Category: General Interest Articles

Articles of general interest on no particular subject

The Life And Times Of Saint Nicholas

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAINT
NICHOLAS

Should you wish to make a pilgrimage to honour the life of Saint Nicholas you would not be going to Lapland. Firstly because according to popular culture he is still alive and kicking up there in the frozen wastes. Secondly you would be going in entirely the wrong direction. You would need to head south to Bari. No, not Barry, but its almost namesake: the southern Italian port city on the Adriatic.

About the man himself. According to the available literature (ie Wikipedia) he was born in 270AD in Patara on the Mediterranean coast which is now in present day Turkey. His father was an early Christian bishop and following a series of miracles in youth it was inevitable that he would also become a priest. Eventually when a vacancy for a new Bishop of Patara arose, he was the logical shoe in for the role.

Whilst he was Bishop he was credited with various Good Works, the most memorable being the gifts, initially made anonymously, of purses containing gold coins to a father facing penury whose three daughters faced a ruinous future. Which is, children, the reason behind us all gifting presents to each other at Christmas.

But there’s more than just this to his name. A ship he was on was nearly destroyed by a terrible storm but he rebuked the waves. Thus, Nicholas became venerated as the patron saint of sailors and travellers. And in due course also of merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers (hence their Three Golden Balls), toymakers, unmarried people, and students. He died in around 343AD and was buried in Myra which is also in present day Turkey.

And so, back to Bari. Until Italy was unified into one nation in 1861, it was a diverse collection of city states. A rival state was that of Venice, and in the 800s AD, they had stole the body of Saint Mark from Alexandria and this became the focus for highly profitable pilgrimages to Venice. The citizens of Bari were quite jealous of the Venetians and decided that they also needed a Saint for people to come and venerate and generate some revenue.

A group of merchants stole most of his skeleton, ostensibly to prevent it from falling into the hands of an invading Muslim army. They brought them to their hometown, where they are now buried deep underground in that city’s cathedral.

Tony Hodge

Teamwork

TEAMWORK

It is good to read about the various Teams working on behalf of the Community in “Wenvoe What’s On”. I remember working as a member of a Shift Team at British Geon, part of the Distiller’s Plastics Group of companies, based in Sully. It was 1962. I was a student and had a summer vacation job in the Quality Control Laboratory. The adjacent PVC Plant was in continuous operation and samples were brought to the Control Lab. at regular intervals for testing.

The Control Lab. also monitored the quality of production at the Synthetic Rubber Plant, (Hycar Ltd). This plant was at the far end of the site in the Bendricks direction. Staff had the use of a “Butcher’s Boy” bike with a basket to go to the plant to collect samples.

Working relations between the Shift Teams was not the best. The Team arriving on Shift always blamed the Team departing for not leaving the Lab. in a tidy state, e.g. Solvent flasks would be nearly empty, samples waiting to be tested, or more serious no coffee, milk, or sugar left in the rest room.

Alas! A significant problem arose when the Butcher’s Boy Bike developed a puncture. No one felt it was their responsibility to mend the puncture although it meant walking to and from the Synthetic Rubber Plant to collect samples to be brought back to the Lab. A few days later when my team was on the night shift, at about 3.30 a.m. our Shift Leader turned the bike over and started to repair the puncture, “Don’t do it, Roy!” the other team members protested. “If you fix the puncture they will all get the benefit”. With a wry smile Roy replied “Don’t worry lads, I’ll let it down in the morning and no-one will know I fixed it”.

 

Tony Coulthard

A Parent’s Night Before Christmas

A Parent’s Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house.
I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse.
Instructions were studied and we were inspired,
In hopes we could manage “Some Assembly Required”.

The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,
While Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
A kitchen, two bikes, Barbie’s town house to boot!
And, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat….
Let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!
Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
If we can’t get it right, it goes in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear,
But 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,
With each part numbered and every slot named,
So if we failed, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
All over the carpet they were scattered about.
“Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!
Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand.”
“Honey,” said hubby, “you just glued my hand.”

