Clocks : Penarth

It’s time for more time pieces, this time my local clocks here in Penarth, south Wales.

Town Clock

First up is our official Town Clock. Located in the centre of a busy roundabout at the junction of Penarth’s main street and four other roads, this four-faced clock was designed to coordinate with the Victorian architecture for which Penarth is well known (the town rose to fame as a seaside escape for busy Cardiffians during the Victorian era). 

The clock, manufactured by renowned clockmakers J. B. Joyce & Co of Shropshire, was presented to Penarth by the local Rotary Club to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their local presence in 1987.

However, the current clock is not that clock. After ticking away for 20 years or so, the original clock started to lose time, showed different times on its different faces, and developed a degree of unreliability that locals found irksome. 

Apparently, the local water company stepped up to fund the purchase of a replacement town clock, which looks exactly the same as the old one and which was installed on Sunday 4 November 2018.

But what became of the old clock? Well, imagine my surprise when, just a couple of days after I had read the details of this replacement, my daily walk took me past Penarth Cemetery and there, plonked on the tarmac next to the old chapel buildings, was the clock. I have no idea what its long-term fate will be but the cemetery chapel is due to be renovated shortly so perhaps the old clock is being incorporated in that renovation in some manner.

Old Town Clock on the left, new on the right

Pier Pavilion clock

This is another tale of clocks being replaced. The original round Art Deco clock on the front of Penarth’s pier pavilion was presented to the District Council, in 1929, by a Mrs Esther Harris, partly in memory of her husband Hyman, who had long run a pawnbroker’s business in the town, and also in memory of her son Stewart, known as Solly, who was a casualty of the First World War. Private Stewart Ernest Harris, 8th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, was killed at Ypres on 26 August 1915, aged just 22.

The new, square clock was installed when the pier pavilion was refurbished in 2013, thanks to the generosity of locals Paul and Geraldine Twamley. This clock, which also has a pleasing Art Deco look, in keeping with the design of the pavilion, was made by Smith of Derby, clockmakers to the nation since 1856.

Public Library clock  

Penarth’s Public Library is a handsome building, built mainly of Pennant stone with Bath stone dressings, and it boasts the striking addition of a clock tower.

According to an article in The Cardiff Times, Saturday 17 September 1904, which was reporting the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the new public library (on 10 September), the District Council had ‘already voted a sum of money to provide a handsome tower clock in the tower, and Mr Robert Forrest has also generously expressed his intention of providing the necessary bell and striking apparatus.’ When the library opened on 30 August 1905, The Cardiff Times again reported the event (on 2 September 1905), including confirmation that Mr Robert Forrest had indeed ‘generously contributed £100 towards the cost of the clock in the tower.’

If you’re particularly fascinated by this clock, you can watch a very short video of it on YouTube, including its chiming of the hour. Prior to moving to Penarth, I looked at buying a flat in an old building opposite Penarth Library. The flat was nice, if small, and had a peep-of-the-sea view but I’m now very glad I didn’t buy it because I think the sound of the library clock striking not only every hour of every day, but also every quarter hour, might well have become very annoying.

Penarth : the old public baths

On a wet and blustery winter’s day, the idea of a swim in the sea doesn’t appeal much but how about a swim in a pool filled with heated sea water? If you had visited the south Wales seaside town of Penarth from the late nineteenth through to the mid-twentieth century, you could have indulged in just such a luxury.

The concept of public swimming baths was much discussed in Penarth in the 1870s, and took its first step to become a reality in October 1881 when the local Board of Health made the decision to proceed. Initial ideas for an open-air pool developed into something much more grand so that, when the Public Baths were opened to the public in 1884, the extensive facilities were housed within the rather magnificent building shown below.

The Western Mail of 21 July 1884 takes up the story:

The new Bath-house at Penarth, which boldly rears its front on the, as yet, unfinished esplanade and commands an uninterrupted view of the sea, forms one of the many works of improvement which have been carried out in that thriving town within the past few years. The history of the structure is worth telling.
About two years and a half ago the agent of the Windsor Estate (Mr. Robert Forrest), who ever since his appointment has manifested a laudable anxiety to make a popular watering-place of Penarth, turned his attention to the task of providing sea-water baths for the town, “dipping” in the open sea being decidedly unpopular in consequence of the roughness of the beach and the muddiness of the water. He began by instructing the Atkin’s Water Softening and Purifying Company to experiment as to the possibility of clearing the Channel water of mud without, at the same time, taking away its saline property. The experiments, which were carried out at the sole expense of Lord Windsor, proved entirely successful.

