Pierhead Building, Cardiff

In the early hours of Saturday 19 November 1892, a fire destroyed much of the Merchants’ Exchange building, which stood at the southern end of Bute Street, within the area now occupied by Mermaid Quay.  One of several businesses which found themselves suddenly displaced was the Bute Docks Company.  While temporary premises were quickly obtained, that company soon put in hand plans for a new headquarters.  The chosen site lay between the entrances to the West and East Docks, and its announcement led to a good deal of grumbling in Cardiff shipping circles as access from the mercantile quarter would be restricted when the lock gates were opened at every high tide.  But the company went ahead as planned.

Mary Traynor’s sketch of the Pierhead Building

The Pierhead Building was designed by William Frame, who had earlier assisted Burges in his work at Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch.  With flamboyant architecture, rich red Ruabon brickwork and prominent clock tower, it is one of the more noticeable landmark buildings of Cardiff Bay.

Completion of work, in 1897, coincided with a change of name from Bute Docks Company to Cardiff Railway Company.  This foreshadowed an expansion of the company’s business activities and is clearly reflected by the inclusion of a locomotive in the terracotta moulding on the western face of the building.

With the closure of the East and West Bute Docks, the Pierhead Building was no longer conveniently placed to serve as a base for port management.  Around the turn of the Millennium, it was acquired by the National Assembly for Wales and now serves as the Senedd’s visitor, events and conference venue.

David Webb, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

Sources consulted:

• Mary Traynor Collection (ref.: D1093/1/1)
• South Wales Institute of Architects Records, biography of William Frame (ref.: D809/8/85)
• Newman, John: The Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan
• Evening Express, 19 November 1892
• Evening Express, 4 May 1893
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierhead_Building
• https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Cardiff_Railway
• http://pierhead.org

Cardiff Corinthians: Taking stock – The Summer of 1899

This is the last of four articles on the early years of Cardiff Corinthians AFC, better known in recent years as Cardiff Corries. It draws on the records of the club held at Glamorgan Archives.

Although Cardiff Corinthians’ results in their first season were disappointing, the mood in the club was not all doom and gloom. Following the last game of the season, a one goal to nil defeat by Newport at Llandaff Fields, reports in the local newspapers agreed that, for a first season and given the quality of the opposition, the Corinthians had been far from disgraced. The reporter for the Evening Express went one step further and, perhaps a little generously, concluded that football in Cardiff was …at a low ebb and …the Cardiff Teachers and the Cardiff Corinthians are just about the only senior teams that the Metropolis of Wales can boast about.

No sooner had the season ended than most of the Corinthians took the field again for the Cardiff Alpha cricket club captained by Fred Price’s elder brother, Philip. The club records confirm that the future of the Corinthians was discussed at two key meetings in April and July. At the first meeting, held at the Romilly Hotel, all seemed well.

The focus was firmly on plans for next season with arrangements agreed for the election of a club captain and first and second team committees. In addition, it was agreed, unanimously, that the club would hold its first annual dinner in the autumn.

The second meeting, held in the restaurant of the Criterion Coffee Tavern on 25 July, was attended by a …splendid muster of members. Fred Price and Billy Gibson were re-elected as Captain and Vice-Captain. With work now well in hand for the next campaign, spirits were high and prospects for the coming season were seen as …very rosy.

Yet the meeting had also seen the first signs of dissension in the camp. Tom John, the second team skipper in the first season, had suggested that the reserves operate as a separate side with players not available for a late call into the first XI. The proposal was put to the vote and defeated. Possibly to placate Tom, it was agreed that the reserve team be put on a firm footing and entered in the Cardiff and District Junior League. Although it appeared that peace had been restored, when nominations were sought for the second team captain for the coming season, Tom John did not put his name forward. The gap was filled by 20 year old Jack Evans. The son of a mason from Monmouth, Jack lived on Radnor Street. Along with his brother George he had attended the Radnor Road School with the Price and Gibson brothers and was very much part of the tight knit inner circle at the heart of the Corinthians in this period.

The club’s prospects for its second season had certainly been bolstered by the addition of new faces on the field. In particular, Fred Simmons, a player with experience from the Southern League, had taken over in goal from October onwards. Although not the tallest of players, Fred was praised time and time again in the newspapers for his goalkeeping. If there had been a player of the year award for the first season, “Tich” Simmonds would have been the leading candidate. Late in the first season, J P Scott had joined the Corinthians. Jack Scott was a forward who had played for Sunderland, albeit recently for the reserve side. Nevertheless, a player of his experience was a significant addition to the team for the coming season.

