Category: General Interest Articles

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I WAS THERE!

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As our village Jubilee Committee worked so hard putting together the programme of events for us, I felt I’d like to contribute towards the ‘50s exhibition by recording my memories of watching the Coronation procession in London when I was ten years of age.

We were living in Dinas Powis at that time, near the train station. I had an Aunty Connie with a good job in the offices of the GWR (Great Western Railway). She had been promoted from the Cardiff office to a higher paid job near Paddington Station, London. She was able to rent a first floor flat with a balcony in a Victorian building near the station, at a reduced rent because GWR owned many of the blocks. The back windows of her flat looked onto the main line.

She took my Welsh grandmother to live with her. My grandmother did all the cooking. She would hold up her walking stick to stop the traffic whenever she wanted to cross the road to the grocer’s shop; imagine that these days! Milk was delivered daily by a Welsh farmer who kept cows and had a dairy near Paddington; he was a Jones. My Nan would invite him in for tea and cake and they would enjoy a good chat in Welsh in the kitchen.

On the day before the Coronation, my mother, my best friend Edna, and I travelled by train to Paddington where we all squashed into the two-bedroom flat. A picnic was packed and the next day we all set off very early to walk to Hyde Park. It was still dark.

As we walked, more and more people joined us, plus many mounted police. I was fascinated by them having lights on the horses’ stirrups and on the policemen’s helmets. To me, the horses seemed enormous.

It was still just dawn when we arrived at my aunt’s chosen spot; there were already rows and rows of people in position. I think my aunt and my mother had little folding stools and we had blankets, as it was quite chilly. There were already soldiers in position lining the route. Everyone was very excited and happy. Toilet blocks had been set up and there was bunting everywhere.

As the time for the procession drew nearer, all the children were encouraged by the crowd to sit on the kerbside behind the soldiers. At one point, the soldiers were allowed to relax and eat the rations they had been issued. A couple of soldiers gave us their bars of chocolate. As time went on, we saw a few soldiers faint, as they had been standing to attention for many hours. They were whisked away very quickly on stretchers.

My mother and aunt were way back in the crowd; they passed us sandwiches and fruit across the happy people. We had to wait a very long time as we were positioned to see the procession once it was on its way back from the coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey. There were loudspeakers playing the whole time and relaying the service from the Abbey. Everyone was excited and expectant. It started to rain quite heavily but people had prepared, and we must have had waterproofs as I don’t remember being wet. We weren’t bored as there was so much to see and we had sweets and teddy bears. The crowd was very noisy.

It was raining very heavily by the time the actual procession began to arrive. We loved the colours of the uniforms and all the horses. I vividly remember the gold coach with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh passing us. The Queen was sitting up very straight, smiling and waving. They passed quite slowly, followed by a coach carrying the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Of the many carriages that followed, most with hoods up because it was raining heavily, the highlight for us was Queen Sālote of Tonga. She was standing up, waving and smiling at everyone. She was an enormous and very colourful lady. She just stood in the rain. The procession took a long time to pass. We then had to walk back to Paddington, weary and, probably, grumpy.

My grandmother watched the whole day on a little television set in the grocer’s shop. My father couldn’t be with us as there wasn’t enough room for him to stay in my aunt’s flat. I can only find one photo taken of the day; it’s taken on my aunt’s balcony, of me and my best friend Edna. My aunt and mother had been too far back in the crowd to take any photos of the procession. I had a mug from school and a miniature gold coach.

Sandra Jones

 

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FORWARD OR BACK?: SEVENTY YEARS OF WENVOE IN TRANSIT

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Recent weeks have seen the celebration of the Queen’s platinum jubilee, including a great display of local memorabilia organised by Mike and Glenys Tucker, which together with the Barry Festival of Transport gave me food for thought on the changes in transport and communications in and around Wenvoe during the years from 1952 to 2022. There were major achievements. For example, in 1952 Wenvoe was on the map with the television mast first broadcasting on 15 August 1952 (in plenty of time for broadcasting the coronation the following year) and on the same scale Rhoose airport, now Cardiff International Airport, was formally opened in October. Incidentally a private airstrip had operated in the 1930s near the TV mast site at St. Lythans Down. Formerly a RAF airfield, Rhoose opened with Aer Lingus flights to Dublin. There were some concerns at the time that the TV mast could be a hazard to aircraft but on 1 April 1954 all civilian flights were transferred from the old Cardiff Municipal Airport and by 1971 transatlantic flights were flying in and out of Rhoose.