Sketch, Western Mail, 21 July 1884

About this time the Penarth Local Board, being moved thereto by Mr. T. R. Thompson, one of its members, took the matter up in the interests of the public and resolved to construct a bath. With this object they obtained from Lord Windsor a lease of a piece of land on the corner of Bridgman-road, fronting the beach and running some distance up the hill behind. Designs for a swimming bath 50 feet long were then prepared and the board applied to the Local Government Board for permission to borrow the money necessary to carry out the work. Mr. J. Thornhill Harrison, a Government inspector, was thereupon sent to Penarth to hold an inquiry into the matter. The project was opposed by some of the ratepayers, but the inspector decided to report in its favour, and at the same time to recommend the addition of a second swimming bath.
This recommendation led to a re-consideration of the whole scheme, and the board subsequently instructed Mr. H. C. Harris, A.I.B.A., their surveyor, and Mr. Harry Snell, the architect and surveyor to the Windsor Estate, to prepare a joint design for a first and second class swimming baths – Lord Windsor having generously consented to defray the cost of the former – and a number of slipper baths. From these plans the baths were built by Mr. John Jones, of Arcot-street, Penarth, who has carried out his contract on the most efficient and satisfactory manner. The total cost has been £7,500, the amount paid by Lord Windsor being about £3,000.

The article continues with a description of the exterior of the building, which, unfortunately, now lacks some of its distinguishing features:

The exterior is designed in the Renaissance style, the elevation being decidedly handsome. The structure is composed of blue lias stone, with Bath stone and white brick dressings. From the south-west corner rises a rather imposing octagonal tower, surmounted by a cupola. This tower is in reality nothing more than a glorified chimney stack, for its sole use is to carry away the smoke ascending from the boiler fires. The architects are to be congratulated on the success of their expedient for preserving the ornate appearance of the building, which would have been sadly marred by such an unsightly object as an ordinary chimney stack.
The upper stage of the masonry portion of the tower is enriched by sgraffito work, an effective kind of decoration, of which this is said to be the only example in South Wales. The subject of the design in each of the eight panels is the same – a boy driving a pair of dolphins – but the details are varied in every instance. The sgraffito work was executed by Mr. H. Wormleighton, of Lower Cathedral-road, Cardiff, who also sculpted an elaborate nautical design on the tympanum over the large front window.

Sadly, the boys and dolphins have now disappeared from their panels, though the nautical design on the main front tympanum still exists and is quite splendid. There are also sculptural designs in the tympanums over the side entrance to the building and above two front windows, though these have all been much eroded by the weather in the 125-plus years since they were carved.

Now for the Western Mail’s description of the interior of the building:

After mounting the flight of broad stone steps which leads up to the entrance the visitor finds himself standing in a lobby, and before him a pair of swinging doors with stained-glass panels, made by Messrs. Bell, of College Green, Bristol. Passing through these doors he enters the hall. The ticket-office will then be directly in front of him, while the first-class slipper and swimming baths will be on his right hand and the second-class baths on his left. The roof of this hall and the woodwork of the ticket-office, as well as the partitions and doors of the slipper baths, which stand on either side, are of varnished pitch pine. There are three hot and cold water (or slipper) baths of the first-class, fitted with lavatories and other conveniences, and four of the second class. All these baths are made of Stourbridge ware, and can be kept scrupulously clean without any trouble. The basement underneath the entrance-hall contains the engine and boiler room, the well containing the pumps and a chamber for washing and drying towels. The manager’s residence is on the south side of the building.

Sketch, Western Mail, 21 July 1884

Unfortunately, I have not been inside the building so have no personal photographs to share but there is a delightful series of watercolours by artist Mary Traynor in the collection of Glamorgan Archives, some of which you can view in a blog on their website. 

The plug was finally pulled on Penarth’s old Public Baths in the 1980s when a modern leisure centre, with swimming pool, was built in neighbouring Cogan. For a few years, the old baths became a pub and restaurant, the nattily named ‘Inn at the Deep End’ but, when that closed, the building fell gradually into disrepair until it was converted into four separate apartments sometime in the early 21st century. Fortunately, many of the original interior features were retained during the conversion, as you can see in the gallery of images that accompanies this WalesOnline article from March 2013.

