This is a digitised version of a research paper that one of our members authored back in 2009 with some pictures added.
In the 17th century, Plwca Lane or Heol y Plwca (later City Road) marked the western boundary of the Parish of Roath, adjoining the Parish of St John’s, Cardiff. The centre of the village lay a mile to the east, clustered around St Margaret’s Church.
Cardiff and Roath map from 1799
Map of Roath from 1789.
Surrounding Plwca Lane was an area of dirty wet uncultivated land. Rushes grew in the fields and were used to make rush mats which were then sold in the streets of Cardiff. Where City Road, Richmond Road, Crwys Road and Albany Road meet stood the town gallows. As commemorated on a plaque on the wall of the National Westminster Bank, the Roman Catholic martyrs, St John Lloyd and St Phillip Evans were executed here, as were many others.
Plaque on the side of the Nat West bank on Crwys Road marking the site of the gallows.
In 1802 Parliament passed the Heath Enclosure Act. Half of the land enclosed was awarded to the Cardiff Corporation, while a sizeable amount went to freeholders who had a claim to rights of pasture. Most of them were rich and powerful families such as the Butes and the Lewises. The landscape of the Heath was transformed as Heath Farm, Allensbank Farm and Ton-yr-Ywen farm were created from the former rough pasture land. Certain rights of way were upheld, among them the future Heathwood Rd, Allensbank Rd and Merthyr Rd (now Albany Rd) running east from the junction of City Rd with Crwys Rd. Together these two roads would form the framework from which the Mackintosh Estate later developed.
In the 1840s the land surrounding the lower end of Plwca Lane where it joins what is now Newport Road was owned by the Tredegar estate, centred on Tredegar House, west of Newport.
Roath in the 1830s
Of the residents of Plwca Lane in 1851: 28 were born in Glamorgan; 3 in Monmouth shire; 9 in Wiltshire; 1 each in 7 other counties. One woman, a soldier’s wife, was a British subject born in America. By 1861 there were 19 houses in Plwca Lane and 14 of their occupants were born in Glamorgan; 4 in Monmouthshire; 8 were born in Somerset; 6 each in Devon and Wiltshire; 5 each in Devon and Ireland and 13 from 11 other countries.
James Hemingway the elder (1802-1854), his 2 brothers and Charles Pearson were all natives of Dewsbury, Yorkshire and were contractors for the construction of the East Bute Dock between 1851 and 1859. James the elder lived at the junction of St Peter’s St and City Rd (Perrix Wholesalers) but appears to have purchased land on the east side of Plwca Lane on which Talworth St, Pearson St and Byron St now stand. Talworth House which stood to the west of Plasnewydd (now the Mackintosh Institute) had been occupied by James Hemingway the younger, at least from November 1859. He married Mary McGregor, step-daughter of his late father’s partner, Charles Pearson. James the younger moved back to Northern England in January 1861.
Example of 1851 Census for Plwcca Lane – the James Hemmingway household
Before the end of 1862 Charles Pearson had moved from Leckwith to Talworth House and was appointed a member of the Roath District Board of Health. A house in Clive St (now Byron St) was built for Charles Pearson in 1863 and plans approved for further development. Plans were also approved for additions to Talworth House in July 1867 and for a new street, James St, off Castle Rd (now City Rd), both for Charles Pearson. Fourteen houses were built on James St for James Hemingway the younger and it was late: re-named Talworth St in 1872.
Development now spread on both sides of Plwca Lane. Montgomery Place is pre- 1861 when it had 7 inhabited and 1 uninhabited house. The 1861 census records 56 inhabited and 18 uninhabited houses in Plwca Lane but the earliest known house plans date from 1865. Three houses are described as villas, implying a residential district. In one lived Edward Cleavin, age 39, a civil engineer; Edward Edwards, an engine fitter from Neath and John Webb a builder from Staffordshire who employed 24 men. Finally by 1865, Solomon Andrews had established his business at No 1 Castle Rd i.e. Roath Mews.
Waring’s plan of 1869 shows that there was no development north of James St on the even numbered side and north of Tredegarville on the odd numbered side, though an application had been made for 14 more houses to be built in Castle Rd (BC/51/90342) Plans for 6 houses in Plwca Lane were proposed in 1872 (BC/51/90657) and a further 6 in 1874, two of which were described as villas, again implying a middle class market (BC/51/9098).
1869 map. Roath / Cardiff boundary marked in pink went down the middle of Plwca Lane. The land off the southern end of Plwca Lane has been developed but the land surrounding Plasnewydd (later called the Mackintosh Institute) remains undeveloped
In 1874 Plwca Lane was re-named Castle Rd and in the following year the Cardiff Improvement Act incorporated Roath into Cardiff. Castle Rd continued to develop, plans being submitted in 1875 for 6 proposed villas, 3 stables and coach houses, 4 shop fronts, 2 bakeries and many other alterations. In general most new houses were still terraced buildings, 2-3 stories high, their dimensions controlled by the end of the 19th century by byelaws passed by the local authority. At this time, water was increasingly supplied directly into houses. This permitted internal sanitation, hot and cold water and bathrooms.
In 1877 the Borough Surveyor reported on the state of footways in Castle Rd and submitted estimates for their repair. Further reports between 1879 and 1887 indicate continuing road maintenance activities being carried out in Castle Rd (CBC Minutes 1879-1881) but in 1880, 123 acres of land belonging to the Hemingway estate was purchased by Cardiff Borough Council for £140 for the purpose of road widening.
1880 map of the northern part of Plucca Lane, again marked with a dotted line indicating the Cardiff-Roath boundary. The four-way junction neat the top was later to become a five-way junction when Mackintosh Place was built. (map from Old-Maps.co.uk)
Cardiff BC had been unsuccessful in 1883 in purchasing Plasnewydd and its grounds from the Mackintosh family for use as a public park and it may well have been this which acted as a catalyst for the family to proceed rapidly with housing development on the estate (Childs, 2005:5). By now, Merthyr Rd cut through the Plasnewydd estate from the cross roads at the Roath parish boundary with Cardiff St John in the west to Roath Court in the east. Forty feet wide and constructed along the course of a public drain, it provided a ready-made central highway for future urban development (Childs,2005:7).
John Batchelor and Talworth House
Most of the landowning families in Roath systematically gave their land over to urban housing development during the second half of the 19″ century. In Roath, Lord Tredegar was the largest landowner and some of the earliest street development was on Tredegar land adjacent to the Cardiff boundary i.e. The Parade. All the landowners adopted the practice of leasing building plots for a term of 99 years and exercised overall architectural control over the building operations on their estates.
In 1884 development begins on the Plasnewydd estate. Harriet Richards of Plasnewydd had by now married the Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Chief of the Scottish clan, which explains many of the street names in the area. Charles Rigg, an architect with offices in High St, Cardiff submitted plans to the local authority on behalf of the estate, for the proposed layout of the streets and houses as and when they were ready to be built. Usually a large number of master builders or contractors were involved in the house building operations on each estate. They were allowed to introduce minor variations of design, thus pinpointing the work of a particular builder. Not much is known about the individual builders. Fluctuations in supply and demand made house building a risky form of enterprise. Bankruptcies were common (Daunton, 1977).
Plans for 9 houses to be built in Merthyr Rd were submitted by Leonard Purnell, a builder in Calston St, Adamsdown and his partner Mr Fry under the supervision of the Mackintosh estate architect, Charles Rigg. In the same year Merthyr Rd was renamed Albany Rd on the 10 April 1884 (Keir, RLHS). Initially intended as a residential. development, which the estate may have envisaged as a superior type of residential road similar to Richmond Rd. It soon became a commercial centre as houses were converted into shop fronts.
Edward Jellings who lived in no 31 also built 4 houses in Albany Rd in 1884 and another 6 in 1885. Another builder, William Geen, lived at no 1 Albany Rd (Childs, 2005:10). He sought permission to erect 6 houses in Albany Rd in 1890. In the area where Charles Rigg was the Mackintosh estate architect, Thomas Gough, a builder at No 1 Oxford St off lower City Rd, applied to build 19 houses. His architect was E WM Corbett who normally acted for the neighbouring Bute estate. Applications were made to build a further 48 houses in Albany Rd in1891. Among the builders were David Edwards of Glenroy St and Henry Lewis of 54 Arran St and Wilde and Allen were neighbours at nos 22 and 20 Kincraig St respectively. After a lull in 1892, when William Geen applied to build 8 houses, 16 houses were built in 1893 and 20 more by the end of the century in 1899.
Albany Road in the early 1900s looking east with St Martin’s church on the right.
By 1900, the development of the Mackintosh estate was complete. The estate comprised about 2750 houses, various shops and commercial premises, several places of religious worship, 2 schools, 3 public houses and many trades and services needed for the maintenance of what was a densely packed housing zone. The total population of the area was some 15,000 (Childs, 2005:7).
By 1901, 76 houses had been built on the north side of Albany Rd and 67 on the south side, where an area of rural development still existed between Roath Court and the Claude Hotel. Castle Rd (renamed City Rd in 1905) numbered 479 houses of which only 23 of the occupants could be described as private residents.
Given the estate’s large population, the transformation of Albany Rd into a suburban commercial centre was unsurprising; indeed it could be said to be a natural development. The conversion of the properties’ ground floors into shop fronts involved the disappearance of the low front walls and small forecourts (Childs, 2005:11). In City Rd a Doctor’s surgery was established by 1908 at 107 when a waiting room and dispensary were added.