And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
That all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact
To keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
With “assembly required” till morning’s first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
Till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt.
The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin
Before we attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest,
We fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.
But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
“This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.

Tomorrow we’ll cheer, let the holiday ring,
And not have to run to the store for a thing!
We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
For the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!”

Then off to dreamland and sweet repose I gratefully
went,

Though I suppose there’s something to say for those
self-deluded…
I’d forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!

Welsh Traditions 7 Calan Gaeaf

WELSH TRADITIONS 7

CALAN GAEAF.

In this last article in the series of Welsh Traditions we’ll look briefly at the traditions associated with Calan Gaeaf. I’m sure you’ll remember that ‘Calan’ is a Welsh word meaning ‘the first day of’’ – as in Calan Mai (May Day). Calan Gaeaf celebrates the first day of winter – All Hallows Day on 1st November.

Calan Gaeaf originates from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which celebrated the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It was also the end of the ‘slaughtering season’ when animals were slaughtered and their meat prepared for winter. It was indeed the end of the agricultural year – and it was also the beginning of the Celtic Year.

The Celtic calendar divided the year in two – the light season and the dark season and Samhain marked the first day of the dark season – when it was believed that the doors dividing the world of the living from the spirit world were wide open. Noson Calan Gaeaf – All Saints Eve was one of the three ‘Spirit Nights’, (May Day Eve and St John’s Festival Eve being the other two) – when the spirits of the dead and ghosts roamed freely – and were believed to gather in cemeteries, at crossroads and on stiles (for some reason!!). Some of these ghosts took on particular characterisations and two of the most common were said to be the headless White Lady and the Tail-less Black Sow. Tales of the White Lady are known to go back to Celtic times.

As with other celebrations which mark certain times of the year, it is an opportunity to bring some colour and revelry into the lives of the people, whose everyday lives were often hard – lacking in colour and lacking in just plain fun. Swedes were often carved and placed alongside roads and footpaths, with a burning candle inside. This is obviously the precursor of today’s practice of pumpkin carving. Bonfires were usually lit – on a hilltop if that were possible – and groups of local youths would compete to see whose bonfire burnt the longest. People would dance around the fire with apples and potatoes roasted in the embers. Ghost stories and traditional folk tales would entertain the cavorters – especially the children who enjoyed being frightened with tales of the White Lady and the Black Sow!

Much superstition was also attributed to this time of year especially in a fortune telling capacity. The main questions to be answered were who was to be married and who was to meet an untimely death – and there were various ways of finding the answer. In some areas, every person would write his or her name on a pebble and throw it into the ashes of the dying fire. In the morning everyone would turn up to search for the pebbles – and if one was missing, that person was believed to be facing death in the near future. Another means of foretelling death in some areas was to run around the church three times before midnight, and then look through the keyhole

to see whose faces would be shown. These people were the people doomed to die during the coming year. In the Llandysul area three bowls would be filled – one with soil, one with water containing sediment and one with clean water. The participant would be blindfolded and would be asked to touch one of the bowls. The first prophesied death before marriage, the second a troubled marriage and the third a successful marriage.

It was popular for young, unmarried girls to peel an apple or an orange and throw the peel over their shoulder, in the hope that it would form the initial letter of their true love. In Montgomeryshire a mash of nine ingredients would be cooked, which included potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, parsnips, leeks, pepper and salt and mixed with milk. In the centre a wedding ring was placed and each participant would taste a spoonful of the mash. The person lucky enough to find the ring was certain of an imminent marriage! In other areas girls were instructed to grow a rose in the shape of a large hoop, go through the circle three times prior to cutting a rose, and placing it under their pillows. This allowed them to see into the future. Another means of seeing the future was for unmarried women to darken their rooms during Noson Calan Gaeaf, and then look into the mirror to see the face of the future groom. If a skull appeared in the mirror, the unmarried woman was meant to die within the year. Young lads were not forgotten either. The boys were instructed to cut 10 leaves of ivy, throw one away and put the other nine under their pillows. Apparently, this allowed the boys to see the future, and if they touched the ivy then they would see witches in their sleep.