There were also developments off the field. It was recognised that the appointment of a raft of influential sponsors as President and Vice President would be an asset to the club. From the outset the players had a close relationship with the Radnor Road Board School and the headmaster, Walter Brockington, often attended club meetings.  As a mark of the esteem in which he was held, Walter was appointed as the club’s first Vice President. This was seen, however, as just the first move and that further appointments were needed.

There was good news, therefore, when Alex Norie and George Gallon reported that Archibald D Dawnay had accepted the invitation to be the club’s first President. At the time, Dawnay was the owner of a London-based steel and engineering company that also had a works at East Moors in Cardiff.  He was a Vice President of the Cardiff Cricket Club and later President of the Cardiff and District Cricket League. He also took an interest in association football and made donations to the South Wales League for the purchase of trophies.

It may have been links with the Alpha Cricket Club that first brought the Cardiff Corinthians to Dawnay’s attention.  As an advocate of the amateur code, the model operated by the Corinthians, with players paying an annual membership fee and being responsible for buying their own kit and meeting travel expenses, certainly fitted with his view of how the sporting world should conduct itself. Club records suggest that Dawnay’s initial contribution to funds was modest at three guineas a year. Nevertheless, having such an influential figure as President was a significant coup.

As the new season approached much of the preparatory work now fell to Alex Norie. Norie had taken on the role of Secretary and Treasurer when George Gallon had stepped down at the end of the first season due to work commitments. Although only 19 years of age, Norie had wondered whether he would be able to continue playing after picking up a serious injury in the match at Aberdare in the first season. He had decided to take on Gallon’s duties to maintain his involvement with the club in the event that he could no longer turn out for the team. It was a position that he filled until his sudden death in 1907. Norie was well fitted for the role. He was known for having ‘strong views’ but also for a ‘genial bonhomie’ that made him popular with players and officials alike. For many, Alex Norie was the face of the Corinthians in this period, representing the club in dealings with other teams and at committee meetings across South Wales.

There was much to be done.  Although the Corinthians still clung to their sloping pitch at Thompson’s Park as their favoured home venue, it was agreed that more use would made of the pitches and facilities at Llandaff Fields. Significantly, and …after a great deal of discussion, the club colours were changed, with the green and gold kit worn in the first season replaced by cardinal and gold quartered shirts. Although there were to be further changes in subsequent years, this was the first outing for the club colours associated with Cardiff Corinthians to this day.

Gallon and Norie collaborated on putting the final touches to the fixture list, with the Club’s last practice match scheduled for Saturday 16th September when the ‘Whites’ would take on the ‘Stripes’ at Llandaff Fields. Once again, Cardiff Corinthians were due to meet the cream of the South Wales League with fixtures against Rogerstone, Barry Unionists, Porth, Ebbw Vale and a newcomer to the league, Newport.  A second division had been added to the League and the Corinthians had secured fixtures against two of the teams, Hafod and Mackintosh, due to compete in the new division.

A late addition to the Corinthians’ thirty-two match fixture list was a game, in the second half of the season, against Riverside AFC. Only recently formed, Riverside, later to be known as Cardiff City, were in their first season and looking to make a mark. If the Corinthians were out to enhance their reputation as one of the better, if not the best, side in Cardiff then there was already a new rival on the horizon.

Further articles following the fortunes of the club using the records held at Glamorgan Archives are planned for later in the year. The records of the Cardiff Corinthians AFC for the period 1898-1905 are held at Glamorgan Archives, reference D751. This article draws on the records alongside material on Welsh newspapers online provided by the National Library of Wales. Help and advice has also been provided by the Museum of Welsh Cricket in tracing the history of the Cardiff Alpha cricket team.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

Cardiff Corinthians: The First Season, 1898-99

This is the third of four articles on the early days of Cardiff Corinthians AFC, better known in recent years as Cardiff Corries. It draws on the records of the club held at Glamorgan Archives.

The inner circle – the committee of the newly formed Cardiff Corinthians AFC – met every Thursday evening during the season at 7.30 usually at the Criterion Coffee Tavern on Cowbridge Road. There would have been quite an air of expectation as they assembled on the evening of Thursday 16 September 1898 for the new season was due to begin in two days time.

George Gallon, the club’s secretary, had assembled a formidable fixture list. The premier senior league in the area at the time was the South Wales League. Given that the league consisted of only eight teams, its members also sought additional ‘friendly’ fixtures. Corinthians had secured games against five of the eight teams in the South Wales League, including the current league champions, Rogerstone, and the runners up, Aberdare.

