This is a
community website for Grangetown in Cardiff, highlighting people, business, community
activities, local news and things to do in the area...and linking other websites.
We live locally; this is a voluntary project - in connection with Grangetown
Community Concern - completely free and not a profit or money-making
or political initiative.
The idea is to create a community resource, which can also act as a window
for those outside the immediate area.
E-mail us if you'd
like to help or to send any contributions for inclusion. Also if you'd
like to be included FREE in our DIRECTORY, FILL IN
YOUR DETAILS ON OUR E-FORM or email us.
COMMUNITY
NEWS Tribute to ex-head teacher + Parents anger at nursery
merger plans |
| DIARY DATES:
Thursday 2nd July: Grangetown Health & Wellbeing Action Group
Grangetown Library, Havelock Place, 2pm. First meeting to establish
group to take forward some of the health issues in Grangetown. Including
looking at generating a fund to run activities and projects to improve
the health and wellbeing of local residents. All welcome.
Sunday July 5th-Sat July 11th: St Paul's Heritage Festival
A week of activities to celebrate the heritage of St
Paul's Church and the people of Grangetown. Photographs, displays,
local schools art competition, display of local artists in the church.
View the parish registers. Refreshments. Grand opening by the Lord Mayor
on Sunday 5th 7pm, with items sung by St. Teilo's Church In Wales High
School Choir - Tickets £2.50. Festival open Monday (10am-8pm), Tuesday
(10am-6pm); Wednesday, 10am-8pm plus 10am Eucharist using the Book of
Common Prayer 1662, 12.30pm free organ recital by David Butler, 6-7.30pm
Youth Club; 7.30pm family BBQ **Burgers & Hot Dogs 50p* Thursday 10am-8pm
,12.30pm free organ recital By Ben Rabjohns. Also displaying work of local
artists Friday 10th Open 10am –8pm Eucharist @ 6pm For more details or
any local artists wishing to display work contact 20 228707.
Monday 6th July: Monday walk, meet Channel View Leisure Centre,
10am. A new weekly walk organised by the Cardiff Walking For Health Scheme.
Local walk lasting about 45 minutes through The Marl, Grangemore Park
and Dunleavy Drive, followed by free tea.
Saturday 11th July: St Paul's Summer Fayre, opens at 12pm. Refreshments,
games, bouncy castle, face painting, prize draw presentation of art competition
prizes, dance display by St Paul's School and more.
Tuesday 21st July: Grangetown PACT, St Paul's church hall, 7pm.
Police and councillors-hosted meeting discusses community policing
priorities with local residents.
Tuesday 21st-Friday 24th July: Soccer School run by the Bay
Church for 6-11 year olds in St Cuthberts School, Letton Road, Atlantic
Wharf. It runs from 10.30am-2.30pm, cost £10 all week. The day will include
coaching of football skills, football matches, a Bible talk and 1uiz and
other games. On the Friday evening there be an award ceremony followed
by a BBQ for the whole family. To book, or for more details, email
Wednesday 5th August: National Play Day, Pentre Gardens, 11am-3pm.
Summer play activities for children.
Saturday 5th September: North Grangetown Community Fete and Fun Day, Courtmead Gardens. Final date and details to be confirmed.
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Church celebrates heritage
St Paul's Church in Paget Street is holding a week-festival to celebrate its history.
Father Ben Andrews explained the reason behind it. "It was after visiting
St. Joseph's Church Cwmaman in the Cynon valley that inspired us to look at
putting on a heritage festival," he said. "Although St. Paul's is only
119 years old, it has an interesting history and the community of Grangetown
has an interesting heritage that we wanted to celebrate. "And also to bring to
community together, so that we can value the past, embrace the present and discover
the future."
The listed church building was put up for sale last year, with the parish
facing mounting maintenance costs. There is a long term hope of a new "downsized"
church and hall being built. St Paul's was conscecrated by the Bishop of Llandaff
in 1890. It was built on an acre of land given five years earlier by Lord Windsor,
who also donated £4,000 to build the church's 75ft-long knave. The building
was aimed at accommodating a congretation of 600. The congegration initially
came under the parish of St John's in Canton and first met in Vanstone's Loft,
over a stable in North Street. When the Grangetown National School (renamed
St Paul's Church-in-Wales Primary in 1963) opened in Bromsgrove Street in 1864,
the Sunday services moved there. In 1879, Lady Mary Windsor Clive had given £500
for the building of the Iron Mission Church, known as "The Iron Room". It was
here that a service was held in March 1889, ahead of the laying of a foundation
stone by Lord Windsor. Around 200 then sat down to lunch at the school.
Full details of the festival are in our events section above.
