torrent by a visiting preacher - and much taller man - at Windsor baptist hall in Holmesdale Street.

"I was caught up in the flood, about 12 houses from my home," he recalled as an old man in the 1950s. "I was soon up to my waist in water but presently a tall, strong woman named Mrs Perrott rushed into the middle of the street, picked me up and carried me into her house, took off my wet clothes and put me to bed. She was a customer of my mother (Sarah), who kept the grocery shop on the corner of Sevenoaks Street."

"I myself and other youngsters amused ourselves by catching shrimps and minnows - a strange pastime in church. Meanwhile, the hymn For Those In Peril On The Sea was given out, and considering that by this time most of the adults in that congregation thought that they themselves were in dire peril, for the water was still rising steadily, they sang those thrilling words with a calmness that spoke of brave and trusting hearts within." The Western Mail reported that some women and children from the harvest festival were rescued in a huge furniture van. But it reported that several police officers standing near to Grangetown police station were "exceedingly uncomfortable" and "pretending to be busy" when faced with the unfolding drama, despite being driven on by an exasperated sergeant.

Mr Marshall, along with local councillors, was one of those involved in raising awareness of the issues with town officials. Afterwards, damage was estimated at around £3,000 while £540 was collected in donations within a few days through public subscription, including from shipowners and other businessmen. There were also calls for the embankment and sea wall to be raised.

A system of clay banks or dykes (on the 1883 map above left) was not enough to solve the problem when either the River Taff or Ely rose to exceptional heights at high tide. It would be a century before the flood defences were adequate - while the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage also helped reduce major incidents.

The last surviving veterans of the so-called Arctic Convoys have received medals to mark the anniversary of the final naval escorts of World War Two.

They include Grangetown-born Harold Boudier, 94, who was on the last wartime supply voyage to Russia from a naval base in Scotland 75 years ago in April.

Harold, a long-time member of Grangetown History Society, signed on for the Merchant Navy in Cardiff in 1944, aged 18.

On 18 April 1945, then 19, he was on board aircraft carrier HMS Premier when she joined the escort JW 66 in what proved to be the final Arctic Convoy to the Soviet Union.

The convoy encountered some drama on its return voyage from Murmansk, when one ship was attacked and Harold's own ship suffered an accident when a plane crash landed trying to land.

"It was entangled in the stern and the engine caught fire but very fortunately the three men in the crew managed to crawl free and the aircraft was disentangled and ditched," said Harold, recalling the events at his home a few weeks ago in Penarth. Due to coronavirus, all surviving veterans - around 500 are estimated - received their medals from the Russian Embassy by post.

Harold, whose ship arrived back in Scotland in time for VE Day, went back to sea briefly before a career as an industrial chemist.

He remains very modest about his war service. After the end of the Cold War, he visited Murmansk and kept up links and correspondence with the people he met there, who still value the contribution to keeping vital food supplies open during World War Two.

Young RAF hero whose luck ran out

Thomas Gosling was one of the early RAF losses, who went missing only days after an heroic return following his aircraft suffering serious damage during a mission over occupied Norway.

Thomas was just 23 when he died on 15th April 1940. He was the eldest son and one of seven children to fitter's labourer Thomas and Margaret Gosling, of 48 Wedmore Road, Grangetown.

Only days before Flight Sergeant Gosling returned from a reconnaisance mission over occupied Norway, which saw him return safely on one engine for 350 miles after his plane was shot at and badly damaged.