Once the bonfire had died down, the children were encouraged to run to their homes. Traditional verses were chanted stating that the White Lady or the Black Sow would catch the last child and carry him or her away. This was one way of getting the children to go straight home!! In some areas, men would roam the local area – dressed up in the guise of one or other of the feared apparitions. Once safely back home, the children – and adults – would play games such as apple bobbing or the more dangerous version of trying to bite a dangling apple which also had a candle attached!

As at Christmas and May Day celebrations groups of youngsters would walk around the villages singing traditional songs. In Glamorgan, the boys dressed in girls’ clothing and girls dressed in boys’ clothing. In other parts of Wales, the singers would blacken their faces and wear fleeces on their shoulders.

Calan Gaeaf falls on the eve of All Souls Day on 2nd November of course – but nowadays both festivals have merged to become Halloween – with the bonfires lit a couple of days later on Guy Fawkes Day. Unfortunately, today, our traditions and customs have been overtaken by the American ‘Trick or Treat’ activities.

Ann M. Jones

A Brief History Of Barry To 1939

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BARRY TO 1939

We all go to Barry, at least now and again, but how often do we pause to consider how the town of almost 60,000 people today became developed in a relatively short space of time? This chronology has been (mostly) taken from the Souvenir to commemorate the granting of Borough Status to the then urban district of Barry by King George V1

6,000 BC to 1881AD – Not much happened, apart from some hunter gathering, Iron Age settlements, a bit of farming, a Roman dude building himself a beach side villa at the Knap and in the 6th century Saint Baruc being drowned off Flat Holme and buried on Barry Island.

1882 – Population of Barry is just 478 persons.

1883 – A Bill to promote the Barry Dock and Railway to counter the dominance of Cardiff docks for the export of coal was prepared.

1884 – The Bill was laid before Parliament, Royal Assent given and the first sod of the new Barry Dock was cut.

1886 – A Police Station is built and Gas and Water works were inaugurated.

1888 – A rudimentary form of administration (a Local Board) was established; the first trains ran on the new railways to Hafod and Cardiff.

1889 – The first Barry Dock was opened. Gas was used for the first time in Barry.

1890 – Barry Post Office opened as did the Barry Waterworks.

1891 – Bathing places established at Whitmore Bay.

1892 – First free library established.

1894 – First Urban District Council elections held.

1895 – First meeting of the new Urban District Council with Mr J C Meggitt as Chairman.

1896 – Romilly Park given to the town by Romilly Estate.

1897 – Vale of Glamorgan Railway opened to passenger traffic.

1898 – Number 2 dock opened.

1900 – Barry Accident Hospital established.

1902 – Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish American philanthropist gave £8,000 for a new library.

1905 – Bathing Houses at Whitmore Bay opened and the council took control of the beaches.

1906 – New library opened.

1907 – New public offices opened.

1910 – Plans approved for the construction of sea wall and esplanade at Whitmore Bay.

1913 – Barry is now the largest coal exporting port in the world.

1914 – War declared and Whitmore Bay ordered to be closed.

1917 – First contingent of USA troops to land in UK disembarked at Barry.

1919 – First steps taken to establish a War Memorial fund.

1920 – National Eisteddfod of Wales held in Romilly Park.

1922 – Great Western Railway took over the Barry Docks and Railway Company.

1924 – Shelters and shops at Whitmore Bay opened

1926 – Cold Knap swimming pool opened.

1928 – Barry is provided with mains electricity.

1930 – Barry is supplied with water from the new Taf Fechan reservoirs.

1932 – Barry Memorial Hall is opened.