At a local level what transport options were there? In 1952 17% of all passenger mileage was by rail and you could still travel from Wenvoe station, although local passenger services had been reduced to two trains on weekdays with all passenger services being withdrawn in 1962. In WWII Wenvoe tunnel had been used by Royal trains visiting the Cardiff area as it provided safe cover during air raids. In 1952 less than 30% of any distance travelled was by car, van or taxi but private car ownership was growing and whilst a new road bypassed the village in 1931 the Barry MP;; Sir Raymond Gower, was arguing for the Port Road to be given ‘A’ road status due to the high level of accidents in 1968. Serving the motorist was a local petrol station, Wenvoe garage, which still exists as a tyre centre today. By 1970 the figure of passenger mileage by private vehicles was at 75%, increasing to 85% by the late 1980s where it roughly remains today.

In 1952 the highest percentage of passenger mileage was by bus or coach at 42%. The excellent transport festival featured many heritage buses including those operated by Western Welsh and I’m sure many can remember the 303 service from Wenvoe, which in the 1961-62 timetable is a twenty minute service starting at 7:49 am up to 7:29 pm then half-hourly until 11:04 pm. Also passing through Wenvoe was the 305 bus to RAF St Athan and Llantwit Major

What service is available today? The bus stop sign at the Barry end of the village, Old Port Road (N) gives an interesting reminder of bus services in recent years; the 86 and 87 (to and from Dinas Powys) the 90 (to Culverhouse Cross), the 96A (Cardiff to Barry) and the X91 (Cardiff to Llantwit Major). Available before COVID at the Wallston Castle bus stop was the T9 Cardiff Airport Express (always usually empty and referred to as the ‘empty 9’).

Cycling is one mode of transport, popular for commuting in the 1950s and 60s, that has seen a revival. Whilst telephone usage has greatly increased and we have witnessed the birth of mobile phones and the internet in this period – how many have learnt to ‘zoom’ during the Covid lockdown? – we still need to travel, for commuting, shopping and pleasure. But we need to reduce our carbon footprint and cut down the use of the car – when compared to a single occupancy car journey, the local bus (carrying between 30 and 100 passengers) produces half the greenhouse gases – we have only one public bus service, the 96A.

Stephen K. Jones

For further details see Wenvoe Online http:// wenvoe.org.uk/?m=201710 and the Wenvoe History Group ‘Gwenfo Gynt’ series

 

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THE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF PLACE-NAMES

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Many people are fascinated by the meaning and derivation of place-names – so we’ll look at the names that are local to us in this area – before moving on to look at some further afield. The obvious place to start is at our feet – here in Wenvoe. But as you’ll see, that is not as easy as it sounds.

The first part is easy enough. The name ‘Wenvoe’ is the Anglicized form of the Welsh name ‘Gwenfô’. But when we come to attempting to explain the meaning and derivation of this name, scholars have classed it as ‘obscure’. So this is a great start to our series!

The earliest documented forms of the Welsh name go back to the twelfth Century but there isn’t enough evidence to state categorically what the original meaning was. And although the first syllable -‘Gwen-‘ could well mean ‘fair’ – or could be said to be very similar to the word ‘gwaun’ (meaning ‘moorland’) – with the second element -fa- meaning ‘place’ – these interpretations can only be guesswork – and guesswork is a big no-no in the field of place-names!