In 1895 there were 13 planning applications for shop fronts in Albany Rd, 23 in 1896 and 11 between 1897 and 1899. There were also 10 applications for stables to be built in this period and G H Hodgkinson applied to build a shoeing forge in 1895. From 1900 to 1902, 11 more shop fronts were converted in Albany Rd and 12 in the period 1903 to 1908. Conversion also continued in City Rd e.g. at no 169 when a house was converted into 3 shops, in 2005 the site of Rent Direct.
66 Albany Road before it had been redeveloped into a shop.
By 1912 Albany Rd is a tree-lined road with a line of tram poles running along the centre, removed by 1925 (CY 10:24). Occupations include tripe sellers in 1910 (CY 10:53) and W H Bishop and Son, sanitary engineers at no 60 (Cardiff Dir 1910). Cardiff Co-operative Society had premises at no 69 in 1907, as did E Snook at nos 52-54 City Rd and 113-115 Albany Rd. Land tax returns for 1910 record a G H Snook as residing at no 126 City Rd and owning premises at no 3, but the Burgess Roll for 1911 records Geo Hill Snook as living at no 30 The Parade and owning property at no 126 City Rd!
From 1910 garages or motorhouses became the object of planning applications rather than stables. 10 were built between 1910 and 1915. Another sign of the times was that Walter Andrews, a son of the mighty Solomon, undertook an apprenticeship in the motor trade in his father’s garage in the former livery stables and in 1910 Daimler cars were introduced into the car fleet, to be replaced by Austin limousines in 1929.
Gaiety Cinema, City Road, Roath, around 1912
Other commercial enterprises in City Rd were Smith & Bedoe, decorators at no 5 in 1910 and William Lamerton, a butcher at no 195 but at no 236 by 1920 (CY8:48). W H Wormleighton was a sculptor or monumental mason at no 197, next door to the Gaiety Theatre. T Shapcott is still a fruiterer at no 119a and Samuel Milkins, once of the Bedford Hotel, at no 185. According to the land tax returns for 1910, Samuel Milkins is also the owner of a house at no 21 City Rd, where Albert Stone is the occupier, and at no 189
John and Minnie Rich at no 103 City Rd seem to have owned a group of properties in City Rd. Minnie also seems to have owned houses at nos 105 and 109. By 1920, John and Ethel Rich are living at no 109.
Finally, City Rd celebrated its 100th birthday in 2005, when part of the road, north from the Roath Park Public House to its junction with Albany Rd, was closed on the 10th July. In addition to dancing and live music, the stalls were filled with displays and exhibitions by local schools and Societies, together with street performance workshops, community information and charity stalls.
The research paper below was written in 2005 by one of our long-standing members Malcolm Ranson. It was one of a series of ‘occasional papers’ that are now being digitised, supplemented with pictures and uploaded onto our website for others to enjoy.
Early history
1789 map of Roath with Plwcca Lane marked with a dotted line towards the left and side. Note the milestone marked near the Elms (still in the grass by the old Roath library)
In the 17th Century Plwca Lane or Heol y Plwca (later City Road) marked the western boundary of the parish of Roath, adjoining the parish of St John’s Cardiff. The centre of the village lay a mile to the east, clustered around St Margaret’s Church. Surrounding Plwca Lane was an area of dirty wet uncultivated land. Rushes grew in the fields and were used to make rush mats which were then sold in the streets of Cardiff (Cardiff Records,1905). Here where City Road, Richmond Road, Crwys Road and Albany Road meet stood the town gallows. As commemorated on a plaque on the wall of the Nat West Bank the Roman Catholic martyrs, St John Lloyd and St Phillip Evans were executed here as were many others.
Plaque on the side of the Nat West bank on Crwys Road marking the site of the gallows.
What is now the Mackintosh Institute at Plasnewydd was built around 1800 and in 1824 was advertised for sale as “a modern villa containing dining and drawing rooms, excellent bedrooms… and every necessary attached office.” By 1830 John Mathew Richards was the landowner and occupier of what was then known as Roath Castle together with 6 small cottages and 2 fields. By 1851 Roath Castle had been let to Capt. George W.C.Jackson and in 1861 to Frederick Greenhill, a colliery proprietor.
The Cardiff Improvement Act, 1875 incorporated Roath into Cardiff. It also gave the Corporation power to provide public pleasure grounds. The first intention was to purchase part of the Plasnewydd estate, but this was dropped when building site value was demanded. In 1884 development began on the Plasnewydd estate. Most of the land was the property of Arabella Richards of Plasnewydd. She had married the Mackintosh of Mackintosh, leader of the Scottish clan, which explains many of the street names in the area.
Mackintosh Hall
In 1897 a memorandum setting out a case for the recognition of Cardiff as a City was submitted to the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury which he rejected. Populous as it was, Cardiff was surpassed in size by many towns in the United Kingdom and which did not rank as cities.
In 1801 the population of Roath was 236. Over the next 50 years it slowly rose to 402 in 1851. In Plwca Lane in 1851, 28 residents were born in Glamorgan, 3 in Monmouthshire, 9 in Wiltshire and 1 each in 7 other counties. One woman, a soldier’s wife, was a British subject born in America. By 1861 there were 19 houses in Plwca Lane and 14 of their occupants were born in Glamorgan and 4 in Monmouthshire. Eight others were born in Somerset, 6 in Kent and Wiltshire; 5 in Devon and Ireland, and 13 from 11 other counties.
By 1891 the population of Roath was 39,903.
Plwca Lane and Castle Road in the 19th Century.
Most of the landowning families in Roath, systematically gave their land over to urban housing development during the second half of the 19th Century. In Roath Lord Tredegar was the largest landowner and some of the earliest street development was on Tredegar land adjacent to the Cardiff boundary i.e. The Parade. All the landowners adopted the practice of leasing building plots for a term of 99 years and exercised overall architectural control over the building operations on their estates.
Each ground landlord employed his own architect (the Mackintosh Estate retained Charles Rigg), who submitted plans to the local authority for the proposed layout of streets and the houses as and when they were ready to be built. Usually a large number of master builders or contractors were involved in the house building operations on each estate. They were allowed to introduce minor variations of design, thus pinpointing the work of a particular builder. Not much is known about the individual builders. Fluctuations in supply and demand made house building a risky form of enterprise. Bankruptcies were common. (Daunton, 1977)
James Hemingway the elder (1802-1854), his two brothers and Charles Pearson were all natives of Dewsbury, Yorkshire and were contractors for the construction of the East Bute Dock (1851-1859). James the elder lived at the corner of St Peter’s street (Perrix Wholesalers), but appears to have purchased land on the east side of Plwca Lane on which Talworth Street, Pearson Street and Byron Street now stand.
Talworth House had been occupied by James Hemingway the younger, at least from Nov 1859. He married Mary McGregor, step daughter of his late father’s partner, Charles Pearson. James the younger moved to northern England in Jan 1861 and the house was later leased to John Batchelor and to Samuel Nash another Cardiff businessman.
John Batchelor and Talworth House
By 1861 there were 19 inhabited houses and 9 uninhabited houses in Plwca Lane. Waring’s plan of 1869 shows that there was no development north of James Street on the even numbered side, and north of Tredegarville on the odd numbered side, though an application had been made for 14 houses to be built in Castle Road. (BC/SI/90342) Plans for 6 houses were proposed in 1872 (BC/SI/90657) and a further 6 in 1874, two of which were described as villas, implying a middle class market. (BC/S1/90908)
In 1873 the streets to the east of the lower end of City Road were drained into the Cardiff sewers, the outfall for which discharged itself into the sea, over the Splott moors about 1 mile east of Cardiff.
Before the end of 1862 Charles Pearson had moved from Leckwith to Talworth House and was appointed a member of the Roath District Board of Health. A house in Clive Street now Byron Street) was built for Charles Pearson in 1863 and plans approved for further development. Plans were also approved for additions to Talworth House in July 1867 and for a new street, James Street off Castle Road, both for Charles Pearson. Further development in Clive Street took place between Oct 1868 and Dec 1870. (Keir, c 1978)
On the west side of Castle Road the Parade had been developed from before 1875 and St Peter’s Street from at least 1861, when the Roman Catholic church was built. Penlline Street, Norman Terrace and Alexander Villas were all in existence in 1875, but lay in St John’s parish, Cardiff. Meanwhile Castle Road continued to develop, plans being submitted in 1875 for 6 proposed villas, 3 stables and coach houses, 4 shop fronts, 2 bakeries and many other minor alterations. In general, most new houses were still terraced buildings, 2 or 3 storeys high, their dimensions controlled by the end of the 19th Century by bye laws passed by the local authority. At this time water was increasingly plumbed into houses. This permitted internal sanitation, hot and cold water and bathrooms. In 1909 the Cardiff City Engineer reported on correspondence he had had with the Gas Company respecting the laying of Gas mains in City Road. The Council authorised him to arrange the best possible terms with the company to lay the mains and to provide street lamps. (Cardiff B.C., 1909)
Between 1880 and 1890 the area around City Road and Richmond Road had been developed and in Albany Road extended as far as the newly erected Board School. In 1884 urbanisation begins of the Plasnewydd and adjacent Ty’n-y-Coed land by the Richards family on what became the Mackintosh estate in and around Albany Road. Construction began in Arabella Street, Donald Street and Inverness Place in 1884. In 1886 there was no development north east of Cyfarthfa Street. On an OS map (1886) the site of what was later Glenroy Street is marked by a footpath adjoining “Mr Shergolds’ field” leading to the junction of Albany Road with Penylan Road alongside the Claude Public House. Finally construction begins in Angus Street, Diana Street and Alfred Street in 1891 and in that year Plasnewydd alias Roath Castle and 2 acres of land was donated by the Mackintosh family to local residents for their leisure use. Houses in Keppoch Street were selling for £136 each in 1892.