1939 was a momentous year. It was the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first dock, and despite war having just been declared, the Great and the Good gathered in a lavish celebration over four days with parades and trumpet fanfares etc to commemorate King George VI granting Borough status to the town of Barry.

Tony Hodge

 

 

 

Discovering St Donat’s

DISCOVERING ST DONAT’S

 

St Donat’s Castle is an intriguing place and there are plenty of opportunities to tour and visit. The site has a proud history from its use as an Iron Age fortress, home of the Celtic Chieftain Caradog, to its purchase and development by the American newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

As home to the world-renowned Atlantic College, alumni include our First Minister, Eluned Morgan and a host of other notables, even recently including none other than Princess Leonor, the crown princess of Spain.

Bernard Shaw described the castle after Hearst’s reconstruction as ‘what God would have built if he had had the money’. Hearst rarely visited St Donats. When he did, he often took his large entourage for drinks to the Old Swan Inn, Llantwit Major. Among his guests were the actors Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, in addition to politicians including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George and a young John F. Kennedy, who visited with his parents.

Hearst was a colourful character who attracted strong opinions. President Theodore Roosevelt called him “an unspeakable blackguard with all the worst faults of the corrupt and dissolute monied man”. Winston Churchill, who stayed as Hearst’s guest at St Donat’s described him as ‘a grave simple child – with no doubt a nasty temper – playing with the most costly toys… two magnificent establishments, two charming wives (a reference to Hearst’s affair with Hollywood star Marion Davies a regular visitor to St Donat’s), complete indifference to public opinion’.

Hearst loved to put on a show. His Fourth of July celebrations in 1934 for example, included a fireworks display of such scale and extravagance that the coastguard complained it was confusing shipping in the Bristol Channel. Whether Hurst would have approved of these opportunities for all of us to get up close and personal with St Donat’s we’ll never know.

In term time you can enjoy a visit to one of the monthly Café Concerts held at UWC Atlantic Art Centre.

 

Performed by international students, you can enjoy a range of classical productions and in turn support them in developing their public performing skills, as they prepare for exam recitals. Concerts typically last for around 45 minutes and include a serving of tea, coffee and a biscuit – all included in the ticket price. Any profits go towards the UWC Atlantic educational charity. The cost is £6.29.

A good way to explore the history of the castle is to join a private guided tour. Tours take 90 minutes and including Afternoon Tea, cost £32.95 per person. The Afternoon Tea of sandwiches, cakes and refreshments is served in either the Dining Hall or Glassroom. You will hear more about the 19th century restoration by coal magnate Morgan Stuart Williams but it is likely to be the tales about the development of St Donats under the eccentric ownership of Randolph Hearst, which will be the most captivating.

The two-day Christmas Fayre, will be held on Saturday 30th November and Sunday 1st December. Over 70 local food, drink and craft traders will be exhibiting, and you can also take the opportunity to wander in the 12th century castle, arts centre and gardens. The event starts at 10.00 am and closes at 4.00pm and costs £13 per car and £3 on foot. Parking is on fields or in areas on campus a short walk from the castle so appropriate footwear is advised.

 

 

All About Crimestoppers

ALL ABOUT CRIMESTOPPERS

What’s On regularly provides a short update on crime in the village. Fortunately Wenvoe crime data, which can be found on the police statistics website, reveals that we have a relatively low crime rate. Occasionally however we may find it necessary to report local crime. Contact details for the local police, including the Wenvoe PCSO, Dave Chadock can be found on page 2, along  with information about Crimestoppers. Although most people have heard of Crimestoppers,  many know little about it.

Crimestoppers provides an opportunity for people to report crimes anony￾mously and these reports are then passed on to the police. It is important  to note that Crimestoppers is not the police but an independent charity  working to help communities. You can contact Crimestoppers to report  crimes with a free telephone call (0800 555 111) or by completing an  online form. If the information you give leads to an arrest, or is of signifi￾cant use, you may be eligible to claim a cash reward of up to £1,000. The  Crimestoppers national website provides more information.

