The Cardiff Book of Days (2 page)
1864:
The opening of a link between Portskewett Pier and the Chepstow to South Wales line was formally approved after a visit of an officer from the Railway Inspectorate. This enabled the introduction of through fares between Cardiff and Bristol. This was a great convenience for passengers as previously separate bookings had to be made for travel on railways either side of the ferry crossing, as well as a separate ferry toll. (John Norris,
The Bristol & South Wales Union Railway
, Railway & Canal Historical Society, 1985)
2011:
Business leaders attacked a decision by Arriva Trains not to run any Valley Line services into Cardiff on New Year's Day, despite the fact that it was a Saturday and expected to be a very busy day for shopping in the city centre. Steven Madeley of the St David's Centre said, âit is causing us a significant headache because a lot of our staff will not be able to get their regular train to work.' A spokesman for Arriva Trains said that the company had received no formal request from any business or organisation for them to run a service and added that it would have considered a request had it been made. (
South Wales Echo
)
1941:
Cardiff suffered its worst air raid of the Second World War. On a cold moonlit night the city was attacked by 100 German bombers. The raid began at 6.40 p.m. and the all clear did not sound until 4.50 the next morning. One hundred and sixty-five people were killed, 100 houses destroyed and many others badly damaged. A shelter at Hollyman's Bakehouse at the junction of Corporation Road and Stockland Street received a direct hit and thirty-two people, including the Hollyman family, lost their lives. Seven people were killed at a house in Neville Street as were all members of a funeral party sheltering at an address in Blackstone Street. Llandaff Cathedral was hit and the Dean, the Revd D.J. Jones, was thrown through the West Doors when a landmine exploded. All Saints' Church, Llandaff North, was set on fire. A parachute mine fell on the Arms Park damaging stands and terracing and there was an unexploded mine at the castle. A higher death toll was only avoided because many of the bombs fell in the castle grounds and in Sophia Gardens. (J.H. Morgan, âCardiff at War' in Stewart Williams (ed.)
The Cardiff Book, Vol.3
, 1974)
1819:
St John's School opened. It had been built at a cost of £700 as a Free School for poor children on a site donated by the Marquis of Bute, who also subscribed 50 guineas and later gave another grant of land to increase the size of the playground. There were two schoolrooms, one for boys and one for girls. The boys got the usual lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic but the girls were also instructed in sewing and housewifery. (William Rees,
Cardiff: A History of the City
, Cardiff Corporation, 1969)
1882:
The birth of John Lewis Williams, a rugby winger noted for his magical ability to side-step and swerve past opponents. He played seventeen times for Wales, only being on the losing side twice. He was part of three Welsh Triple Crown-winning sides and scored 17 tries in internationals. He played for the British Lions and was a fixture in the Cardiff team for many years. During the First World War he served in the 38
th
(Welsh) Infantry Division. He died at the Battle of the Somme during the attack on Mametz Woods. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / Wikipedia)
1940:
The birth in Cardiff of Brian Josephson who went on to become an eminent scientist, joint winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Physics. A great original thinker, he won a research fellowship at Trinity, Cambridge; contemporaries claimed that he could sniff a flawed proposition a mile off. Josephson discovered how an electrical current could flow between two superconductors, even when an insulator was placed between them. This became known to physicists as the âJosephson Effect'. The practical application of this research was in the development of extremely sensitive scientific instruments, for example used in the magnetic field around the brain. He later became fascinated by the links between the brain and paranormal phenomena. His ideas in this area are still controversial and have been criticised by fellow academics. Nevertheless, he insisted that experiments in telepathy have consistently produced results that cannot be explained by mere probability. He claimed his motto was that of the prestigious Royal Society: â
nullius in verba
' â âtake nobody's word for it'. (T.D. Breverton,
The Welsh Almanac
, Glyndwr Publications, 2002 / John O'Sullivan & Bryn Jones,
Cardiff: A Centenary Celebration
, The History Press, 2005)