He was one of four young aircraftmen from 224 Squadron - often involved in anti-submarine missions from RAF Leuchars in Scotland - who went missing that day. Society notes: March 2020 meeting

22 people were present at Glamorgan Archive

Night-time Blitz Experience: Jo Hartwig of Art Shell was welcomed to the meeting. She described the artistic work that would be commissioned from local artists to complement the focus on four bomb sites in Grangetown that would feature in the blitz commemorations in January next year, a joint project with the Society and subject of a £29,000 Heritage Lottery award. The sites being looked at will be Corporation Road (near site of Hollyman’s bakery), Clydach Street and Jubilee Street and the corner of Ferry Road and Holmesdale Street. Steve Duffy pointed out that much research had gone into these sites and a lot had been discovered of the people who lived there, and the stories of heroism involved in saving some of those involved. Recruitment of helpers and artists would begin and run into April. September and October would be spent in further research including giving talks at local schools. These would include Ninian School, Grangetown, St Paul's and hopefully other local schools. Jo said that WW2 artefacts are now needed to complement the above commemorations, such as gas masks, wardens’ helmets, etc. Pop-up events will also be planned for the Archive and Pavilion, as well as going to sheltered housing at some point.

Cardiff Blitz and Grangetown at War Steve Duffy has been commissioned to write two books, the first later this year on Cardiff and the Blitz; the second will be on Grangetown At War, and include a memorial of local WW2 casualties, to follow in 2021. Work on both is advanced.

VE Day The Society had been contacted by ITV Wales asking if they could use some of our photographs for a programme they are doing on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two. The meeting agreed to the request, in that all our archive is available to the public now that it is in the care of the Glamorgan Archives.

Cowbridge school heritage The Society had also been contacted by a group of people from Cowbridge, asking the Society to sign a petition against the development of the site of the Cowbridge Girls’ School. The meeting thought this inappropriate since the Society is ignorant of the issue and any signatures would be ignored because our addresses would not be in Cowbridge. It was pointed out that the Cowbridge History Society had declined to support the petition too.

Medal award Helen had been in contact with Harold Boudier and the Russian Embassy concerning his latest award by Russia of an Russian Convoy medal. Harold’s ship took part in one of the last convoys. Steve Duffy had also interviewed him. It seems that the medal may simply be posted to him, in which case it was the Society’s wish to be able to congratulate him in some way. Helen and Steve are to co-ordinate a suitable ceremony if Harold wishes it.

Future talks It was agreed that Ray would give a talk on the history of Grangetown along the lines of similar public talks he had been giving. A suitable date will have to be arranged.

Grangetown Pavilion Although we had made general enquiries as to the probable cost of using a room at the Pavilion for a public talk on our work, it has not been possible to find out the cost. The manager has asked instead that we book a specific date for such a thing and then the cost, if any, would be decided. Thus far, the Society hasn’t decided which date would be needed and what kind of event it may be. It was thought that an evening meeting/talks would be popular amongst residents of the area and perhaps attract new members.

Techniquest. A further meeting with Techniquest had recently been held. Its objective was to offer guidance and suggest materials for a display in the newly expanded building. The expansion coincides with the removal of the Welsh Assembly’s financial support for Techniquest and the realisation that to survive and thrive commercially it must focus more on attracting adults rather than only children. It was decided that the display should focus on the importance of coal to Cardiff Docks and on the history of the site of the Techniquest building when it was once the workshops of the dry docks alongside it.

NOTICE Due to the risk presented by the Coronavirus, especially to those over 60, it was decided not to hold our next meeting until further notice. The secretary will contact members when a decision has been made concerning the date of the next meeting.

Grangetown School Scroll: Chairman Doug Knight has 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)

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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.

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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

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.

Audio history: We are involved in an ongoing audio history project, collecting memories from Grangetown people of times and people in the past. If you would like to take part - home visits can be arranged - contact us below. We are particularly interested in hearing from people with connections to north Grangetown/Saltmead.

Archive: We are always collecting photos and memories to build up our growing archive of Grangetown history. We are currently starting to digitise our archive and files of photos, which is quite a long term task. We are always interested in hearing from people with old photos. Even some old family photos can sometimes reveal something about the local area or a particular time. We can arrange to scan and return photos, as well as take digital copies. Thanks to the diligent work of society member Brenda John, the old files of documents and photos have been collated, sorted and properly archived and the Grangetown local history archive is now available to view online

Grangetown and World War I and II: We created an online version of the Grangetown War Memorial, to mark the centenary of World War I. It involved researching the details of the men on the memorial - as well as other casualties with Grangetown connections who were not recorded. A separate website has been created - www.grangetownwar.co.uk and is being updated as the project progresses. A book It Touched Every Street based on our research and telling the stories of the men and women who died was published in 2018. See below for more details. Research is under way on a similar project to mark the 80th anniversary of World War Two and the Cardiff Blitz in 2020/21. A book will be published early in 2021.