Many people have asked me why the Welsh name of the village sometimes appears as Gwenfô and at other times as Wenfô. Those of you are Welsh speakers or learners will be familiar with a feature of the Welsh language known as a Mutation. A Mutation is a change in the initial consonant of a word – depending on what word precedes it. Nine consonants can soften (Soft Mutation or Lenition), six of those consonants could also become nasalifed (Nasal Mutation) and three of them could become aspirated (Aspirate Mutation). This is the bane of learners’ lives, but really, it is only the polish on the language – and not mutating a word in a sentence doesn’t usually alter the meaning of that sentence. The consonant ‘g’ is one of the nine that can undergo a Soft Mutation – and the way it does so is by dropping off completely! We see this happening on road signs which translate as ‘Welcome to Wenvoe’ – ‘Croeso i Wenfô’. The preposition ‘i’ (to) causes ‘Gwenfô’ to mutate – ‘i Wenfô’.

Next month – Bro Morgannwg / Vale of Glamorgan

 

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 OUR LINKS TO UKRAINE MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

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It may come as a surprise to many that the city of Donetsk owed its foundation, and in large part its development, to a Welsh businessman, John Hughes from Merthyr Tydfil. The Welsh link was so strong that the city was originally named Hughesovska or Yuzovka, before being renamed Stalino and now Donetsk. Its original streets were even laid out on the same pattern as Merthyr.

Donetsk today is the fifth biggest city in the Ukraine with over a million inhabitants. It has a turbulent recent history. Seized by pro Russian separatist forces in 2014, the city has of course, been a key battleground in recent years and especially so during the current conflict in the Donbas region in the east of the country. Welsh sympathies with Ukraine have been strong in recent times. Ukrainian fans spoke warmly of their welcome and messages of support when they visited Cardiff for the World Cup play off a few weeks ago and many Welsh people, including some in our own village, have stepped up during calls for taking in Ukrainians displaced from their homes.

Perhaps it is not surprising that the Welsh have a particular empathy with people from the Donbas region, especially Donetsk. The Donbas, like South Wales, was founded on heavy industry and Welsh expertise and hard work was at the centre of its development. In the 19th century the Donbas was part of Tsarist Russia. John Hughes, a Cyfarthfa-born industrialist, was in his mid 50s when he came to the notice of the Tsarist Russian government, under Emperor Alexander II. He had built his own foundry in Newport but made his name in developing armour plating for ships. The Tsar wanted his expertise for a naval fortress on the Baltic. It led to an opportunity for Hughes to develop his own works in Russia, which would include a factory for forging railway lines.

Hughes formed the ‘New Russia Company Ltd.’ to raise capital and at the age of 55, he moved to Russia. He sailed with eight ships, carrying not only all the equipment necessary to establish a metal works, but also much of the skilled labour needed. This group of about a hundred ironworkers and miners came overwhelmingly from South Wales. Hughes naturally turned to Welsh workers, who he knew possessed the skills and work ethic required for his daring industrial adventure.

Hughes started by building metal works close to the river Kalmius, at a site near the village of Alexandrovka. During the 1870s, collieries and iron ore mines were sunk, and brickworks and other facilities established to make the isolated works a self-sufficient industrial complex. It was all held under the title ‘Novorussian Society for Coal, Iron and Rails production.’ By the end of the nineteenth century, the works were the largest in the Russian Empire, producing 74% of Russian iron in 1913.

The Welsh workers and their families, despite the cold winters, hot summers and occasional cholera epidemics, settled in Hughesovska and stayed for decades. It was the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 which ended the Hughes family’s connection to the works. The Hughes brothers and almost all their foreign employees returned to Britain. The works were nationalised by the Bolsheviks in 1919 and the town of Hughesovka was renamed “Stalino” in 1924, and then the present name “Donetsk” in 1961. The works survived and prospered despite regime and socio-economic change. We can only hope that this great city will one day be able to return to peace and prosperity

 

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FATHER’S DAY 19th JUNE

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Father’s Day was invented by American Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd who wanted to honour her father, a veteran who had, as a single parent, raised his six children. The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. The first American president to support the concept of Father’s Day was President Calvin Coolidge, but it wasn’t until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation that resulted in the declaration of the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

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