There will be displays by
local artists and schoolchildren, as well as photos and a chance to view parish
records, in the church from July 6th-10th. The church is also hosting special
services, organ recitals and choral music.
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Sun shines again on Carnival Day!
The 2009 Grangetown
Carnival was enjoyed by hundreds of local people on a sunny Saturday 20th June,
with displays, stalls and music in Grange Gardens.
The fun started with the annual parade from Courtmead Gardens, off Hereford
Street, with this year's theme of pirates and sea creatures enthusiastically
taken up by children from local schools, as well as teachers and parents who
took part. It certainly provided some colourful and imaginative costumes. There
were shields awarded, with the top prize given to Grangetown Nursery School,
who really pushed the boat - if not the pirate ship out - for the occasion.
Music was provided the always popular Welsh Piping Society, along Cornwall Street,
Clare Road and Corporation Road into the park.
There was again a good turn-out of local groups with stalls, ranging from food
and refreshments, plants, jewellery and crafts, as well as an exhibition of
old photos from Grangetown History Society, and organisations ranging from St
John Ambulance to Lower Grangetown Partnership represented. Displays included
dance and karate by local children. Grangetown Community Concern, who organised
the event, would again like to thank all volunteers and all who supported the
festival this year.
Unfortunately, bad weather led to the postponement of the Inter-Schools Sports
Day on Wednesday at the Leckwith Athletics Stadium. It's hoped a new date will
be rearranged in the next few weeks.
Grangetown
History Society members Rita Spinola, Ian Clarke, Zena Mabbs and Peter Ranson
at the launch of the book
Book on old Grange shops hits shelves
This 44-page book costs £4.99, plus postage and packing (UK is £1.50 and Australia
and Canada £2.50).
The book was officially launched on Friday 19th June, 2009 at The Grange Pub,
Penarth Road, as part of Grangetown Festival Week. Copies sold well on the night,
with entertainment provided by acapella group Sound Women. There were messages
of support from Lorraine Barrett AM and Alun Michael MP, who both praised the
group for their work in keeping Grangetown heritage and interest in the community
alive. Copies are now available to buy from at Clark's Pie Shop, Martyn Young's
Fruit and Veg Shop, or you can telephone Rita Spinola 02920 345962, Zena Mabbs
01446 421674 email or Ken Lloyd 02920
843209 for postal orders. Or
email us here and we will pass on details
Chairperson Zena Mabbs said: "This book is one of the projects undertaken
this year by the group and everyone is delighted at the amazing response to
its publication, nearly 100 copies were already ordered before printing! "The cost of publication has been made possible because of the generosity
of the local community and past residents now living in Penarth, Barry and other
areas of Cardiff. It is hoped this book will awaken an interest in the residents
of Grangetown in the history of the area where they live and heighten their
awareness of their heritage." Zena said she wanted to place on record her appreciation
of the help, suppport and loyalty received from all the members of the
Grangetown Local History Group, it has helped to make her first year as chairperson
both delightful and rewarding.
The Society thanks local people who have sponsored the publication, as well
as J R Freeman. The book includes stories of different shops from both Lower
and Upper Grangtown, as well as a street directory of shops from 1907, and of
course, plenty of photos. More details of the Society's activities - and Grangetown
history - on the history pages.
Grangetown History Society
has published Old Grangetown Shops and Memories, which is a collection
of photos and stories about local stores people remember.
The Sound Women group sing at the launch at The Grange
Parking impact of new stadium
The first parking scheme is expected by October, with eventually enforcement
becoming a responsibility of the council too.
Councillors David Morgan and Francesca Montemaggi told North Grangetown
Residents' Association's meeting of the plans, although they won't be in place
in time for the new stadium's opening. The meeting heard of issues with residents
suffering a parking pressure "sandwich" from the Millennium Stadium
at one end and the soon-to-be new football and rugby stadium off Sloper Road,
as well as commuters and shoppers using streets. North Grangetown Residents
Association has joined the Federation Of Stadium Communities and any residents
or groups from the City Gardens and Leckwith areas who would be interested in
jointly raising match parking/traffic issues, are asked to contact
the association. It has already successfully organised street petitions
to extend residents' parking to Allerton Street and Sussex Street, but said
unless a wider approach was examined, streets on the fringes would suffer.
An Association spokesman said: "There is a patchwork of residents' parking
in the area, which brings pressures on adjoining streets - and even parts of
streets - which miss out. There are pressure points, heightened by commuters
and on match-days not only involving Cardiff City, but events at the Millennium
Stadium. Cardiff sells itself as a city able to host big events, but it seems
to be behind far smaller towns, for example Shrewsbury, Darlington and Doncaster,
who have grasped the issues generated by holding sporting events at new stadiums
and the impact on local communities. We need to work on the long term issues
of encouraging public transport but also a proper approach to ease problems
for residents living nearest the city."