Books: It Touched Every Street which tells the story of Grangetown's war memorial and the men and women who died in World War One was published in 2018. It is available for £ 14.99 from Wordcatcher Publishing, Amazon and via the society. A book Old Grangetown Memories Book Two was published in 2013. Copies are sometimes available on eBay. Old Grangetown Memories Book One was published in June 2011 and quickly sold out. There are two other books Old Grangetown Shops and Memories and Old Grangetown Memories Book Two which have also sold out but both should still available to borrow from the Central and Grangetown libraries. Due to changing fashions/costs, we no longer produce a calendar.

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.

There is already a good online history of Grangetown on the Grangetown community website, including its medieval origins, Victorian growth and wartime and post-war memories, as well as sport, business, schools and churches - click on the photo icons above for more. See also: grangetowncardiff.co.uk community website.

There are also two published illustrated books in the Images Of Wales series by Tempus publishing, Grangetown (compiled by Barbara Jones) and Grangetown The Second Collection (compiled by Ian Clarke). Copies can be found in the local library, bookshops and you should be able to find copies on eBay or order via Amazon. Society member Ray Noyes has published a book Victorian Grangetown which looks at the building of south Grangetown, including detailed examination of construction and plans for homes, industry and notable buildings. There is also a Tales Of Old Grangetown DVD, by Ian Malcolm, which is available in local bookshops and from the central library.

Cardiff Library members can now access Victorian newspapers online from home, including the Western Mail from 1869 to 1899. You need to log on to the Cardiff e-library with your membership number and password. You can also access Ancestry.co.uk through your library membership log-in. The local studies/archives have now been re-homed in the refurbished Cathays Library. (You can reach it best by taking No 8 or 9 buses heading for Heath). Grangetown Library in Havelock Place has a selection of Cardiff history books. You can also research local history online with the National Library of Wales' free Welsh newspapers online site, for pre-1910 daily and weekly papers, with an excellent search facility.

The Cardiff Museum at the Old Library building in The Hayes opened in 2011. There are quite a few Grangetown elements to it - including stories, objects, photos and a map which shows the changing nature of the area. The museum is very hands-on and interactive and well worth a visit. It houses regular local history exhibitions, amongs other shows. It's also trying to gather memories and photos for its ongoing Collecting Cardiff project.

There is also the Glamorgan Archives, now in purpose-built facilities near to us in Leckwith, close to the new Cardiff City stadium development. You can call in to use the large reading room and users can also register for a card (bring ID). The purpose-built development has temperature-controlled archive space for documents, parish and estate records, original plans for houses and other buildings in Cardiff, as well as local directories and maps. You can also access censuses up to 1901. There are lockers for personal belongings, bring pencils not pens.

Other useful links or interesting sites for local or family history include the Glamorgan Family History Society, which is useful for those both with family connections in the area or those with just an interest in history; Cardiff Heritage ancestry.co.uk (subscription required for most services); GENUKI Cardiff, abandoned communities has details of old Temperance Town and Newtown in Cardiff. There is also a wonderful history of Penarth Docks. There's also a good blog of Keith S Robertson's 1980s photos of mostly east of the city Cardiff Before Cardiff Meanwhile, the National Library of Wales has tithe maps in its Places of Wales website here

You might also be interested in the Jewish Heritage Trails - which explore Cardiff's Jewish history.

Other local history societies in Cardiff: Llanishen Rhiwbina Civic Society Roath Rumney and there is also Butetown History and Arts Centre.

© Grangetown Local History Society 2021. Updated September 11th