Despite all this new building some redevelopment was necessary. In 1883 a memorial from the inhabitants of Castle Road prays for an improvement to the narrow and dangerous entrance from Castle Road into Newport Road and for the removal of Hemingway’s house on the west side of Castle Road “an eyesore and a reproach to all living in Castle Road and others passing through.” (Cardiff BC, 1883-1884)
Development has now spread on both sides of Castle Road. Montgomery Place is pre 1861, when it had 7 inhabited and uninhabited house. Vere Street formerly St John Street had its first house built in 1867. Ninety nine year leases were granted on nos 7 & 8 and 52 & 53. Shakespeare Street in 1856, and the 1861 census records 56 inhabited and 18 uninhabited houses in that year, but the earliest known house plans date from 1865. Finally 14 houses were built in James Street for James Hemingway and later renamed Talworth Street in 1872
By 1889 there were 154 properties in Castle Road, 101 of which were commercial enterprises, and 53 were private houses occupied by residents. In 1894 an investigation in South Roath found that most houses had 6 rooms with rents of 8 to 9 shillings. It is not clear if South Roath included Adamsdown and Splott, both areas in the original parish of Roath, or the area bordering Newport Rd to the North. Men with families earning 24 to 28 shillings a week lived in these houses and as one man commented “There is not one tenant in 10 who does not let unfurnished apartments. That’s how they have to do; they could not get along otherwise… These are not the sort of buildings which ought to be put up for working men… They are too large. (Daunton, 1977)
City Road around 1920
Working in Plwca Lane & Castle Road in the 19th Century.
The 1851 census records 6 cottages in Plwca Lane, all occupied by families, and all with lodgers. Two heads of households were coal heavers possibly working in the docks, and also a painter. Two boatmen could also have been employed in the docks. Four women were employed in domestic occupations, 2 laundresses, 1 dressmaker and 1 domestic servant. Interestingly the latter is not described as such, but as being “employed at home.” Agricultural interests were represented by 6 agricultural labourers, 1 thatcher, 1 gardener and a waggoner who would easily find employment on adjacent farms. Finally there were two special categories, 2 soldiers, no doubt from the Longcross Barracks and 11 children described as scholars.
In 1861 their occupations were becoming a little more urbanised. Eight were in the building and engineering trades, including one builder who employed 24 men, and in addition there were 6 labourers. Domestic occupations i.e. servants and dressmakers accounted for another 6, while the commercial group included 5 in the boot and shoe trade and 2 grocers. There were also 2 grocers in Shakespeare Street in 1858.
At this time there were 2 hotels in City Road, the Ruperra (the Tut’n Shive) and the Clive Arms. Excessive drinking was one of the major evils of urban life. Opening hours were curtailed gradually between 1864 and 1874, but late Victorian pubs could still open between 5.0 am on weekdays and from 1.0 to 3.0 pm and 6.0 to 11.0 pm on Sundays. On the other hand the public house was a recreational and social centre where many could enjoy the comforts of light, heat, furniture and newspapers not available in their own homes. Public meetings were frequently held in public houses and it was not until the 1850’s that they ceased to be centres of political party organisation. Trade unions and Benefit societies met in pubs and workers went to their local to look for jobs. As today they were also centres for sport and entertainment. (Baldwin, 1986)
By 1882 there were 41 private residents mainly concentrated on the west side of Castle Road above Northcote Street. They were supported by 33 shops in the food trades and 15 shops of a general nature e.g. stationers, general dealers, tobacconists etc. There was also an industrial group, who presumably worked away from home and included tin plate workers, fitters, platelayers and general labourers. They numbered 17 in all.
Following Solomon Andrews move to Tweed lodge at 47 Newport Road his former house at no 37 The Parade was converted to an ironmongers shop. Though the plans were rejected by the Borough Surveyor on several occasions, considerable additions were made to the Castle Road frontage and the shop became known as 3 Castle Street (now a disused filling station in City Road) Accommodation for plumbers and tinsmiths was located at the rear. (Andrews, 1976)
Solly Andrews Garage, CIty Road
An analysis of the Cardiff Street directory, 1889 reveals the Food trade as the largest group, 36 tradesmen in all. Of these 10 were grocers, 9 butchers, 6 greengrocers, 4 bakers, 4 sweet confectioners, 2 fish and poultry dealers and 1 dairy. Plans for new premises for the Cardiff Milk Supply Co were approved by Cardiff BC in 1890. Next were 27 service shops i.e 5 boot and shoe makers, 4 general shops, 3 drapers, 2 pawnbrokers, 2 hairdressers and 1 tailor, hosier, umbrella maker and a tobacconist. The Building trades included 3 carpenters and 1 decorator, painter, contractor, builder, mason and a chimney sweep amounting to 9 in total. Finally there are the engineering and craft trades, led by 3 engineers and 2 cabinet makers. Others include an ironmonger, coal dealer and a smith, while the craft trades include china dealers, jewellers and watchmakers, 13 in all.
By 1889 there were 6 hotels in Castle Road and only 2 the Roath Park and the Ruperra (now the Tut ‘n Shive) remain. The average yearly consumption of beer per head between 1895 and 1900 was 31.2 gallons and 1.03 gallons of spirits. For the Victorian alcohol was a thirst quencher because water was unsafe and milk dangerous, even when fresh. Intoxicants were believed to impart physical stamina, assisted dentists and surgeons, quietened babies and helped women through childbirth. (Baldwin, 1984)
Street maintenance and public transport
In 1855 the Cardiff Street Commissioners ordered their Surveyor to inspect Plwca Lane and the road leading from the Crwys to Fairoak (Pen-y-Wain Rd), and report to the Commissioners on the most advantageous mode of arranging with the parish of Roath for the repair of such roads. (Cardiff Records, 1903)
By 1859 the Commissioners were complaining about the obstruction of a footpath by the removal of stiles, between Park Place and Plwca Lane. Co-operation with the Surveyor of Roath did not appear to be going smoothly since once again the Commissioner intervened and ordered “that the necessary steps be taken to recover the value of the stones removed by the Surveyor of Roath from Plwca Lane”. (Cardiff Records, 1903)
Despite setbacks road improvements continued and a drainage plan for Plwca Lane was implemented in April 1865. In the same year Solomon Andrews (b 1835, Trowbridge), signed an agreement with David Phillips of Roath to purchase his business at Roath Mews (no 1, City Rd) and the lease for £400. The purchase included 7 cabs, 12 horses, a brake, a phaeton, a dog cart, and 7 sets of single harness, buckets and other equipment. Eventually the freehold of the mews was purchased and later formed part of the company’s garage at nos 1 to 3 City Road.
Castle Road, Roath, Cardiff. The Roath Park Hotel can bee seen on the right.
Saddlers, harness makers and wheelwrights flourished until around 1920. Corn merchants lasted a little longer, gradually evolving into pet shops. One corn merchant, Wyndham Smiths (1901-1940) at no 38 received a direct hit by a bomb during a German air raid in 1940. Three employees were killed.
In 1871 Cardiff BC decreed that all turnpike gates within the town boundaries be removed and in 1872 The Provincial Tramway Co began its first Cardiff route from the town centre to the docks. In 1878 the system was extended to Roath and Canton.
The street name of Castle Road was introduced in 1874, taking its name from the mansion known as Roath Castle (formerly Plasnewydd). (Daunton, 1977)
Rees Enoch had been appointed a member of the Local Health Board in July 1867. He was a grocer living at 78 Shakespeare Street and stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate for the Roath ward in the Cardiff Borough elections in 1875 and 1876. He was finally elected in 1879 and remained on the Council for 3 years.
In March 1877 the Council Surveyor reported to the Public Works Committee that the kerbing, channelling and paving required in Castle Road had been commenced by the contractors, Messrs Jones and Jepson. Later that year in May 1877 Mr Rees Enoch laid before the Sanitary Committee a memorial from the tradesmen residing in Castle Road, complaining of insufficient watering of that street, and the Foreman of Scavengers was directed to look into the matter. By June the Surveyor reported that the fencing on the North East side adjoining Mr Sherley’s field was now erected and that nearly the whole of the kerbing, channelling and paving ordered had been laid down, and a portion of the road reformed and rolled. From then on there are continual references in the minutes of Cardiff BC to repairs in Castle Road. Remember that the road surface had not yet been metalled. (Cardiff BC, 1877)
Despite pressure from Cardiff BC, the Provincial Tramway Co was not inclined to make further extension into Roath. The problem was that severe competition from the omnibuses run by S Andrews and Sons in Cardiff was cutting profits, so that in 1886 and 1887 no dividend could be paid. Eventually following compulsion from the Council, small extensions were made in Roath and Canton, and negotiations begun to buy out Andrews. By mid 1887 he had agreed to sell, and this led to a proper and regular timetable, ending the system whereby a bus had “nursed” a tram, so that in effect 2 vehicles had done the work of one. Remember the Bluebird buses in the 1990’s!
Education, education, education.
In 1847 a government report gives the total population of the parish as 298 and a Day school is recorded as having 30 pupils and the church Sunday school 32 pupils. In the 1861 census 11 children living in City Road were described as scholars. Were they attending the village school in Merthyr Rd (Albany Rd)? There were alternatives.
St Peter’s RC Church was built in 1861 and was originally known as St Peter’s in the Fields. A private school for Roman Catholic children was run by a Mr Timothy O’Brien at first from his house in Milton Street but later transferred to a small room in Castle Lane (Road?). This venture was almost certainly supported by the parish priest, Father Signini. There was no set syllabus, no government grants and minimal control by the Church, but it was better than nothing.