The key to the success of Crimestoppers is that you can report crimes with confidence that your report  will remain anonymous. Indeed it’s rare for Crimestoppers to trumpet its successes because it can’t risk  compromising the guarantee of anonymity that it provides to everyone who gets in contact. No records  are kept of the personal details, phone numbers or computer IP addresses of anyone who makes contact.

As Crimestoppers is not the police there are some things that the organisation cannot process. These  include fly-tipping, scam e-mails or phone calls, noise complaints, benefit fraud, dumped or untaxed  vehicles, minor driving offences or missing people. The website provides advice on what to do in  these circumstances.

Crimestoppers has been a huge success. Since it began in 1988, it has received more than 2.2 million  actionable calls, resulting in more than 150,000 arrests and charges, more than £140 million worth of  stolen goods recovered and more than £367 million worth of illegal drugs seized. Between April 2022  and March 2023, Crimestoppers sent police forces over 196,000 anonymous crime reports – that’s 537  per day and 22 per hour. Some 60% of the reports sent to police forces are drugs-related. Typically,  they’re sightings of dealers in cars or on street corners, details of cannabis factories, or intelligence  about so-called county lines networks – the city-based gangs that supply drugs to rural areas and sea￾side towns. Crimestoppers also has a Most Wanted UK-wide gallery with images, which since 2005  has resulted in more than 5,000 arrests.

Crimestoppers actually began in Alburquerque, New Mexico in 1976. Its UK origins appear to have  been linked to the October 1985 London riots. When PC Keith Blakelock was murdered at the Broad￾water Farm Estate, the police appealed for information, stating that people knew who had been re￾sponsible but were frightened of coming forward. This according to the UK website, led in January  1988, to the founding of the Community Action Trust (CAT), by Michael (later Lord) Ashcroft and  business partners. The CAT was a phone line where people called and anonymously provided infor￾mation about crime, which was then forwarded to the police. By 1995 it was re-named Crimestoppers  Trust and expanded to the whole of the UK.

There is also however a counter claim that Crimestoppers originated in the town of Great Yarmouth in  1983. Mike Cole, then a Detective Inspector with the Norfolk Constabulary, got the idea from a police  visit to the US. Inspired by what was happening in the US, Crimestoppers was set up in the town, with  the agreement of the police, financial support from the town’s Woolworth store and publicity from the  local Yarmouth Mercury newspaper. Crimestoppers encouraged people to pass information to police  anonymously without fear of reprisal. Informants called a dedicated telephone number at Great Yar￾mouth Police Station. A reward was handed out in brown envelopes for information received, often in  dark alleys.

Welsh Traditions 6 – Medi – Harvest

WELSH TRADITIONS 6

MEDI – HARVEST

The Welsh word ‘medi’ is a verb meaning ‘to reap’ or ‘to harvest’ and as a proper noun, ‘Medi’, is the name of the ninth month of the year, namely September – the month when the crops are harvested, of course. The English word ‘harvest’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘haerfest’ – and it was used as the name of the third season until around the 16th Century when it was superseded by the name ‘Autumn’.

There are a number of customs and traditions associated with the harvest season here in Wales. It was, of course, the most important period in the agricultural year – and before the dawn of mechanisation, all the neighbouring farmers and farm hands would gather at each farm in turn to see to the harvest. In Welsh, there is a name for this practice of community aid – ‘cymhortha’ – a word based on the noun ‘cymorth’ meaning ‘help, aid, assistance’. The same thing happened at other busy times in the year – sheep shearing, lambing, crop planting and so on.

The custom known as ‘Y Gaseg Fedi’ (The Harvest Mare) was an important element at the end of harvesting. The name ‘Y Gaseg Fedi’ was given to the very last sheaf of corn to be cut. The sheaf was divided into three by the senior farmhand and plaited. The reapers would then take it in turn to throw their scythe or sickle at the sheaf to see who could cut it down. The person who succeeded would recite the following, traditional lines (translated here)

‘I tracked her,

In the late evening I followed her,

I’ve caught her, I’ve caught her!’