Grave matters : ‘The happiest man on earth’

Ninety-six years ago today, the self-proclaimed ‘happiest man on earth’ died in the Victorian seaside town of Penarth, in south Wales. I was intrigued when I read George Lewis Norris’s headstone in the graveyard of Penarth’s St Augustine Church and just had to find out more about him. The headstone reads:

Here lie the remains of
GEORGE LEWIS NORRIS
Overthorpe, 24 Plymouth Road, Penarth
Born 18th March 1852,
Died 10th December 1923
who lived and died the happiest man on earth, who was always busy doing good and trying to do good advising and helping those in trouble.

The first headlines that appeared when I searched the Welsh Newspapers website read ‘NORRIS CHEERED’ and ‘NORRIS UNSEATED’. I read on, dug deeper, and found a fascinating series of local events. Norris was both a champion of the poor and downtrodden, and a thorn in the side of the local authorities. I’ve summarised below the events of just two years, 1908-1910, taken from snippets in the local papers.

Evening Express, 1 February 1908, ‘”MOST INSOLENT LETTERS”’:

At the meeting of the Cardiff Board of Guardians [responsible for overseeing the functioning of the workhouse and local poor relief] to-day, the Clerk (Mr. Harris) reported that Mr. G. L. Norris had sent further correspondence concerning the price of bread and other necessities to the scattered homes at Penarth. Mr. Norris, it will be remembered, complained that the guardians paid more than they ought to, in the interests of ratepayers, for certain articles.

Norris waited outside the meeting room for four hours but the Board refused to see him.

Evening Express, 3 February 1908, Norris wrote to the newspaper:

Sir,—My Saturday's letter was addressed to the chairman and the 85 Cardiff guardians, and every guardian had a right to see the letter or hear it read. Ninety-nine per cent of the guardians had no chance of one or the other. The chairman read it himself, and because he could not answer a single line of the four foolscap pages said it was insolent, a very easy thing to say when you are beaten in argument. Fifty per cent of the guardians know absolutely nothing whatever of the business transacted in the board-room. That's what they tell me.
... If the order of things were reversed the ratepayers' pockets would be eased, and the poor, wretched persons whom I saw hanging round the door crying would have their stomachs filled.

There followed a series of letters and articles about the relative prices of bread of different loaf weights, in different towns, both contesting and supporting Norris’s claims of overpayment and the waste of ratepayers money, and Norris subsequently produced a circular outlining his concerns and claims.

Presumably it was the lack of response from the Board of Guardians and other persons in authority, combined with Norris’s desire to improve the plight of the local poor that prompted him, in April 1908, to stand for election in not one but all four of Penarth’s district council wards. Norris won two of those elections and chose to sit in the west ward, but the incumbent didn’t take his loss to Norris sitting down – he instituted legal action.

Evening Express, 14 June 1908

Evening Express, 16 June 1908:

Penarth was all agog this morning in expectation of pyrotechnics at the sitting of the Commission appointed to consider the petition to unseat Mr. George Lewis Norris, as member for the West Ward of the Penarth Urban District Council. Mr. Norris, the man of questions and motions, who has made things at Penarth very lively during the two short months he has held a seat on the council, delights to describe himself and his doings in the phraseology of the cricket world. He is, he avers, "100 (resolutions) not out," and he has frequently challenged the whole of the council and others to put him out.
To-day one of "the others," to wit, the man whom he defeated in the West Ward (Mr. W. L. Morris, who had held a seat on the local authority for twenty years), took a turn at trundling, backed by an array of legal talent, whilst Batter Norris stood up at the wickets alone and unaided.
It will be remembered that Mr. Norris contested the four wards of Penarth at the district council election in April, and was returned for two – the North and West. He decided to sit as the representative of the West Ward. Thereupon, the defeated candidate, Mr. W. L. Morris, petitioned against Mr. Norris's election, alleging bribery and treating. It was affirmed that, prior to the nomination of candidates for the election, Mr. Norris issued handbills stating that he was going to give away so many threepenny bits, so many pennies, and so many lIb. of cake to the people of Penarth.

Weekly Mail, 20 June 1908

Evening Express, 18 June 1908, ‘NORRIS UNSEATED’, an article relaying, word for word, the judgement of electoral commissioner Mr Morton Smith K.C., in which he found George Norris guilty of bribery at the recent local body elections and therefore declared Norris’s election void.

Evening Express, 4 July 1908, ‘MORE CAKE AT PENARTH’:

Keeping his promise that whether he lost his seat or held it he would make a free distribution of cake, Mr. G. L. Norris made many children happy at Penarth this afternoon by presenting a quarter of a lb. of the luxury to about 400 or 500 boys and girls.
At the conclusion of the "ceremony," Mr. Morris called for cheers for various persons, and, of course, the children responded with a will.
Mr. Norris says he intends holding a public meeting at the Park-hall, Cardiff, or Andrews-hall, Penarth, "as soon as the weather permits.” He also intends giving a similar quantity of cake to the children of the West Ward, and he stated that his action was against the chamber of trade, whilst he reiterated his defence to the election petition—that he never had any idea of becoming a candidate when he bestowed the gifts.

Evening Express, 19 August 1908, the ‘NORRIS CHEERED’ article. Not content with removing Norris from his council seat, the police then decided to charge him with four counts of offering voters inducements of three pence or a penny, if they were to vote for him. A crowd of children cheered Norris’s arrival at court – perhaps they were hoping for more cake! The case later broke down at the assizes, the Grand Jury throwing out the case against him.

Evening Express, 7 December 1908

Norris fires off a ‘sheath of telegrams’ to various officials, including this one to Prime Minster Asquith: 

To Prime Minster, London
Five prosecutions in five months, four miscarriages of justice. Norris improperly unseated. Public inquiry demanded. What about my seat? What about my costs? Who is going to refund?—Norris, Penarth

Though he did succeed in having a question about his treatment asked in parliament, George Norris neither regained his council seat nor was he awarded any financial compensation. He did, however, continue to agitate against the actions – or, perhaps, the inactions – of Penarth’s district council, challenging them over various administrative matters, including their unprofitable running of the town’s public baths. And he continued to show compassion towards the local people.

Evening Express, 24 August 1910, ‘Mr Geo. Norris Weeps’:

It was as prosecutor that Mr. G. L. Norris, the well-known Penarthite, appeared at the local juvenile court to-day. The defendants were Albert Howell, George Parkman, Francis Hooper, Bertie Davies, and Albert Saddler, all Penarth lads, who were charged with breaking and entering Mr. Norris's house in Plymouth-road, Penarth, and stealing watches, rings, brooches, and other jewellery.
It was evident that the prosecutor was touched by the sight of so many boys in such a grave position, for he wept profusely. The house was broken into on Friday last, and Police-constable Borston gave evidence of arrest, when each defendant is said to have made a statement admitting his oonnection with the affair, and most of them produced some of the missing articles. Many of the articles, however, had, it was stated, been given away or otherwise disposed of. ... a week's remand was granted.

The Welsh newspapers have not yet been digitised past 1919 so I wasn’t able to check for any obituary following George Norris’s death on 10 December 1923. I did, however, find two items in New Zealand newspapers. His death notice in The Press, of 25 June 1924, states that he was formerly a wine and spirit merchant’s manager and that he left his estate, with a gross value of £14,289 19s 2d, to the town of Penarth. And I particularly enjoyed this article about his will in the Evening Star, 18

June 1924:

HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH

ODD WILL OF WELSH CELEBRITY.

Evening Express, 29 April 1908

Here lie the remains of G. L. Norris, who lived and died the happiest man on earth, who was always busy doing good and trying to do good, advising and helping those in trouble. G. L. Norris never knew his advice go wrong.
This is the epitaph with which the late Mr G. L. Norris, a Penarth celebrity, concludes his will, a quaint document by which he leaves over £14,000, chiefly for charitable and social purposes.
As it was his opinion that the great amount of deplorable poverty and destitution in the world was due to a want of proper training in the habit of thrift, Mr Norris left money for a “Good Character and Thrift Prize Fund,” the prizes to be savings bank books with deposits of 5s each. There are also swimming and other prizes offered to boys and girls who are to be kept informed of what is going by being able to see copies of the will hanging on the walls of the schoolrooms.
The prizes are to be distributed each year by the chairman or vice-chairman of the Penarth Urban Council on Mr Norris’s birthday, and at the distribution a sum not exceeding £l2 is to be spent on coffee, light refreshments, cigars, and cigarettes. Mr Norris bequeathed two boxes of cigars and two boxes of cigarettes annually “to be kept in the Penarth Council Chamber handy for any member who wants to smoke.”
Five pounds a year is to be given to the young couple about to be married whose joint bank books show the largest amount saved, and £3 a year to any man in the district “who will fat and kill the best and heaviest pig during the year.”
Mr Norris said he gave the latter prize “for the purpose of killing the silly, stupid, and ridiculous restrictions placed on pig killing by illogical and irresponsible cranks who could not, without the help of an experienced veterinary surgeon, possibly tell the difference between a young pig, a yelf, or a seven-year-old hog pig.”
Several prizes are offered for the cultivation of gardens and allotments by children and adults, but the donor placed a ban on people who bought German horse radish or Spanish onions. “I would doubly punish all members of the Government who in future allow these vegetables to come into the country,” added Mr Norris.

It seems to me that George Norris was a good-hearted man who was concerned about the level of poverty he saw about him and tried to do something about it, though perhaps not in the smartest of ways. Even commissioner Morton Smith described him, in the Evening Express, 18 June 1908, as 

a man of very peculiar temperament, and of an imaginative mind – in fact, a man who does not appreciate and regard things in the same way as others would, and does not in the least consider the affect of his language and his acts. In fact, the word “eccentric” describes the views I have formed about the respondent.

Three cheers for eccentricity, I say!

Bandstands : Penarth

Penarth is privileged to have two bandstands though one of them isn’t really a bandstand, more of a shelter from the rain or a covered place to sit. Let’s start with that one, which is in Penarth’s Alexandra Park.

This structure was installed in 1994 and actually replaced a wooden shelter that had previously stood in the same position but had been removed sometime in the 1950s.

The new construction is certainly elegant – I like the fine lines of its supporting posts but, unfortunately, it is no substitute for the original bandstand that once stood slightly further down the sloping site. You can see an old postcard of the original bandstand and wooden shelter on the Penarth Dock website here and a couple more old images on the same website here – note the amazing view at that time: it has since been obscured by growing trees and tall beach-side apartment buildings.   

The only real bandstand remaining in Penarth is the Victorian structure, shown above, in Windsor Gardens. Amazingly, it is the original bandstand, which probably explains why it is looking rather shabby these days.

The Penarth Parks website provides little information about this structure, except to quote an extract from the 1903 publication Mate’s Illustrated Penarth (W. Mate & Sons, Bournemouth):

There is a fine band stand, or shelter, and occasionally al fresco concerts are given, and sometimes of an evening the Gardens are gaily illuminated.

So, I looked back through the old Welsh newspapers to try to find more information. I found a reference to a Penarth Local Board meeting, held on 3 April 1894, at which a request for a band stand to be erected on the Promenade, made by the Cardiff Military Band, was considered and rejected. But, obviously, some people thought the idea had merit because I then came across the advertisement (shown at right), in the Barry Docks News of 20 July 1894, just 3½ months later.

The Windsor Gardens bandstand was duly opened on 25 July 1894. Here’s the following day’s rather brief report from the South Wales Daily News:

ILLUMINATION OF THE WINDSOR GARDENS, PENARTH.
GRAND MILITARY CONCERT.
Through the courtesy of Col. H. 0. Fisher, the band of the 2nd Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers, under the able oonductorship of Mr Paul Draper, gave a first-class military concert Wednesday night, in the Penarth Gardens. The occasion was the opening of new band stand, which is octagonal in shape, 20ft. in diameter, copper roofed, and recently erected by Lord Windsor, at a cost of £200. There were quite 1,500 to 1,600 present to witness the fairy-like appearance of the grounds, which were magnificently illuminated by Richardson and Company, Cardiff, with thousands of coloured lamps and Japanese lanterns. It is intended to continue a weekly (Wednesday) series of promenade concerts.

It almost sounds like the illuminations were more newsworthy than the band music, and, indeed, the trend for romantic illuminations continued. This is from the Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser of 10 August 1895:

A RARE MUSICAL ATTRACTION.
It has been left to private enterprise, in which however, the Estate has made important concessions, to give a fillip to the town's attractions by the series of nightly concerts now taking place in these charmingly situated grounds. To get Penarth to take an interest in herself is almost a Gargantuan undertaking, and it is therefore but a verification of this fact that these concerts have hitherto been but sparsely attended. There is nevertheless a rare musical treat nightly provided, and one has only to go once, to wish to go again. The artistes are of undeniable distinction in the musical world, the proof whereof it is easy and withal pleasant to verify by going to hear them.
On Bank Holiday, the weather unfortunately precluded a large attendance, but on Wednesday the numbers were more gratifying. The Orchestra gave magnificent renditions ... interspersed by solo singing by Miss Kate Hullett, G.S.M., whose classic and soulful rendering of "Kathleen Marvour neen” (amongst others), evoked pleasing applause. This soprano, although unused to al fresco singing, is heard quite 150 yards away and has a beautifully timbred, resonant, rich and mellow voice. The instrumental executants, par excellence, are Master Wm. H. Holden, and Master Chas. Holden, whose unique performances on the violin and cornet, respectively, are worth going a long way to hear.
To heighten the attraction, portions of the gardens are illuminated with fairy lamps, and guaranteed propitious atmospherical conditions, promenaders cannot fail to be charmed by the sense of sound and sight. The former almost goes without saying, and the latter is assured by the marine panorama below of gliding lights and shimmering waters. Such was it on Wednesday at any rate ...
If, then, any sentimental lad or lassie wish to test the veracity of this picture, let them hie themselves thither; and if the staid paterfamilias and his spouse desire to conjure up the courting days of yore let them also thither go – but, remember, Luna must be shining. Failing this fickle luminary one will then be repaid by the stars in the bandstand. Knowing the exclusiveness, the cliqueism and the setism of Penarth, the promoters of these Concerts have wisely determined not to impinge upon these idiosyncrasies and so have charged threepence for admission.

These days the bandstand is rarely used for its original purpose – in fact, such events are so rare as to be newsworthy: here’s a link to an article in the Penarth News of 12 July 2014, reporting on a concert being held ‘after a gap of many years’. It seems such a shame to me that this wonderful old bandstand isn’t better maintained and used – I rather fancy the idea of promenading through gardens illuminated by fairy lamps while listening to magnificent musical renditions.

Penarth : Church of the Holy Nativity

Another day, another anniversary, this time of the laying of the foundation stone for one of the local places of Christian worship, the Church of the Holy Nativity. It sounds like the event was quite a do – the local Lord and Lady did the honours, there was a procession, complete with brass band, and in the evening a social gathering was held. Here’s part of the report, and some sketches, from the Barry Dock News, 4 August 1893:

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY NATIVITY, COGAN.
LAYING THE MEMORIAL STONE BY LORD AND LADY WINDSOR.
SERVICE CONDUCTED BY THE BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE.
  

The little township of Cogan, near Penarth, was considerably enlivened on Thursday afternoon, the 27th instant, with bunting and other decorations in honour of the visit of Lord and Lady Windsor to lay the memorial stone of the new Church of Holy Nativity, which is in course of erection (on a suitable site between Cogan and Penarth) to meet the spiritual requirements of the churchpeople of the parishes of Llandough, Leckwith, and Cogan. The weather being favourable, there was a large gathering of the public, amongst those in attendance during the proceedings being the Right Hon. Lord Windsor (the lord lieutenant) and Lady Windsor, the Lord Bishop of Llandaff, Rev Canon Edwards. M. A. (St. Andrew's Rectory, who acted as the Bishop's chaplain) and Miss Edwards, Rev Canon Allen, M.A., rector of Barry ...

The new building has been attractively designed in what is known as the perpendicular style of architecture. It will accommodate over 300 worshipers, and the structure will consist of nave, transepts, chancel, south porch, heating chamber, vestries, and organ chamber. The material used is local limestone, lined with Cattybrook brick in bands. At the west-end there will be a bell-cote to hold two bells of pretty design, carried on an arch spring off buttresses. The total cost of the church will be about £2,500, including the boundary walls. Lord Windsor, the Lord Lieutenant of the county, has generously given the site, and his Lordship, together with Lady Windsor, graciously consented to perform the ceremony of laying the memorial stone. The silver trowel and mallet, with which this interesting work was performed, were of a handsome description, designed by Mr Fowler and supplied by Mr Tainsh, of High-street, Cardiff. The trowel bore the following inscription:--
“Cogan Mission Church of the Holy Nativity. The memorial stone was set by the Right Hon. Lord Windsor, 27th July, 1893."

The church sits in a prominent position on the approach road to Penarth and, although the article refers to the church being in Cogan, the boundaries between Penarth and Cogan have almost disappeared over the years and the church is now officially part of the parish of Penarth and Llandough.

The parish website reports that the church’s nave was ‘burnt out by incendiary bombs on 4 March 1941. The Chancel arch was filled in with bricks and the congregation worshipped in the Chancel until the restoration. The building was re-consecrated on 25 February 1952.’

Like many churches these days, this one is locked much of the time so I haven't seen the interior. I also couldn't locate the foundation stone so I presume it is inside the church.

Above, one of the side windows and the entrance porch. Below, the bell tower.

Penarth : Fake news!

It seems the concept of fake news is not a new one. One hundred and twenty years ago today this newspaper report related the ‘startling news’ of a meteorite falling in Penarth ... but did it?

Evening Express, 15 July 1899:
Startling news fills up the gap in the weather conversation this morning. A meteorite is stated to have fallen near the esplanade at Penarth ...

Seventy-nine people telephoned and telegraphed and called on us this morning to tell us of a meteor which fell at Penarth this morning. The office scientist wrote an account from hearsay, proving it to be the comet of 1817, just a bit used up, but active. Members of Cardiff scientific societies were of [the] opinion that it was a spoonful of meteoric matter out of the milky way. Then our matter-of-fact man took a bus there, and came back and said the strange thing was a mammoth rocket. The scientific people waiting here to hear about it proved immediately that the phenomenon was a successful endeavour of the men in Mars to signal us. Great excitement prevailed, until the news came that the rocket was a stray one from the life-saving station. Then the scientists invited us out to take to drink, and say nothing about it.

Penarth: the Dolly Steps

I must have been up and down this flight of steps a hundred times before, thanks to a local I know through social media, I found out they were called the Dolly Steps. (Thank you, Conrad!)

Looking up  from the bottom and looking down from the top

The steps lead down from Plymouth Road in central Penarth into an area known as the Dingle. There, huge old trees tower over a small stream that bubbles out of the hillside before meandering its way alongside Alexandra Park and on down to the sea.

The risers of these steps are incredibly shallow – taking the steps singly feels awkward but their treads are a little too wide to easily negotiate two at a time, unless you’re running. (I do not run!)

The reason for the design of the steps harks back to when they were created, in the late Victorian era. Women then still wore long, floor-length gowns and modesty prevented them from showing their ankles. The shallow steps allowed them to walk elegantly down to the seaside to take the air whilst still staying within the bounds of propriety.

Penarth : the billiard room with a view

I’ve always wondered about this ruin. It sits on the cliffs of Penarth Head and must have spectacular views over the port of Cardiff and Cardiff Bay, but looks to be sited in an incredibly precarious location, especially as the Penarth Head cliffs seem to be constantly crumbling.

So what was it? Well, it used to be a summerhouse-cum-billiard room for a mansion sited further up the cliff. The mansion was, rather appropriately, called Northcliff and, according to one of several articles about this location on the Penarth News website, ‘It was originally the home of one of the Batchelor brothers who had a shipbuilding business in Cardiff Docks.’ The Batchelor brother was John Batchelor, a renowned but controversial figure in 19th-century Cardiff (you can read more about him here).      

The location of John Batchelor’s former home is also attracting controversy in the 21st century. The original mansion was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with a rather ugly development of flats, as shown in the photo above. And late last year, Northcliff Lodge, a five-bedroom annex to the mansion, was also demolished and is once again being replaced with a controversial construction of ugly box-like apartments, much to the disgust of many local people and despite strenuous efforts to halt the development in the planning stages. It’s such a shame that so little value is placed on the history and heritage of Penarth ... and don’t even get me started on the horrendous environmental impact of the new development!

As to that billiard room with the incredible views ... well, it’s at risk of falling down the cliff at any moment but no one seems particularly bothered about that. There was a serious rock fall in the area in May 2013, which prompted the Cardiff Harbour Authority to erect some mesh-fencing to keep the public back from the bottom of the cliff. But the fencing is flimsy and the path is still within a couple of metres of the cliff bottom – if the structure above did fall while anyone was walking past, I doubt they’d live to tell the tale. Until it does fall, only the birds get to enjoy the billiard room with the million-dollar views.

Penarth : the opening of the pier

One hundred and twenty-four years ago this month, on 6 April 1895, the Penarth Pier was officially opened for marine passenger traffic.

The idea of a pier had been mooted for some time and there appear to have been several false starts. The article that accompanied the above sketch of the proposed pier, in the Western Mail of 29 September 1888, reported that ‘The present scheme is not by any means the first, for several projects for meeting this long-felt want—it is a want—have been conceived, and each in turn relegated to “lie in dead oblivion"’ but the Penarth Promenade and Landing Pier Company, a syndicate of London gentlemen, had ‘taken the matter in hand’. The design was ambitious:

The pier, which will extend from a point on the esplanade nearly opposite the swimming baths and the new Esplanade Hotel, will be constructed of cast-iron piles and columns, carrying wrought iron girders, deck planking, and ornamental iron railings. It will contain entrance lodges, shops, refreshment rooms, shelter places, lavatories, and a handsome pavilion, suitable for vocal and instrumental concerts and dramatic performances. The total length will be 600 feet, with a clear width of 30 feet between the railings, the head being 150 feet Iong, with a "T" end having an ordinary width of 50 feet. At the end of the pier, and communicating with the upper deck by easy steps, landing stages will be provided at different levels, so as to enable passengers to embark in or disembark from steamers, sailing craft, and boats at almost any state of the tide.
At the entrance lodges there is to be a collector's office, piermaster's office, cloak-room, and other rooms, and a kind of shelter-place for invalids waiting for carriages or chairs, whilst the shops —four in number will occupy a place 300 feet away, or about the middle of the pier, this part being widened out to a width of 50 feet. The refreshment and dining rooms are to be erected at the head, in the T end. The pier, in short, is to be constructed much after the model of the Brighton pier, so far as promenade purposes are concerned but, in addition to this, the Penarth pier will prove a powerful adjunct in landing from and embarking in vessels.

I’m not sure what stopped the 1888 venture from proceeding but the pier didn’t materialise and it wasn’t until 1893 that the project reared its head again. This time construction finally went ahead. The design is very similar to that proposed in 1888, as you can see from this new sketch (above) and article from the Evening Express of 1 December 1893:

The Penarth Pier is at last to be proceeded with, and the prospectus in connection with it will shortly be issued. A company has been formed, with a very influential directorate. The share capital will be £10,000, and debentures £5,000. The pier (of which a sketch is given) will be 653ft. long by 23ft. wide in the narrow portions. It will be constructed of cast-iron piles and wrought-iron or steel girders, with a timber deck, and will widen out at points to admit of the erection of shops, refreshment-rooms, and a grand pavilion, designed to seat 430 people. The pier will have its starting point from the Esplanade opposite the baths and Esplanade Hotel. The plans, we understand, are ready, the necessary powers have been obtained, and the contractor is now awaiting the signing of the contract. There will be a strong timber landing-stage, and it has been arranged for Messrs. Edwards and Robertson’s steamers to call regularly at the pier. It is expected that the total expenditure of the company will not exceed £14,000. The undertaking is one of considerable importance to Penarth, and will add considerably to the attractions of that increasingly popular seaside resort.

Photo taken in March 2016

By early 1895, the pier had been completed and was in use for promenading but it wasn’t until Saturday 6 April that the first passenger vessels called at the new landing stages. Break out the bunting and get that band playing! Here’s the report from the following Monday’s Evening Express (8 April 1895):

PENARTH PIER. OPENED ON SATURDAY FOR PASSENGER STEAMERS.
On Saturday the Penarth Pier, which has been already described in these columns, was opened for marine passenger traffic, and the Boonie Doon and Waverley stopped there on their way across the Channel, and on their return. Unfortunately, the weather was most unfavourable for the opening of the excursion season, rain falling incessantly, and a stiff breeze making the trips anything but pleasant. A good number, however, braved the elements. The Bonnie Doon left the Pier-head at Cardiff about 2.15, and was the first steamer to go alongside the new pier where there was a liberal display of bunting, and the approach of the steamer was announced by the discharge of rockets, to which the captain responded by blowing the steamer's hooter. A large crowd had assembled on the pier, where the Cogan Military Band played a selection of music. The first to step on to the pier from the boat was Mrs. Edwards, wife of Mr. Fred Edwards, who is one of the directors of the company. Mr. Edmund Handcock, jun., was the only other director present. A few minutes later the Waverley came alongside, and was received in similar fashion. The pier, as well as forming a pleasant promenade for the residents of Penarth and visitors to that popular watering place, will be a great convenience to those who desire to make excursions to the more distant points to which the boats run during the summer. In the past people living in Penarth have been unable to avail themselves as fully as they otherwise would of the marine trips, because they were unable to catch the last train to the suburb on their return to Cardiff, and had to take cabs home. At present there are only two shops on the pier, and those are situated at the shore end. One is for refreshments, and the other is a daintily-fitted fruit and flower shop.

The Waverley still occasionally calls at Penarth Pier. This photo was taken (through shrubbery so slightly obscured) in September 2018.

Photo taken in March 2017

Now, the astute amongst you may notice that the pier in my more recent photos does not exactly resemble the proposed pier in the 1893 sketch above. That’s because the pier, like so many such exposed structures, has suffered the occasional disaster during its lifetime but that’s a story for another day, another blog ...