Meanwhile, residents at the meeting raised issues of vandalism, dog-fighting
in Courtmead Gardens and motorbike nuisance. Councillors were also looking into
complaints that white bag collections on Friday of food waste were too late
in the day and causing problems with seagulls and worries over smell and vermin.
Councillors
are hoping for controlled residents' parking in the north Grangetown and City
Gardens areas, in response to the opening of the new Cardiff City stadium opening.
The area around Virgil Street and Powderham Drive is in line for all-week residents'
parking, while the whole North Grangetown area could also benefit eventually.
Grangetown Nursery flies the green flag
Grangetown Nursery School
has won the British Council's International School award for its continuing commitment
to the environment.
Jan Comrie, head teacher, said: "We are all delighted
with this latest award which proves what we have set out to achieve – sustainability,
celebrating diversity and working with local and global communities to enhance
the curriculum and broaden the horizons of local children and improve teachers’
skills.
"The children, parents and team at our school are a strong and supportive
family who reflect the different people who make up the international community
of our city."
She thanked staff and said the culturally diverse range of children in the
school gave an opportunity to host international days, celebrate Divali and
Islamic festivals, as well as forging links with schools in France, Bulgaria
and Italy via the global network.
"We are also working closely with a school in Gambia with one of our team
regularly visiting to assist educational projects and development,” said Ms
Corrie.
The school is already accredited with Green Flag status as part of the Eco
schools programme.
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Every month we
select a "photo of the month" to help showcase the work of the digital
photographers from the Grangetown Flckr Group. The competition is just
a bit of fun and is now into its second year!
Our choice for June/July is by Sean Kisby. Cornwall Street,
in black and white, which is composed to show a man with bags, balancing
nicely with a passing cyclist. Sean also has a colour version but thought
the black and white was more 'gritty'.
Incidentally, the South Cardiff Enterprise Centre in Clare Road is running
a photographic competition until the end of August. Bring in your digi
camera or memory stick and they will print off the entry - which shows
something of Butetown or Grangetown. The winner receives £50.
Share your photos of Grange For those with an interest in photography, there is a photo-group website for people to share their images of Grangetown.
The Grangetown Flickr
Group was created to allow people to add their photos of Grangetown
places, people and events. "To be honest my prime motive was to
put Grangetown on the map," says webmaster Sean Kisby.
What's good about the photos there so far, is there's a mix of people
and places - the "disappearing" and sadly "disappeared"
landmarks of Grangetown, as well as some more off-beat and domestic
shots.
If you'd like to contribute, follow the link at www.flickr.com/groups/grangetown
Past months winners
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"All the furniture we owned was piled onto this handcart. For the first few weeks of living there we slept on the bare floor boards. At that time along the whole length of the street houses were in various stages of construction." Jack Payne with memories of 1937, when South Clive Street was first built and who lived there. Read the full story in our history pages. Do you remember my uncle's shop?
I was born in 1936 in the room above
the shop 45 Paget Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, it was on the corner of
Stockland Street. We didn't live permanently there but I did go to school
for sometime during the war, the shop keeper was my uncle, Charles Eatch.
Does anyone reading this remember anything about us? I returned there
a few years ago and the shop has gone, it is now just residential. I have
some sketchy memories of various times there.
Bay women in the 1920s and '30s?
I'm doing an MA in Women's Studies at Ruskin College. For my dissertation
project, I'd like to find out more about the lives of women who were
living in Butetown in the 1920s and 30s. I'd like to get in contact
with Welsh women who married seamen from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia
as well as their daughters (and sons!) who might have memories of their
mothers' lives. I'm particularly interested in the kind of work women
did both in the home and outside and also in their activities in the
wider community. If you are able to help, please contact me.
Grangetown History Society
Grangetown Local History Society
have taken delivery of new equipment which will go towards their new oral
history project.
Members will be collecting memories and stories from local people
over the next few months, to keep a permanent record. These will include
some memories of old Freeman's cigar factory workers, ahead of the plant
closing this autumn.
Deputy chairman Rita Spinola is pictured with the new laptop and MP3
recorder, most of it paid for by a £500 grant via Voluntary Action Cardiff,
with the help of Thoria Mohammed of South Grangetown Communities First.
As well as storing audio files of memories, the computer will also
help the society store photos more easily.
Meanwhile, the society still has a small supply of copies of Old
Grangetown calendars, from 1997-2005. They cost 50p each plus postage
and packing. Please ring 01446 421674 to order.
Ken Lloyd has begun collecting information for our archives about
the Freeman's cigar factory which is closing down in 2009. If anyone
has any stories, photos, memorabilia etc., they wish to share with the
Grangetown Local History Society, then this will be carefully copied
and returned.