The other reapers would respond –

‘What did you catch?’

and the reply would be –

‘A hag! A hag! A hag’!

‘Gwrach’ (Hag) was another name given to the Harvest Mare.

At the end of the corn harvest, the farmer’s wife would organise a Harvest Supper for the neighbours who had helped with the harvesting. There was always plenty of food and locally brewed beer. In some areas, a sweet dish called ‘whipod’ was served. It consisted of a mixture of rice, white bread, dried fruit and treacle. In nearby Cardiganshire in 1760, a farmer reported that the feast following the reaping of his rye by about 50 neighbours consisted of ‘a brewing pan of beef and mutton, with a range and potatoes and pottage, and pudding of wheaten flour, about 20 gallons of light ale and over twenty gallons of beer’. After the meal, there was usually dancing to the music of the fiddle, with a plentiful supply of beer and tobacco.

It was seen as an honour in Wales to be the one to bring down the caseg fedi, and the man who succeeded in doing so was often rewarded. The winning reaper was faced with the task of carrying the Harvest Mare into the house – making certain that it was kept perfectly dry. But this gave rise to great revelry as the women present attempted to drench it with water before it reached the house. If he’d been successful in keeping the sheaf dry, he would be given an honoured seat at the Harvest Supper table with plenty of ale to drink. But if he’d failed to keep it dry, he would have to sit at the far end of the table, have no ale to drink and suffer the taunts of his fellow diners throughout the meal!

The ‘caseg fedi’ may have represented the fertility of the harvest condensed into the final sheaf and it was believed that a spirit resided in the last sheaf of grain to be harvested. In one part of Wales, it was recorded that seed from it was mixed with the seed at planting time ‘in order to teach it to grow’. In other parts of Britain, this last sheaf was buried on Plough Monday, the first Monday after Epiphany (6 January), so that it could work its magic on the growing corn.

Once the grain harvest proper and the Harvest Supper were over, the women could begin gleaning, i.e. scouring the fields for the leftover ears of corn which they could claim and keep for themselves.

The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet

People have been giving thanks for the harvest since farming first began in the Neolithic era. Today, it has become a Christian festival of Thanksgiving and is celebrated in most chapels, churches and schools – usually on the first Sunday following the Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox. However, the traditions outlined above are far older than Christianity and this Christian assembly only became popular in Victorian times when, in 1843, a Reverend R. S. Hawker had the idea of holding a special service on the first Sunday in October in his Cornwall parish. The idea caught on and soon it became the custom to decorate churches with fruit, vegetables and flowers and to sing the harvest hymns written for the occasion.

Harvest has now become a time when people come together to give thanks for our own good fortune, to donate food to the needy, and to raise money for worthy causes. Thus Harvest still commemorates not just the gathering of the fruits of the Earth, but also the community cooperation that exists to extend a helping hand to people less fortunate than ourselves.

Ann M. Jones

The Vale Foodbank

 

THE VALE FOODBANK

As people continue to suffer with the cost of living many continue to turn to the Foodbank for help. This help is for those who find themselves in emergencies whether they are working or in receipt of benefits. As time progresses and numbers of these seeking help has increased the donations now are stretched to fulfil what is needed. Below are examples of what can help. Alternatively, money can be donated which is used to buy items that run out. As the school holidays begin the demands are expected to rise as children will not have access to school meals

Here in Wenvoe I feel privileged to deliver our donations each Thursday to the Warehouse in Barry, who in turn services all Foodbank outlets in the Vale. I am pleased to take a car boot full each week and also money people have donated. However, I am aware each week of the depleted stock, and hear the volunteers concerns about the difficulties they are now experiencing.

If you would like to donate there is a box in the church porch which is emptied regularly to ensure the security of the goods. Alternatively if you have any queries please contact me Jude Billingham on 07516112897.