In June 1868 Father Signim rented a large room in a former Wesleyan chapel in Chapel Street off Bedford Place. The new accommodation was larger, had better facilities and gave the RC Church greater control over the school. Alas the pupils had to pay for their education. From this income Mr O’Brien paid the church £12 annually. but there was still a need for a larger school. The land next to the church on which the presbytery now stands was originally intended as a site for a school, but the Homfray estate was unwilling to agree on a fair rent. Finally Lord Bute negotiated with Lord Trdegar for land in St Peter’s Street, where the school was eventually built and where today Richmond Court flats now stand. St Peter’s RC School opened on 1 August 1872.
A Sunday school attached to Roath Road Methodist Church opened in 1868. In 1870 a new church was built at the south end of Castle Road (now City Rd), where Eastgate House now stands. The Sunday school premises were thought to be among the finest in the United Kingdom and together with a mission school in Cyfarthfa St catered for nearly 1,000 pupils.
The Clifton Calvinistic Methodist chapel also dates from 1868, when a group of friends began to hold prayer meetings and a Sunday school at the house of Mr Job Dew in Shakespeare Street. A chapel was opened on the corner of Clifton St and Newport Road on 5 Dec 1870. It is now the Inkspots Arts shop.
The Education Act, 1870 continued state support for church schools, but set up school boards to provide elementary schools when no others existed. From 1880 all children had to attend school between the ages of 5 and 10 and by the end of the 19th Century the school leaving age had been raised to 12. On 1 June 1886, the Cardiff School Board resolved to purchase a site on the Mackintosh estate on the south side of Albany Road. A contract was agreed with the builders, Stephens and Bastow of Bristol for the erection of a school designed by the architect A Llewellyn Batchelor for £8579. Today the school consists of a 2 storey range facing Albany Rd with a single storey infants department added to the rear. It was formally opened by the Mayor, Sir Stanley Morgan on 2 Nov 1887.
Health Services in City Road
As early as 1889 there were 2 chemists in Castle Road, and this had risen to 5 from 1932 to 1972. Three doctors were practising in 1901, but only one by 1949. City Road had 3 dentists in 1920 and a maker of artificial teeth. The latter was called a Dental mechanic by 1949. One of the Dentists, Henry Sainsbury had a practice at 173 City Road between 1922 and 1942. He married Maud and they had a daughter Betty born in 1922. (Mowbray, 2004). The first chiropodist arrived in 1949, herbal medicine in 1972, and an optometrist in 2002.
The design of artificial limbs was much improved in the latter half of the 19th Century. Prior to the 1914 -18 war, the British government realised that a large number of amputees would require artificial limbs, so it is not surprising to find J Stubbs & Son established in 1887, operating as an artificial limb expert in City Road in 1920, when John Stubbs and his wife Laura May were resident at no 7 City Road.
The Naming of City Road
The Prince of Wales, later King George V, paid a two day visit to Cardiff in June 1905, during which as Chancellor of the University of Wales he laid the foundation stone of the new UCW Cardiff building in Cathays Park. It was a successful Royal visit, and the civic leaders decided to put forward once more the claims of Cardiff for recognition as a City. On 3 July, a petition by the Council containing a statistical summary as to the population, trade, educational and other facilities in the borough was sent to the Prime Minister. Balfour did not comment until September, when he agreed to Cardiff’s case solely on the grounds of it being a town of exceptional position and importance in Wales, but worried about emphasising any further distinctions between England and Wales. (WM, 23.10.1905)
Progress remains slow, but finally the Mayor was privately informed on the 15 October by the Marquis of Bute that Cardiff was to become a city, followed by a letter to the Council from the Home Secretary. On 21 October, 1905 Cardiff was finally given the status of a city. There were of course immediate calls for Cardiff to be recognised as the Capital of Wales!
It was not until 1906 that a memorial signed by 195 residents of Castle Road and neighbourhood was received by the Council, praying that the name of Castle Road be altered to City Road. The Council agreed. (Cardiff CC, 1906)
Trades and occupations in City Road, 1901 to 1971
C & G Geen had a builder’s yard behind Argyll Chambers (Quartermasters Stores) from 1910 to 1961. Confusingly Parfitt (Builders) Ltd appear to have had office premises in the same building from 1952 to 1972. J Staples was a builder living at no 123 in 1910, but did not necessarily run his business from that address.
A Stark was a mason at no 71 in 1889 when City Road was known as Castle Road as was James Brobyn a carpenter at no 139 and F Krantzcke a chimney sweep at nearby 131. E.J.Sawyer was a plumber at no 99 in 1910 and Daunton and Winfield are described as plumbers and ironmongers at nos 160 to 162. John Downey was a plasterer at no 71 in 1920, the same year that Hampton and Co were established as Heating engineers and Lawrence Bros as plumbers, electrical engineers and decorators.
As might be expected boot and shoe makers were well represented when people walked more frequently. There were 12 in 1901, 14 in 1910, reducing gradually to 1 in 1961. Tailors, dressmakers and outfitters were also in abundance, 11 in 1910 and 1952, and 9 in 1949. J Hepworth & Son, clothiers were in City Road by 1910. James Edward Boughton went to work for them as a junior in 1920 at the age of 14. He worked at Hepworths for nearly 30 years working his way up to manager and then area manager for South Wales. In approximately 1948, James Boughton decided to branch out on his own and bought a property that had been W.H. Hills butcher’s shop with a large sausage factory at the rear. He opened his Gents Outfitters – J.E.Boughton at no 184 and the business continued successfully until shortly before his death in 1982. He had been President of the Wednesday Football League and a freemason with the Bute Lodge. (Andrews, 2005)
Umbrella makers disappeared after 1920 and hosiers after 1910. The furnishing trades prospered during this period, 11 in 1920 and 1949, and 10 in 1952, as did hairdressers and still do so today. The Roath Furnishing Co was owned by the Fligelstone family. They made furniture in several buildings in the lane behind City Road.
Before the 2nd World War, Newtons was a newsagent and tobacconist at the Newport Road end of City Road. It also had a barber’s shop at the rear of the premises. When the barber had finished cutting your hair, he would give you a token, which you then took into the shop and paid the required amount. At no 26 was Mrs Burns news agency, stationers and Catholic repository. The interior of the shop was long and narrow and Phillip Strong remembers a silent Mr Burns standing always at the rear of the shop dressed entirely in black and wearing a hat! (Strong, 2004)
On the comer of Oxford Lane was the Post Office. Behind this building with an entrance from Newport Road was the British Restaurant, one of hundreds sponsored by the government during the 2nd World War and afterwards, where meals were served as a supplement to the food rations.
In 1901 there were 4 hardware dealers and/or ironmongers in City Road, one of them belonging to Solomon Andrews at no 3 (CY 17:21), where a derelict garage now stands. Paraffin was sold in the shop and Phillip Strong recalls a large circular glass tank calibrated in gallons standing on the counter. When a sale took place the required quantity was pumped by hand to the level needed and then the tap opened filling a bottle or other container. Margaret Reeves remembers David Jones hardware shop at no 82. The shop advertised rubber handle grips for prams and pushchairs and offered to fit them free for customers. This operation took about 3 weeks until in exasperation Margaret’s mother accepted an offer of a free handle grip and fitted it herself!
Gaiety Cinema, City Road, Roath, around 1912
There was an engineer living in City Road from 1901 to 1910. Whether he was the mining engineer whose qualifications of M.I.M.E. are given in 1920 is not clear. The craft of the smith also survived between 1901 and 1910, but had mutated into motor engineering between then and 1949. Electricians also appeared in 1910. Other occupations such as sheet metal workers, plating technicians and tyre makers (vulcanizers) appear from 1920.
The livery stable established at no 1 Castle Road by Solomon Andrews remained until 1920, when it became a petrol station and garage. By 1952 there were 20 motor car dealers in City Road, 30 in 1961 and 53 in 1972. To support these were 5 motor engineers and car accessory firms in 1952, 9 in 1961, and 7 in 1972. There were also tyre distributors (2 in 1961), auto electrical engineers (2 in 1961), battery manufacturers (1 in 1952) and brake liners (2 in 1961).
Before 1920 pedal cycles were built in City Road by J. Worrell at nos 2 and 10 in 1910 and Kennard & Co (1910 — 1938) are described as cycle manufacturers at no 20. Halfords arrived in 1939 and stayed until 1972.
Banks in the past had splendid names, no abbreviations then. The Metropolitan Bank of England and Wales Ltd was at no 223 in 1910, followed by the London Joint City and Midland Bank, before becoming the Midland Bank in 1932, now of course HSBC. Alterations and additions to Barclays Bank on the corner of City Road and Richmond Road were rejected by the Public Works Committee on 18 Nov 1920, though later approved in 1921. Barclays Bank remained there at least until 1972, but has now been closed. At the other end of City Road, Lloyds Bank stood facing Newport Road (now the site of Longcross Court). It had previously been the Wilts and Dorset Bank until 1910.
There were 2 pawnbrokers in Castle Road/City Road from 1901 to 1920. Mrs S Cohen was a pawnbroker at no 134 in 1920. In 1921 the Council made an order prohibiting for 6 months building work at 134 City Road. Was business not so good in 1921 and cash flow was a problem? Difficulties also occurred for Fligelstones, pawnbrokers at no 22 City Road. In 1938 a serious fire broke out at night and much of the property was destroyed. The shop had an imposing front with 2 large convex plate glass windows which curved into the door of the shop. When the building was repaired these were not replaced.