We'd particularly like to hear from old Freeman workers for our new
oral history project. Rita Spinola will soon begin recording memories
using equipment purchased from funding we have been successful in obtaining
with the assistance of Thoria Mohammed. T
We are also compiling a book of stories, memories and photos of Grangetown
shops. We're grateful for those people who have also donated towards
this project and if anyone is able to help towards sponsorship, please
contact the society.
Zena Mabbs, Chairperson.
PHOTO: Grangetown war hero remembered
Thanks to Elaine Long, who sent us a
photo (left) showing a memorial to a Grangetown hero from World War One.
It was erected in Cathays Cemetery to remember John Cleal, a stoker
on HMS Iphigenia, who died of his injuries on a hospital ship in April
1918, the day after an attempt to sink three ships filled with concrete
at Zeebrugge.
Cleal, 24, had served in the Navy for six years and it is believed
he lived in both Clive Street and Holmesdale Street. He had postponed
his wedding to volunteer to take part in the raid. Eight Victoria Crosses
were awarded, but the casualty rate was high with more than 200 killed
and a further 300 wounded.
Elaine's grandfather Tom Williams, who once owned the newsagents on
the Square in Holmesdale Street, and who lived in Amherst Street, was
involved in the committee as treasurer which organised the original
memorial. He is pictured third from the left at the graveside, along
with (from left) George Edwards (asst secretary); G.Hobbs (president);
Tom Williams, F.H.Cornish (chairman); and Mr Mossford (sculptor).
The memorial and grave had in recent years got into disrepair until
it was restored by the Friends of Cathays Cemetery last year. There's
more on our history page.
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Thanks to those of you already interested in our Grangetown
Local History section, as we continue to build up features and photos
about the area - divided into three sections, the early
and Victorian Grangetown; wartime Grangetown
and a a section looking at sport, transport, local
life and entertainment, as well as stories from the post-war era.
Thanks to the Grangetown Local History Society (who meet the first Wednesday
of the month, Grangetown Library, 2.15pm), we've published some photos
from their archives - including some "then and now" images. We will
hopefully re-tell some stories, include some interesting facts about the area.
It's been interesting already to hear from as far afield as the US, Canada
and Australia from people with family roots in Grangetown! So Email
your memories, stories and old photos
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Sites we like!
There are links to a lot of local websites
at the bottom - and more in the directory. If you'd like to be included,
please email us.
A few we came across recently, took the eye. First Cardiffians,
which is dedicated to assembling photos of old Cardiff - or old buildings
and landmarks in different districts across the city. A very promising
heritage site, which we're missing.
There's also a fantastic zoomable map on the recently created Grangetown
Map site, which homes in on local landmarks and shops too on the flash,
animated street plan. A good tech-y feature and if they extend it across
the city, it would be an excellent tool for locals and visitors.
Also, there's a very detailed and exhaustive Cardiff
Pubs website, a real labour of love and very informative.
You may already be familiar with writer Peter Finch's excellent Real
Cardiff series, which is a miscellany of prose, poetry and opinion
from journeys around the city. He also has Real
Cardiff web pages, which give a flavour of the books.
Among a few local community sites is one for Old St Mellons, being carefully put together by Rhys Gregory. Good to see
more springing up in different parts of the city, which network together
nicely.
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Grangetown Community Concern's newspaper
is a regular and long-running FREE link between thousands of homes in
Grangetown and parts of Butetown.
We have decided to print three editions a year and the next newspaper will be coming out in July/August.
E-mail here for
details and to volunteer to help deliver. FREE to more than 6,500
homes across Grangetown and some of Butetown - the newspaper
is a long-running and vital community link, which is non-profit-making
and depends on advertising and sponsorship to keep it going.
We still need volunteer deliverers - especially for Channel
View (part), Oakley Place and York Place. If you can spare half an
hour every two or three months, contact Christine or Joan
in the office, (029) 20 377 010!
Advertising rates for 2009:
Full page: £130 Copy and adverts - contact: Christine on 029 20 377 010. Email
contributions to grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk
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Directory for Grangetown
A community directory of local
organisations, services and activities was distributed FREE to homes throughout
Grangetown and Butetown in May 2006.
Grangetown Community Concern assisted Butetown Healthy Living Programme
in the project.
As well as the printed version, we're updating an online
version, which also includes local shops and traders. If you want
to be included or amend your entry, you can e-mail
us here
We hope one day to be able to publish an updated printed version, so
help us keep it up to date. If there are any changes or inaccuracies, please let us know.
We'd be glad to receive contributions or relevant articles for the website, please email us at grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk
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Remembering
the birth of South Clive Street
New equipment helps history project