Quite how they managed this is unclear, although it may well have been through the good offices of George Mercer. Mercer was a teacher at the Radnor Road Board School and coached the school team. He also played for the Cardiff Teachers’ team and, for a period, was Club Secretary. From the outset Mercer took an active interest in the Cardiff Corinthians, with many of its players drawn from his former pupils. Through his links with the South Wales League and the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football Association, Mercer would have known the club secretaries of most of the leading sides. It is very likely, therefore, that George Mercer was instrumental in helping the Corinthians to secure fixtures, in their first season, with some of the best teams in South Wales.

Most of those present on the 16^th were due to turn out on Saturday and there was a great deal to consider. Not least the logistics of getting to the Partridge Field at Llwynypia for a 4.30 kick off. Their opponents were Mid Rhondda Albions, who on the back of a successful season the previous year, were trying their hand in the South Wales League for the first time. Out to make their mark, Mid Rhondda fielded a strong side and easily brushed the Corinthians aside with a comfortable 5-1 victory. Undeterred, the Corinthians fielded an unchanged eleven for their next game against Barry District Juniors AFC. The match played at the Witchell Atheltic Grounds, Cadoxton, resulted in a very welcome first win for the Corinthians by two goals to one.

A local newspaper reporter was, however, far from convinced by the Corinthians’ performance at Cadoxton, noting that victory was only secured by a sterling rear guard action against a “superior” Barry side. The next three months were a testing time for a Corinthians team that lost nine of the twelve matches played in the run up to Christmas. Even with weakened sides and, in one case, a reserve team, the South Wales League teams proved far too strong for the Corinthians who conceded 6 goals to Rogerstone, 4 to Aberdare and 3 to a Porth side that only fielded 9 players.

What’s more, the Corinthians resolve may well have been creaking, with only seven players turning up for the away game at Rogerstone. In addition, players were often played out of position to fill the gaps with Alex Norie, usually amongst the forwards, pressed into service as goal keeper when Porth visited Thompson’s Park. The reserve team was also having a difficult time not helped, as was noted at committee meetings, by losing players, at short notice, to the first team.

There was some respite in November when Cardiff Corinthians returned to their home ground at Thompson’s Park to play both University College and Mackintosh. In the early years a Cardiff Corinthians side without a Gibson or a Price was almost unthinkable. Sure enough with Fred Price marshalling the defence, Jack Gibson at half back and Roger Price and Billy Gibson supplying the goals, narrow victories were secured in both home games. In addition, the Corinthians were not to be denied their Boxing Day ‘tour’. Shunning the option of a return to Bonvilston they boarded the 6.30 train on Boxing Day morning from Cardiff to Milford Haven. Possibly the Christmas fare had taken its toll for they lost by some five goals to nil to the Milford side.

The New Year started on a bright note with a win against Caldicott. Arguably, other than a six goals to nil drubbing by Penarth Wednesday, the eleven games played in the second half of the season were all close games. The Corinthians were on the losing side but, in most cases, by only the odd goal. Yet a closer look at the fixture list reveals that, of the South Wales League teams, only Porth were played in the second half of the season. Planned return games against the likes of Rogerstone and Barry Unionist Athletic did not take place. The Rogerstone side was subsequently fined one guinea by the South Wales and Monmouthshire FA for the non-fulfilment of its second fixture against the Corinthians. It may be that cup games intervened, but it looks as though the League teams had decided that return matches against the newcomer at this point were not a priority.

In the final analysis, the records compiled by the Club’s secretary, George Gallon, report that the Cardiff Corinthians won 5 and drew 1 of their 26 games, scoring 31 goals and conceding 69. In several instances, the scores recorded by Gallon vary from the figures listed in the local newspaper reports. However, the overall record of 5 wins is not in doubt. The reserves also had a tough season with very similar results, winning just 4 of their 22 matches.

On the plus side, the twenty two young men who had come together in September for the first practice match had stuck with the club and still provided the backbone of its teams. Yet there must have been thoughts about what next after such a difficult first season. The final article in this series looks at the records of the meetings held in April and July to reflect on the season and decide on a way forward for the newly formed club.