Food trades dominated the commercial life of Castle Road in 1901. There were 10 butchers, 10 grocers and 9 confectioners. In addition there were 7 hotels and/or public houses. The grocers included Jones and Sons at no 49 near St Peter’s Street, H.J.Small a grocer and fruiterer at no 167 near Northcote Street and P.L.Dodington at no 232 on the corner with Strathnairn Street. John Williams ran the well known Argyll stores on the corner with Albany Road. The Modern Provision Co at no 34 was run by the Campbell Bros. and their predecessors from 1920 to 1961. O’Sheas succeeded Heginbothams at no 44 from 1940 to 1952.
The meat trade was well represented from 1901 to 1961, peaking in 1910 and 1932 with 15 establishments in each year and dropping from 7 to 1 between 1961 and 1972. Phillip Strong was born in the living quarters behind his father’s butcher’s shop at no 24 City Road in 1932. W.L.Strong had a business here from c 1920 to 1961 and was involved in the administration of meat rationing during the 2nd World War. When the siren sounded the family would go to their air raid shelter and stay there until the all clear. They could hear the sound of the German aircraft; their diesel engines had a distinctive ‘thrum’ sound. Bombs would fall and there was always speculation as to whether their house would still be standing. Fortunately for the Strong family it always was.
Phillip recalls the names of the other butchers in City Road at that time. Lamerton and Sons were Pork butchers between 1910 and 1932 at no 236, while T Storm had shops at nos 212 and 214 between 1932 and 1961. The Co-op arrived between 1940 and 1961 at no 152. Two specialist suppliers were Excel products a tripe dresser at no 92 and Thomas Lane a Salt Meat purveyor at no 50, both in 1920. On the other side of the road beyond St Peter’s St was Bill Sweet who succeeded Pleydell at no 29. Monks the pork butcher sold hot faggots and peas and had another shop in Albany Road where Woolworths now stands. (Strong, 2004)
In 1901 there were 2 cafes in Castle Road rising to 6 in 1971 and 1972. Today take-aways and restaurants are everywhere. One is Miss Millies; a small chain based in Bristol, it is a regular contributor to local charities and has contributed £500 towards the City Road Centenary Event. The site on which Miss Millies stands was not developed until around 1900. William Hillbome ran a confectionery business here from 1901 to 1920. Between 1949 and 1961 it was a milliner’s shop but by 1972 was taken over by Cleanercrafts (Cardiff) Ltd. who sold domestic appliances.
The number of confectioner in City Road peaked at 17 in 1932, dropping to 4 in 1972. John Paskell at nos 43 to 45 with his sweets in rows of glass jars is remembered by many people from 1920 to 1972. Pascall House, a block of flats now stands on the site of his shop. H.A.Frayling, confectioner was another well known name at no 2c. In 1910 there were 7 bakers in City Road, among them E Sirrell. In the 1920’s the Pearson Street side door to his shop was used daily by numbers of Roath schoolchildren to obtain a free meal.
Sirrell’s Bakery, City Road, Roath Cardiff. I wonder if that is Ernest’s widow in the doorway.
Mild ale had replaced porter as the main beverage in public bars by 1900, but patrons in saloon and private bars continued to prefer bitter. Today there are 3 public houses in City Road, but between 1901 and 1910 there were 10. The Ruperra Hotel is now the Tut n’ Shive, The Roath Castle Hotel flourished from 1906 to 1961 at no 89 City Road, but the Roath Park is still in business today. Only the Ernest Willows does not date from the 20th Century or earlier.
Roath Park Hotel, City Road, (picture credits: top rt – Sarah Louise on Flickr, bot left: Pint of 45.)
Possibly the most recognisable building in City Road is the former Gaiety Theatre which opened in 1911 and closed in 1961. It was part of a chain of cinemas which included the Splott, Monico, County, Ninian and several other cinemas. They changed their programme midweek, half the chain having a film for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday passing them on to the other half on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Cinemas closed on Sundays until the early 1960’s. Unlike today you could enter the cinema at any time, even in the middle of a film and stay to the end of the following performance. Prices in the late 1940’s ranged from 1/6d to 2/6d. By 1972 it had been a Bingo Hall for several years and in 2004 was taken over by Spin Bowling Ltd. Despite the changes of use the building is still recognisable as an early cinema building.
The Gaiety revived as Spin bar and bowling but not for long,
In 1910 a music warehouse was opened by Richard Allen at no 82 who later with his brother owned a musical instrument depot at no 171 between 1920 and 1932. J Williams was Cranes agent at no 30 between 1910 and 1932, and Waddington’s the piano makers and dealers were at nos 29 to 31 between 1910 and 1932. Two outlets were selling gramophones in City Road in 1932. One, W.H. Jenkins, also sold baby cars and bicycles. The other, Byron Motors Ltd was a motor car dealer!
Lewis Lando (1910) was a glass silverer and dealer at no 159, followed by Charles Zausmer from 1920 to 1932. A china and glass dealer, P.W.Tatem had a shop here in 1911 at no 209, followed by William Heavan at no 83 and Thomas Henry at no 221, both in 1920. They were preceded by an earthenware dealer in 1901. Watchmakers and jewellers are steadily represented between 1901 and 2005. H Porter was a wholesale jeweller who operated from 1949 to 1972 at no 203. J.L.Fligelstone had a jewellers and pawnbrokers shop at no 22 from 1932 to 1940 and Herman Leveson at no 147 in 1952.
The last but one picture frame maker disappeared after 1932, but we have one today in 2005. The first antique dealer in City Road was in 1901. Richard Woodruff who was at no 79 from 1910 to 1920 was followed by J Lester (1932-1952) at no 13 and Owens (1949-1952) at numbers 156, 198 and 200. A Teacher of embroidery had premises above the Argyll Stores (today the Quartermasters Stores) from 1949 to 1961, but had been preceded by a Mrs Candlish (1910) whose art needlework shop was at no 12. In 2005 we have Crafty Sew and Sew at no 67.
Sign writing was a skill that we take for granted in 2005 and was represented by Banaman Signs at no 124 in 2004. Things were different in 1910 when M.J.Bentley was described as a Sign manufacturer and Enamelled letter cutter at no 111.
Photography is represented by Cadogan & Sons (1910) at no 109 and from 1951 to 1972 by Goundrys photo service at no 158. Today in 2005 we have Venture portraits at 227 and Express Imaging at no 172.
Down towards Newport Road, the Lucania Billiard saloon opened in 1920 at nos 52 and 54 City Road. Described as a Temperance institution it closed in 1962 and by 1972 had been replaced by Riley’s Snooker Clubs. Between 1920 and 1961 Benjamin Cheetham opened a shop described as an athletic outfitters at no 148, but it was not until 1972 that the more informally named Cardiff Sportsgear opened at no 248/9 again formerly the Quartermasters Stores). Fishing interests in 1972 were catered for by Norries (Cardiff) Ltd.
Looking back over 25 years
In 1969 Shakespeare Street and Milton Street, built around 1859 were demolished and Poets Corner changed beyond recognition. The Ruperra Public House (now the Tut’n Shive) remains, but the Riley Snooker Club, Plasnewydd Community Hall, Kimberly motors, the Plumb centre, houses and flats and Shelley Gardens have replaced the old houses.
By 1901 the population of Cardiff had reached 164,333 and that of Roath 61,074. In 1961 the Roath ward covered 3526 acres and had a population of 40,417. By 1991 the now named Plasnewydd ward had a resident population of only 14,010. In 2004 there were 236 names on the Electoral Register for City Road, most of them students.
To quote Peter Finch’s book, Real Cardiff (2004) “Under the onslaught of more than one hundred years of South Wales drizzle City Road has simply crumbled slightly. Today it is seedy, edgy, slightly wrecked, and, yes, exciting – all by turns.” We could do better.
The old Gaiety Cinema on City Road is under threat of demolition again. Admittedly the iconic domes don’t look at their best any longer. Maybe with some tasteful renovation they could be incorporated into a modern structure making a real feature in this historic street, formerly known as Plwcca Lane, the Castle Road and now City Road. Join us as we take a look at the history of the Gaiety.
The Gaiety Grand in 1913 not long after it had been opened.
Assessing the Gaiety Cinema building in 1995, John Newman refers to it as “presenting an appearance of gay abandon” a marked contrast to its appearance in 2020. Built in 1910 and originally planned as a roller skating rink and cinema the building is listed by Cardiff Council in its List of Local Buildings of Merit (no 297). The Gaiety opened in 1912 with a seating capacity of 800. The picture of the cinema in 1913 advertises the main feature as ‘Thor, lord of the jungles’ (1913) A feature of the design is a pair of small art deco domes on either side of the entrance. The words “The Gaiety” were inscribed above the entrance within a curved head mould. There was also some swag detail on the upper façade.
The Gaiety Grand Cinema was opened by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Morgan Thomas J P for the Splott (Cardiff) Cinema Co. a group of Cardiff business men who eventually owned 7 or 8 cinemas in the suburbs of Cardiff and who by 1913 had changed the name to the Gaiety Electric Theatre. The then manager was a Mr J Schlentheim.
Gaiety Cinema, City Road, Roath, around 1912
Between 1920 and 1923 plans were submitted for alterations to the roof and the gallery seating. As with most cinemas of the time there were two programmes each week, half the chain showing a film on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and passing it to the remaining cinemas on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All cinemas were closed on Sundays until the early 1960’s. Unlike today you could enter the cinema at any time, even in the middle of a film and stay to the end of a following screening. Again like most cinemas there were Saturday morning matinees for children.