 

Ideas for donations:

Tinned meat for hot meals or sandwiches

Tinned vegetables and potatoes

Fruit juice or squash

Tinned fruit

Breakfast cereals

Long life milk

Pasta sauce

Tinned tomatoes

Treats: eg. crisps or biscuits

Toiletries including women’s essentials

Coffee, tea

 

 

The Cape Horners Of Copperopolis

THE CAPE HORNERS OF COPPEROPOLIS

For many years on the approach to Swansea along Fabian Way, there stood a dilapidated pub with a sign depicting a square rigged sailing ship and the name “The Cape Horner”. The name links to Cape Horn being the tip of south America (Tierra del Fuego) that juts into the south Atlantic and surely some of the most mountainous and stormy seas on the planet.

In nautical history, Cape Horners were sailing ships that plied their trade through those waters to carry copper ore from the Chilean port of Valparasio to the smelting furnaces of Copperopolis (after having first taken a cargo of Welsh coal to South America). Such vessels and their intrepid crews would have taken more than a year to make the journey from Swansea to Chile and back.

What follows is based on an article from the Swansea Museum entitled “The Dangers of Sailing”

At the other end of the world to us, Cape Horn is a desolate and fearsome place, the most dangerous part of a voyage to bring Copper ore to Swansea. Bitter winds blow ceaselessly from west to east, and massive green waves up to thirty metres high roll across the ocean, so strong they can smash a ship to pieces, in storms that rage all winter long. The men who sailed those seas were the toughest and most skilled seamen. Their life was hard, but their pride and fellowship were great. It was the Copper trade with Chile – the terrible journey round Cape Horn, and the perils of the voyage home – which made Swansea’s ships and sailors famous. To be called a Cape Horner was the highest accolade a seaman could earn. Few ports had more Cape Horners than Swansea in those days

It was a dangerous, harsh and harrowing life. Men who survived it were tough, rugged, and brave. It could take many weeks to sail round the Horn as the trepid sailors incrementally tacked their vessels into the face of raging stormy seas to make westward progress. The whole voyage, from Swansea to Chile and back again typically took a year or more. Crammed into the dark, dank forecastle, or crews’ quarters aboard ship, fifteen or more men slept in wooden bunks with mattresses filled with straw. In rough weather everything got wet and it was a place for

A long hard battle with the elements. As the copper trade ships drew near to Cape Horn from the Atlantic Ocean the crew prepared for the battle ahead. The ship had to be in prime condition to survive the vicious wind and waves. They would check the sails for tears and damage, and the rigging for frayed or broken ropes.

Round the Horn with icy sails and rigging. Sailors, working high in the rigging, would have clung for their very lives to ice-covered sails and ropes with frozen hands, battered by wind and waves. Terrible accidents happened. Men fell into the sea, or onto the deck far below, and massive waves could wash them overboard, and snap ships’ masts like matchsticks. Other hazards lurked, such as thick fogs that came drifting off the land and blocked out sight and sound. The rocks around that wild coastline, and worse still, icebergs, could sink a ship and drown its crew. Winter was the worst time to make the voyage. Summer weather was not so bad, with lighter, warmer wind, more gentle waves, and then the sailors could see the wild beauty of the Cape Horn coastline.

The living was rough. Fresh food did not last long. For most of the voyage, all the men could eat was salted meat, ships biscuits, dried beans, potatoes, onions and maybe fish, if they had time – or luck – to catch some. Rats nibbled the stores, and sea water soaked the ship, sometimes putting the galley fire out and then nothing could be cooked. Sailors needed a sense of humour and a strong stomach to be able to eat the food, even the “hard tack” biscuits had maggots or weevils in and were best eaten with eyes closed.

Homeward Bound – eventually. If they survived – and many did not – then as the homeward bound ship, passing the Falkland Islands, would run before westerly winds and waves that carried them unhindered for thousands of miles … and home.

Tony Hodge

 

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