Recent Posts

I am researching my family tree and have relatives who lived at 7 Moon Street, Adamsdown. This has now been demolished, can somebody tell me when ?

Does anyone know if the GKN employment records are held for research purposes, for the years 1910 to 1938.

I am researching my fathers family history. He was born in 1919 at 30A Cowbridge Rd. His mothers name was Elsie Harriet Russell and was a domestic servant at 79 Romilly Rd. I would be grateful if anyone can give me any information regarding the above. ie. Who did she work for or if there are any other known relatives?

Dear Sir, Thankyou for the reply. I too have looked at numerous old photos of Cardiff. You have described the place perfectly. The "bingo" machines as we used to call them were made by Bally & I seem to remember 2 of them on the left of the entrance as you walked in & as you say the football table was around the back to the right. The guy running the pllace was called Eddie & most of the time we went in (always late at night & as you say with nothing better to do!) a girl called Shirley was serving at the hatch. There is good reason why the food left a lot to be desired but I dont think this is the type of forum for that dicussion. LOL. It would have no chance of running today with all the laws n restrictions, so it was definitely of its time but it conjours nothing but fond memories. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. It is most appeciated.

In answer to the question about the Top Hat cafe. I remember the Top Hat very well as I spent a lot of time there in the late 60s early 70s. More often than not it was after having been to the Revolution or Moon club in town. The Top Hat attracted the night owls and those wandering the streets in the early hours with nothing better to do. Countless mugs of tea were drunk in there but the food left a lot to be desired! The main attraction was the gambling machines. They were pinball tables without flippers and with lots of holes for the balls to fall into. Features would light up on the top screen and you could manipulate these with buttons on the top of the machine in order to form lines. The credits that you won could be exchanged for cash(sixpences). There was a football table in the back room and all the benches and tables were bolted down,for good reason! I have looked at numerous books and sites on Cardiff But have never found a photo of the Top Hat but can remember every detail.

I am doing some family reseach. I have found a census record for 1911 which states that members of the family that I am trying to trace were in Cardiff listed as "variety artists" on the night the census was taken. They are
two sons (20 and 18) and a mother and father. Apparently, the mother was a concert pianist. The census was taken on the night of 2 April 1911.  Would it be possible to try and trace where they would have been appearing at the time? The name was Seener.

If anyone can advise me as to where I can find information about a concert on that night, I would be very grateful.

Ruth

Hi Mole,

Thanks for bringing Clive Sullivan to my attention; when I get round to updating the site I shall be adding a profile of him to the list of famous Cardiffians.  For the benefit of other forum users, I did a little research and found this on the Wales Rugby League website:

"Clive Sullivan was born in the Splott district of Cardiff not far from the Cardiff Royal Infirmary, which was to play such a part in his early life. In his childhood and early teens Clive needed inumerable operations on his knees, shoulders and feet such that surgeons advised that he would be fortunate to walk normally."

Turns out it never stopped him from playing Rugby at the professional level!

Wikipedia also has a lot of information on him, and so has 100 Great Black Britains

Hope this helps...

All the best,

Matt

Hi there,

I could not find anything on 'Miss Cardiff' going back that far, as that only seems to be a competition that started in 2009; however...it is one of 22 regional heats in the 'Miss Wales' competition, which itself is a heat in the 'Miss World' competition.  The 'Miss Wales' competition started way back in 1963, and there is a list of previous winners on the 'Miss Wales' website.  The winner in 1972 was Eileen Darroch - maybe she was Miss Cardiff first?

Here's the link:  Miss Wales hall of Fame

Cheers,

Matt

Hi there,

I am interested in old trains and railways, but am by no means a buff!  I did a little bit of research and found information on British Rail's Derby Lightweight diesel multiple units.  In the wikipedia article, it mentions them running all over the country during 1954-1969 and as single units too.  I think the pullman style you are referring to looks similar to the train in the image, also from wikipedia.

I think pullman coaches looked more luxurious though, and considering you mentioned the 1940's (I could not find diesel units older than that) I cannot be sure if this is the train you may be thinking of...but hope it helps in some way.

British Rail Derby Lightweight (Single Car Units)
Derby Lightweight Single Unit (Image)

I had no idea that book existed so am going to source a copy for myself - many thanks for that information!

All the best,

Matt