By the 1930’s there was growing concern about the influence of the Hollywood film industry. Film going in the United Kingdom was most popular in Northern England, Scotland and Wales. Data on consumer expenditure in the 1930’s indicates that the average Welsh household devoted 14.4% of their household expenditure on going to the cinema, well above the national average. In Cardiff the most luxurious cinemas were to be found in Queen Street. The Empire was converted to a cinema in c1933 and The Capitol had opened its doors in 1920. The Queen’s cinema was less pretentious, but in 1929 presented Al Jolson in The Singing Fool, the first “talkie” film released in 1927. By this time The Gaiety had been open for over 15 years and by 1934 had been remodelled and enlarged by William S Wort an architect who increased the seating capacity to 1518.
The Gaiety with it’s neon advertising signs (Picture: ITV Wales)
Renamed as The Gaiety Cinema, prices in the late 1940’s ranged from 1/6d to 2/6d. Plans were submitted for alterations to the toilets and to have neon lighting fitted. Thousands of leaflets were distributed each month advertising forthcoming programmes. By the 1950’s cinema attendance was 45% higher than in 1934 and the British are the world’s most avid film goers. In 1956 The Gaiety Cinema becomes part of the Jackson Withers Circuit, an alias for the Cardiff banker, Sir Julian Hodge, but by 1961 it had closed and reopened as a 7 Day Bingo Hall until 1994. Initially part of the Coral Bingo Hall network, by 1991 was part of Top Rank. Edith Pearce had visited the cinema many times as a child and was later employed in the Bingo Hall. She observes that in her opinion one of the failures of the Gaiety’s design were the two shops on either side of the entrance. Rented out to independent retailers, they continuously changed hands, both in the cinema and bingo eras.
Following a planning application to become a public house in 1998, which was withdrawn, the building was taken over by Spin Bowling Ltd in 2001. After an extensive renovation it became ‘The Spin Bar and Bowling Centre’, now having two floors, a Ten pin bowling alleys and a bar and restaurant area. Sadly it closed in 2006. A planning application to re-open as a bar, entailing further alterations, was rejected by Cardiff Council in 2007. The building remained empty and visibly deteriorating. In 2012 an anarchist group called the Gremlins break into the building and set up ‘The Gremlin Alley Social centre’. They are later evicted.
Interior of the Gaiety (picture credit: David W. J. Lloyd)
An evaluation of the state of the building was made in 2014 , when ripped out piping, crumbling walls and a floor covered with needles were found. Councillor Mary McGary then proposed a compulsory purchase order which would have allowed Cardiff Council to dispose of the site with the consent of the owner. The proposal was rejected due to lack of funding.
Interior shots of the Gaiety. All were taken when the building ceased being a cinema but some of the original features probably remain (photo credits: 1. David W. J. Lloyd, 2-4 Leighton Parker).
In 2015 the Wales United Housing Association began negotiations with the then owners Bonnes Mares Ltd to buy the property. Their proposal was to demolish the building and to construct 40+ affordable flats on the site. By 2018 ownership appeared to have changed again and the new owners the MSG Group apply to Cardiff Council for a demolition order to demolish the building on 1 Aug 2019. Recently developer Bonnes Mares has applied for planning permission from Cardiff Council for a temporary car park on the site but has not stated how long this would be for.
Young people will probably find it hard to believe that in the days when the Gaiety opened the films didn’t have any sound. Theatres had pipe organs to provide music and sound effects to accompany the silent film. Should, heaven forbid, the domes ever be demolished, then maybe someone should set themselves up on the pavement opposite with an organ to provide appropriate musical accompaniment in true Monty Python style. Fingers crossed that will never happen.
The Roath Park Hotel on the corner of City Road and Kincraig Street dates back to 1886.
As of Oct 2020 it is currently under threat of being demolished and replaced with flats.
The three storey stone built property with a roof top platform surrounded by railings is the last remaining Victorian pub on City Road, or Castle Road as it was called when the hotel was built.
Castle Road, Roath, Cardiff with the Roath Park Hotel on the right.
it was built on land owned by the Mackintosh Estate. Urban development on the Mackintosh Estate began in 1886, but Wright’s Directory of Cardiff 1886 does not list Kincraig Street, so possibly the Roath Park Hotel was not in existence until 1887. An amended plan for some business premises at the junction in 1886 may refer to the building of the Roath Park Hotel, but would need to be examined in the Glamorgan archives (BC/S/1/5933).
We know that the Roath Park Hotel was in existence by 1889 at a time when the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act was in force and was the listed in the Cardiff Directories as being at 170 Castle Rd. It was the last of the Victorian hotels or public houses to be erected in City Rd the earliest being the Gardener’s Arms in what was then Plucca Lane in 1855 which was renamed as the Military Canteen by 1871 . Richard Steward was the first manager of the Roath Park Hotel until 1904.
By 1905 the Roath Park Hotel was under the management of Enoch D Howells who remained there until 1911, during which time a ban on children under 14 being allowed access to licensed premises was introduced in 1908. He was succeeded by Charles Kyd until 1913, who was in turn followed by Percy A Lewin from 1914 to 1920. From the Electoral Register we know that he lived on the premises with his wife Mary and a lodger(?), Jane Rossatt, a blouse maker. During World War I 1914 – 1918, early morning, afternoon and evening closing hours were introduced to combat the perceived evil effects of drinking on the war effort.
Photo credit: Brian Lee
Edward J Lloyd was the manager in 1924 (WMCD). Plans exist of the hotel premises in police records between 1926 and 1955 and again can be found in the Glamorgan Archives (DCONC/6/11 a – c), By 1927 Samuel Davey had become the manager.. Photographs of him appear in the Cardiff Yesterday series, vol 8, photographs 55 and 56. The Cardiff Yesterday series can be seen in the Cardiff Heritage Library located in the Cathays Branch Library.
Samuel Davey, landlord of the Roath Park
The hotel mainly manages to keep itself out of the newspapers apart from the usual arguments about liquor licences in the 1890s, the occasional person walking in and dropping dead from natural causes and Mr Naish, a greengrocer, being accused was accused of regularly taking bets in there in 1936.
The 1939 Register shows the occupants as Douglas Buckner (hotel manager), Iris Buckner (hotel manageress), Phyliss Edwards (barmaid) and Ada Selt 9barmaid).
During the 1930’s and after World War II, many young people under 25 preferred the dance hall or the cinema, but fashion changes and in the 1960’s the ‘pub’ was once again in favour only to lose out to bars and clubs in the early 2000’s. Drinking habits, particularly in the evenings tended to revolve around the playing of darts and or skittles and in some public houses singing around a piano. Men would generally drink beer, often Brain’s Dark (the original). Drinkers of Bitter beer were in a minority. Women drank ‘shorts’ such as Gin and tonic or Gin and It (Italian Vermouth).
From 1949 the Roath Park Hotel continues to be listed in the Western Mail Cardiff Directory (WMCD), but the names of managers are no longer given. By 1971, the Electoral Register tells us that David Magee is the manager living in the flat above with his wife Anne. Babycham and Cinazano have now become the preferred drink for women. By the 1980’s the lager revolution was in full swing for both men and women. For drinking habits generally see The Little book of Cardiff by D Collins and G Bennett, 2015.
(photo credit: Pintof45)
The Electoral Register still refers to the Roath Park Hotel when Melvyn E Evans was living on the premises from 2003 to 2004, but by 2009 it had become simply the Roath Park. Legislation in 2003 had transferred licensing powers from Magistrates to Local Authorities and in 2005 new licensing laws in England and Wales aimed to encourage a continental style café culture and introduced 24 hour licenses. As a result more people spread their drinking throughout the night and public houses continued to close.
An interesting assortment in the windows (photo credit: Sarah Louise on Flickr)
The Roath Park is the last Victorian public house to survive in City Road, there being I believe 8 in 1889. I do realise that fashion and economics are against its survival as a public house, but given the horrendous change in the topography of City Road, I think that a Victorian building is worth preserving even if put to other uses. An application should be made for listed building status and perhaps an approach made to the National Trust or the Landmark Trust. As King Edward VIII once famously said in South Wales, “Something must be done”.
I must admit I’d never heard of John Sankey, or Viscount Sankey, to give him his proper title, till a week ago, let alone the fact he was a Roath man. If like me you find all the wig and gown stuff rather pompous then read on, the man under it is rather an interesting character.
Viscount Sankey, Lord Chancellor
Before we get immersed in the details here’s some of his headline achievements:
Lloyd-George appointed him Chairman of the Coal Industry Commission which became known as the Sankey Commission. Its surprise conclusion was that coal mines should be nationalised.
Appointed Lord Chancellor in Ramsey MacDonald’s cabinet. The Lord Chancellor is the top legal man in the government and was also the presiding officer of the House of Lords, the head of the judiciary in England and Wales.
He gave his name to the Sankey Declaration of the Rights of Man. This had strong input from H.G.Wells. This in turn led to the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights.
So how did a man who grew up on City Road end up as the top lawyer in England and Wales? Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.
John Sankey was born on 26 Oct 1866 in the Cotswold town of Moreton in the Marsh, Gloucestershire in a house called ‘Croxdale’ on Evenlode Road. His father, Thomas Sankey was a draper originally from Canterbury, Kent and owned a shop on the High Street. His mother, Catalina Sankey neé Dewesbury was originally from Manchester.
Croxdale House, Moreton in the Marsh (Image: Google Street view)
In 1875, when John would have been 8, his father dies and mother Catalina moves the family to Cardiff where a number of her husband’s brothers already live and are in business as provision merchants and doing rather well for themselves. Catalina, John and his siblings live at 157 Castle Road, Roath. Castle Road is the former name for City Road, the road being reamed after Cardiff achieved City status. She called the house Croxdale, after their former Cotswold residence.
What was a bit more challenging was to pinpoint exactly where it was on City Road as renumbering of the properties has also taken place. Using old Directories it possible to ascertain it was two houses north of Northcote Road, now 171 City Road, the SouvLike Greek restaurant, and would you believe there is a decent old photo too.
Castle Road, Roath, Cardiff. The Sankey residence was the second house on the left. The Roath Park Hotel can bee seen on the right.
In 1879 he won a scholarship to Cardiff Proprietary School, Dumfries Place which his uncle Charles Sankey had been involved in setting up a few years previously. Some of you may remember the building – it became the Cardiff Student’s Union for a time before being demolished.
It seems he didn’t stay at Cardiff Proprietary school for long as by 1881 John Sankey was attending Lancing College in Sussex paid for through the charity of Canon F J Beck, of St Margaret’s Roath. In 1885 he went to Jesus College, Oxford, graduating with an Honours degrees in 1891 in classics, history and civil law.
St Margaret’s church Roath and Canon Beck
The 1891 census tells us that John Sankey, aged 26, a student of law, was living with his mother and Uncle’s family in Whitchurch, Cardiff. What was wrong with Roath I wonder? Don’t worry, they do return.
In 1892 John goes to London to further his legal training to become a barrister at Middle Temple.
After qualifying he returns to Cardiff and quickly makes a name for himself as a good barrister. For the next 15 years or so the newspapers are full of details of cases he was involved in. I was attracted by the amusing name for one case: Moses v. Solomon. William Moses, a traveller in silver plate, was bitten by a retriever dog in Canton, Cardiff, owned by Mr Solomon. Mr Moses was represented by John Sankey and won the case.
In 1897 he joined the freemasons in Cardiff, becoming a member of the Prince Llewellyn Lodge. That same year he is reported as chairing a meeting of the Cardiff Law student’s debating society at the Council Chamber in the Town Hall, all very much evidence of him integrating into Cardiff society.
In the 1901 census, we find John Sankey, Barrister of Law, living with mother and sister Edith at ‘Croxdale’, 239 Newport Road. Again, using street directories of the time and old maps it has been possible to pinpoint the house as being opposite the Royal Oak and tram terminus, with the athletic grounds behind them. The street has also been re-numbered and it is now 343 Newport Road. I haven’t been quite so lucky in finding a photograph of the actual house this time but it was close.
Although their house was opposite the Royal Oak I suspect he wasn’t regularly to be seen supping a pint of Brains Dark. He had strong Christian beliefs. He was for some years a sidesman at St Margaret’s parish church, Roath. In 1907 Roath Vestry were discussing the need to replace John Sankey as it was known he would soon be leaving for London.
The tram terminus outside the Royal Oak, Newport Road with the Sankey residence being just off picture to the left. 343 Newport Road today.
This was a time for change in the Church. For many centuries the church and the state had been intertwined and the church had a certain say over legislation. The church in Wales was about to be disestablished i.e. separated, from the state, which had great support among the Welsh non-conformists. This wasn’t to the liking of many in the Anglican church and indeed in 1909 John Sankey was invited to speak in Cardiff at the Park Hotel at a protest meeting against the government’s Disestablishment Bill, alongside the Lord Bishop of St David’s. That made him a supporter of antidisestablishmentarianism (I hope you appreciate how I have been able to weave in that word, the longest in the English dictionary and one too long to use on a Scrabble board).
1909 also saw John Sankey leave Cardiff and move to London as he was appointed a K.C. (Kings Council), i.e. appointed by the monarch of the country to be one of His Majesty’s Counsel learned in the law. Called taking the silk on account of the silk gowns worn by a K.C. That same year he was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Llandaff.
A young John Sankey (right) with solicitor George David who also lived on Newport Road and said to have employed Sankey when young and given him his first brief.
At this stage it is evident that he harboured some political ambitions. In 1910 he stood in the Council election in Stepney, London for the Municipal Reformers, a party allied to the Conservative party and in support of competitive contracts.
Meanwhile his legal career is going from strength to strength. In 1914 he was appointed a High Court judge in London. During WWI he was Chairman of the Enemy Aliens Advisory Committee, reviewing cases of interned Irishmen. To top it all in 1917 he was knighted.
Returning to ecclesiastical matters, the Church of England and Wales was about to be separated. This was delayed by WWI but in 1920 the Welsh Church Act when English Ecclesiastical law ceased to exist as law of the land in Wales. In preparation for this a new constitution of the Church in Wales was required. John Sankey is regarded as being at the forefront in drawing up that constitution which is still in place today.
In 1919 Lloyd George appointed him Chairman of the Coal Industry Commission the findings of which were known as the Sankey Commission. It recommended that the coal mines be nationalised. This was quite remarkable coming from a man who until now had leanings to the Conservative party and for a man who grew up in Cardiff, a city based on wealth generated from a privatised coal industry. It is said that this experience turned him from being an orthodox conservative into a Labour Party supporter
Fast forward ten years to 1929 and we see John Sankey’s political and legal careers merge as he is appointed Lord Chancellor and a member of Ramsey MacDonald’s cabinet. He holds that position in the Labour and National governments from 1929 to 1935. The Lord Chancellor was also the presiding officer of the House of Lords and the head of the judiciary in England and Wales. Not bad for a man who grew up on City Road!
Ramsey MacDonald Socialist Cabinet 1929. Sir John Sankey is sitting second from right.
Let’s not stop there however. He becomes Chairman of the Indian Federation Committee of the Round Table Conference, part of a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India.
In 1931 he was created a Viscount and in 1934 he was a awarded Freedom of the City of Cardiff.
National Government of 1933 containing three Prime Ministers: , Neville Chamberlain (standing 2nd from rt), Stanley Baldwin (sat 2nd left), Ramsay MacDonald (sat centre), with John Sankey sitting bottom right.
In 1940 he gave his name to the Sankey Declaration of the Rights of Man. This had strong input from author H.G.Wells. This in turn led to the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. Here are the suggested rights, in short. Right to nourishment, housing, health care and mental care : right to education : right to have home and private property protected : right to work and earn and be free from slavery : right to move freely about the world : right to public trial and to detention for a short fixed time only : freedom from torture and degrading or inhuman treatment : right not to be force-fed nor stopped from hunger strike if you so choose : and right to finite imprisonment terms.
At sometime too in these later years he was a British member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.
He died on 6 Feb 1948 in London leaving in his will £85,000 to his devoted spinster sister Edith, his servants, his old school in Lancing, Jesus College Oxford (to be used for students progressing to the Bar) and the Church in Wales to be used at the discretion of the Bishop of Llandaff.
He never married and was a strong promoter of Anglo-Catholicism. He was devoted to his mother who in her later years moved from her house in Newport Road to live with him in his residence in Dean’s Court, next to Westminster Abbey.
He loved walking, twenty to thirty miles was nothing to him when he was in form. As a golfer it has been said he was one of the worst ever but a delightful partner on the links.
He is buried is buried not in Cardiff but in his place of birth, Moreton in the Marsh where his mother and father were buried.
The grave of John Sankey in Moreton in the Marsh (Photo – Ted Richards 2021)
Newspaper articles throughout a person’s life often fail to mention their character but obituaries do. Here’s some of his characteristics drawn from those obituaries: Gentle. Strict adherence to the rules of fair play. Popular. A large and solemn man. A man of strong opinions, but at the same time admired for his impartial application of the rule of law. He gained a great reputation for brevity and conciseness in exposition. A kindly courteous man. Never too busy to talk to old friends. Never in a hurry but always getting there in time.
John Sankey relaxing – Illustrated London News
So next time you are walking down City Road feeling a bit peckish, pop into the SouvLike Greek restaurant, order some halloumi or moussaka and imagine yourself in the room where the young Viscount Sankey, future Lord Chancellor, did his homework in front of a roaring coal fire.
Souvlike, City Road, Cardiff, childhood home of Viscount John Sankey
I first picked up the achievement of John Sankey when watching a smashing video of Professor Norman Doe delivering a talk at St David’s Cathedral. Prof Doe’s paper was also illuminating: N. Doe, ‘The centenary of the Church in Wales: the formation of its Constitution remembered’, in Z. Horak and P. Skrejpkova, eds., Pocta Jirimu Rajmundu Treterovi (Prague: Leges, 2020) 115-126
The following interesting additional insights into John Sankey have kindly been provided by Richard Glover, currently Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Wolverhampton and author of the textbook Murphy on Evidence (Oxford):-
Sankey’s most famous case was Woolmington v DPP, which firmly established the principle of the presumption of innocence in the law of England & Wales, but is also famous across the common law world. He’s often seen as a fairly conservative character, but he was close friends with the radical Harold Laski, among others and declared he shared his beliefs. He may also be the only lord chancellor to have appeared on a trade union banner, in recognition of his coal report. In his account of his ‘Last Months of Lord Chancellorship’ in the National Government he also relates that he told Ramsay MacDonald how, like MacDonald, he had known what it was to be hungry. So, if he’s to be believed, it may be that his family struggled financially, perhaps before the move to Cardiff.
The area we know today as City Road was once an insignificant strip of land created in medieval times when the ecclesiastical boundaries of Roath and Cardiff were drawn up by the Church. The area began as a narrow, uneven muddy dirt track, the western side of which lay in the small parish of Cardiff and the eastern side in the hamlet of Roath. The middle of the track was disowned by both parishes and consequently was severely neglected for hundreds of years, hence its name of Plucca Lane, (Plucca is Welsh for muddy). The alternative spelling of Plwcca is also used sometimes.
1789 map of Roath with Plwcca Lane marked with a dotted line towards the left and side. Note the milestone marked near the Elms (still in the grass by the old Roath library)
The dirt track ran from the Long Cross, a tall boundary cross placed by Payne De Turberville which originally stood near the junction of what is now Newport Road and City Road, to heathland to the north of both parishes. The surrounding area of land was also once muddy uncultivated land, where rushes originally grew hard by the lane and mats were made of them and sold in the town for domestic purposes.
For hundreds of years, outside the northern end of Plucca lane between the boundaries of Cardiff and Roath was an area used for executions. It isn’t known whether gallows were a permanent structure on the site, but in relation to other areas there were not that many executions over the years, so it is likely that a temporary structure was used each time, possibly using the cart that the prisoner was conveyed in. The condemned would be tethered to a wooden frame and dragged behind a cart from the gaol in St Mary Street or the Castle through what is now Queen Street, to Newport Road, then left into City Road and up to what is now the junction of City Road, Albany Road, Richmond Road and Mackintosh Place. Depending on the sentence, the unfortunate would be hanged until dead, or hanged drawn and quartered whilst still alive. The remains would either be left there to rot or taken away by relatives for secret burial. Public executions ended in 1868, and from then, the condemned were executed within the prison walls.
Plaque on the side of the Nat West bank on Crwys Road marking the site of the gallows.
1800: Plasnewydd Mansion was built around this time
1801: The Common heathland to the north of Plucca Lane was enclosed and the parcels of land sold off by Cardiff Council often at a loss.
1830: The habitation at this time consisted of Roath Castle and six small cottages in two fields.
1839: The first Bute Dock was built by the second Marquess of Bute and the need for housing set loose a tidal wave of housing development that would change the face of Plucca lane and Roath entirely. But development of Plucca Lane was hindered by constant disagreement between Cardiff and Roath Health boards. It had been agreed by both sides that the developers were initially responsibly for improving the pavements and putting in kerbs, but when a complaint was made about the developer’s failure to put in kerbs their side of the road, they responded by saying that the council had not produced their plans showing how high the pavement and kerbs should be.
1840 Tithe Map of Roath with Plucca Lane running from top to bottom in the centre. Plasnewydd (later called the Mackintosh) is seen leading off Plucca Lane
1856: At a Cardiff Board of Health meeting, Councillor John Batchelor (who at the time lived at Talworth House in Plucca lane) complained that there were now 30 houses in the lane and they were all without street lamps. Charles Crofts Williams from Roath Health Board replied that he supposed that the poor gas company would have to bear the cost of installing lamps, and Batchelor retorted that the poor gas company could afford to erect splendid houses at their works.
1857: Advertisement for new villa
Sale of neat well-constructed villas Plucca Lane Roath
To be sold at auction by Mr Abbott.
At the Queens Hotel on Friday 28 August 1857, two substantially built semidetached villas situate and being nos 12 and 13 Plucca Lane in the Parish of Roath. Consisting each of four bedrooms, two parlours, large kitchen, with cupboards and good scullery, walled garden, 145 feet from front to back entrance, supplied with water from the company’s main.
They are neatly fitted up with iron palisading and grass plot at front. Held on lease for 99 years. Ground rent £7.14 s.
Nos 14 and 15.-Same but with excellent spring water pumps to each villa.
Every care has been taken fitting up the above villas. Excellent opportunity for those at the Bute Docks as it is situate in a direct line and easy walking distance from there.
They are a few yards from the Turnpike Road in consequence of which avoid unpleasantness of the dust.
Residence in that healthy and delightful neighbourhood is much sought after, but cannot be abandoned by all who seek them.
The auctioneer went on to say that interest has been secured on three of the houses of which two have been let to respectable tenants at £20.00 per year and the other being a corner shop and bake house.
1857: John Batchelor sent a letter in March to the Chairman of Cardiff Board of Health as he was unable to attend in person. He complained of the disgraceful and almost impassable state of Plucca Lane and the offensive state of the ditches either side. He said that the road is in such a condition that it is dangerous to life and property and the ditches of such a character (so many houses draining into them) that when Spring rains shall have ceased scouring them, they will be detrimental to public health. The surveyor was ordered to repair the lane and the inspector of nuisances to prevent privies from being emptied into open ditches.
1858: Advertisement in local newspapers on 6 February 1858 from John Homfray Esq
Penlline Castle offers for sale at auction
To Colliery and Distillery Proprietors, Timber Merchants and Others:
…Lot 2, 24 oak trees numbered with paint 8 ash trees and a quantity of pit wood and cordwood growing on the land occupied by Mr Hemmingway [John Batchelor’s old residence] Plucca Lane who will show lot 2.
1861: Mr Dalton, the Clerk of The Peace issued a legal statement that Cardiff Local Board of Health had to repair 598 yards commencing at the old Turnpike gatehouse in Newport Road and running down the lane, the remaining portion of the lane was to be repaired by Roath local Board and Parish of Roath. There were now 19 inhabited houses and 9 uninhabited houses in the lane, with plans for more residences being submitted.
1863: Houses in Plucca Lane are numbered in September that year.
1865: Development had started at the Newport Road end of Plucca Lane but there were still major problems in the rest of the lane. In the winter the path way was impassable because it was knee deep in mud and during the summer one would be covered in dust. In some places the pathway was 12 feet higher that the cart track and in others about a foot lower where stagnant pools of water lay.
Scavengers carts were employed to clear up the rubbish thrown out into the streets by the residents but they rarely visited Plucca Lane as the contractors said it was optional whether they came or not to this lane. Complaints were often made by residents that the water carts employed to dampen down the dust in Summer, were seldom seen in the area.
A rate payer complaining to the Cardiff Times in February that year said that the Cardiff Surveyor had recently been seen inspecting the conditions in the lane but had only ventured as far as the Canteen (a wine merchants not far from the southern entrance) before making his retreat.
1874: After finally receiving thoroughfare status, Plucca Lane ditched its notorious name and was Officially named Castle Road in deference to the nearby mansion known as Roath Castle, formerly Plasnewydd.
1880 map of the northern part of Plucca Lane, again marked with a dotted line indicating the Cardiff-Roath boundary. The four-way junction near the top was later to become a five-way junction when Mackintosh Place was built. (map from Old-Maps.co.uk)
1883: The narrow entrance to Castle Road from Newport road is improved and widened by the demolition of Longcross House which was by now an eye sore on the corner of the junction.
1880 map of lower Plucca Lane. St Peter’s church now built. Talworth House still standing on Plucca Lane (top of map). At the bottom of the map can be seen Tredegarvillle School built but the Infirmary not yet built.
1889: There were now 154 properties in Castle Road, 101 of which were also commercial enterprises and 53 were private residences.
P Dyer, Castle Road, Roath, Cardiff
John Hopkins Drapers, Castle Road, Roath.
1906: Cardiff received City status in 1905 and in 1906 the name of Castle Road was changed to City Road.
Thank you to one of our members Pat Jones for writing this article.
The appearance of a City of Cardiff bicycle hire rack in City Road inspired me to have visions of the past – velocipedes (boneshakers) and ordinaries (penny farthing bicycles) hurtling up and down Heol y Plwca or Castle Road (as it later became known in the 1870’s), on a road surface that was little more than a dirt track with ruts. Most of these cyclists would have been members of the middle class and very few of them women. To ride a Penny Farthing one needed to be fit, active and male and not encumbered by long heavy skirts and layers of petticoats. The middle aged rode tricycles and quadricycles and from 1881 to 1886 more tricycles were built in the United Kingdom than bicycles. They were more expensive, perceived as more genteel and were thought to be more suitable for women from middle class families. With the emergence of the safety bicycle more women began to participate in cycling. It was seen as part of the struggle for their social independence and critics were concerned by the risqué clothing they wore, such as divided skirts or bloomers. Cycling was not embraced by the working class until after World War 1 when it was a means of travel to work (to the docks?) and an alternative to public transport.
Cycling still popular today in the busy City Road.
The earliest known cycle dealers in Castle Road (now City Road) were Wheeler and Company trading at 10 Castle Road in 1889. By now James Starley’s Rover safety bicycle had evolved to the extent that it had the appearance of a modern bicycle and was no doubt available from Wheelers’ cycle depot, complete with such refinements as Dunlop’s pneumatic tyres (1889) and the Silver King oil cycle lamp produced by Joseph Lucas of Birmingham (1879). Electric batteries appeared after 1890.
Tandem cycles made their appearance in 1886 and the Cyclists Touring Club announced that ‘ladies, like luggage are wisely consigned to the rear’. The Kennard Cycle Company followed in 1894 at 20 City Road at least until 1924. By 1937 they had moved to 195 – 201 Richmond Road where they advertised themselves as agents for Raleigh bicycles. The Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham had been founded in 1888 and became the largest cycle manufacturer in the United Kingdom. They probably also sold bicycles manufactured by the Hercules Cycle and Motor Cycle Company, founded in 1910. The business prospered and by 1935 the company produced 40% of the total output of the United Kingdom, largely due to the adoption of mass production methods.
Worrell & Co – not in City Road this one but on Cowbridge Road, but the City Road branch may well have looked similar.
By the decade beginning in 1910 there were three cycle dealers including the Worrell brothers who took over the former Wheeler premises at no. 10. Expansion really came in the 1920’s, when there were 10 outlets in what was by now City Road. This included a branch of the Halfords Cycle Co. Ltd. founded in Birmingham in 1892. The City Road branch opened in 1929 at 210 City Road and closed in 1972. They were of course agents for Raleigh bicycles including the Raleigh Chopper in 1970’s. The Moulton folding bicycle had been developed in 1960 and the patent rights were sold to Raleigh in 1967.
Halfords was the last recorded cycle shop in City Road.
Halfords on City Road just on the left of the picture (Pic: Wales Online)
Refurbishment work on 211 City Road in 2017 temporarily uncovers this old cycle shop sign (Cardiff Now and Then FB page)
Roath Local History Society 