The records of the Cardiff Corinthians AFC for the period 1898-1905 are held at Glamorgan Archives, reference D751. This article draws on the records alongside material on Welsh Newspapers Online provided by the National Library of Wales. Help and advice has also been provided by the Museum of Welsh Cricket in tracing the history of the Cardiff Alpha cricket team.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

“A terrible catastrophe took place last night” – Cardiff, 3 March 1941

By March 1941 towns and villages in south Wales had been subject to regular and extensive rounds of bombing by the German Luftwaffe for over nine months. In many respects the night of Monday 3 March was no different as the air raid sirens called out their warning to the people of Cardiff to take shelter from an imminent attack. The following morning the German propaganda machine hailed yet another successful raid – Strong forces of German bombers attacked important war objectives and supply depots in Cardiff last night with great success. The communique added, As weather conditions proved good the chosen targets were easily picked out by the pilots. With characteristic sangfroid the British Air Ministry countered with an announcement that, Last night’s enemy activity was not on a large scale. Bombs were dropped on a town in South Wales where a number of fires were caused but all were extinguished in the early hours of the morning.

The full story lay somewhere between the two announcements. Although not on the scale of the attack in the first week of January that had seen Llandaff Cathedral badly damaged, Cardiff had been subject to one of the biggest fire raids of the war. During the course of the night thousands of tons of flares, incendiaries and high explosive fell across the town, with the worst damage in many of the residential areas.

The story of that night and its aftermath is told, in part, by the records kept by Head Teachers of schools across Cardiff. The records held at Glamorgan Archives are remarkable in the extent to which they are very “matter of fact”. The reality though was different. With buildings destroyed by high explosive and fires raging across large areas of Cardiff, it was a night many would never forget.

It is remarkable that next morning so many children turned up for school. For example, Radnor Road Infants recorded an attendance of 255 pupils. For most pupils though, there was no school that day as staff assessed the state of the buildings. Just about all schools had broken windows with glass strewn across playgrounds. The damage to windows and class room ceilings was so bad that the Tredegarville and Stacey Road schools had to close until repairs could be made.

In some cases incendiary bombs had landed on the roof of a school. Although the resulting fires had been successfully contained, Allensbank, Gladstone and Lansdowne all had damage to both the roof and upper floor classrooms as a result of the bombs and flares that had fallen during the night. The local heroes in many cases were the school caretakers who, with local firefighters, had battled the flames and limited the destruction.

Even where schools had come through the night relatively unscathed, many remained closed due to surrounding streets being blocked by rubble from buildings destroyed by the bombing and ongoing work to defuse unexploded bombs. In addition, schools, such as Llandaff, closed so that teachers working alongside local volunteers could provide food and shelter for the many families that had lost their homes during the night.

In several cases the damage reports were far more serious.  On the previous Friday, the pupils at Marlborough Road had celebrated St David’s Day. They had been ushered to the school’s air raid shelter mid-morning as the sirens sounded. However, within half an hour the all clear was received and the festivities continued. Now, only four days later, on 4 March, Mary Jenkins, Head Mistress of Marlborough Road Girls’ School, reported in the school log:  

A terrible catastrophe took place last night to our beloved school. Through enemy action the whole of the Senior School, which housed the Boys and Girls suffered irreparable damage. High explosive bombs were dropped in this district and it is surmised that a stick of bombs demolished our building.

The infant school had survived with broken windows and damage to ceilings.  However, the imposing red brick three storey main school building had been reduced to rubble. Over the following weeks staff set to work every day to salvage anything useable from the wreckage. In most cases the classrooms had been reduced to dust and broken bricks but, in some parts of the building, furniture and equipment could be salvaged. As Mary Jenkins noted:

Every member of staff has worked most earnestly and energetically to this purpose.  A great deal of stock from other classrooms as well as 3 sewing machines and the gramophone had been retrieved and is now in use.

Other schools, including Howard Gardens Boys’ and St Illtyd’s, had suffered the same fate, with much of the school destroyed by bombs and fire.

The Roath district of Cardiff had been badly hit, with landmarks such as Roath Road Wesleyan Church on the corner of City Road and Newport Road destroyed. The Cardiff Royal Infirmary had also been bombed. The hospital’s Medical Superintendent praised the courage of the nursing staff that night – …scorning flying shrapnel and amid flames and sparks they coolly carried on as if they were doing an ordinary job of work. In all, 51 people were killed and 243 injured on a night when over 7000 incendiary bombs fell on Cardiff. It was reported that two German bombers were brought down by anti-aircraft fire.

Yet within two weeks the Marlborough Road School was up and running again with the children from the junior school working with their teachers in classrooms at the Roath Park and Albany Road Schools. It was testimony to the resilience of the local people that normality, of sorts, could be restored so quickly. Yet many more challenges lay ahead.

The site of Marlborough School shown in 1949

The site of Marlborough School shown in 1949

This is the first of a short series of articles on Cardiff in the war years drawing on the records kept by head teachers at the time. For details of the school log books held for 1939-45 contact Glamorgan Archives.

Tony Peters, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer