When Cardiff put on a show and played host to Empire Games

IN 1958, athletes, coaches and umpires from across the world came to Cardiff.

And despite there being repeated rumours in the decades since that Wales will bid to host what is now known as the Commonwealth Games again, so far, it has happened just once – 60 years ago this year.

At the time there were doubts the smallest country ever to have hosted the Empire and Commonwealth Games could do it. There were to be double the number of competitors and officials than had been in Vancouver four years earlier.

But by the time the 1,122 athletes returned to their 35 countries and dependencies no-one was in doubt, Wales had pulled off being the host of its biggest-ever sporting event.

The whole city played it part – as well as places way outside the capital.

Wales had waited its turn. It had been due to host the 1946 games but that event was cancelled because of World War II. The 1958 games had nine sports which were featured in the Cardiff Games – athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling.

To get ready, preparations had begun months before as money had to be raised and venues prepared. The pinnacle was building the new Empire Pool. It cost £650,000 and was described as a “palatial three-storey pool”.

The pool had officially opened on April 18, 1958. It was originally 55 yards with tiered tip-up red and grey seats. The diving boards were at the north end. The capacity for 1,772 spectators exceeded most covered entertainment venues of the time.

Around £65,000 had been spent improving the South Stand at Cardiff Arms Park, taking seating to 15,000 and the total capacity to 60,000.

The greyhound track was removed and turned into a six-lane cinder running track. Part of the turf had been removed for the field events. There were 300 volunteer stewards. Ahead of the opening, commentators said Cardiff was an “excellent meeting place” with a “friendly” welcome, streets “gaily” decked with flags and flowers. In front of City Hall, the flag of each country flew proud.

It was the sixth games, but the first time a baton relay had taken place – a tradition that continues today. It is believed that the idea for a Commonwealth baton relay was decided during the late 1950s by the Games Organising Committee.

Retired Royal Navy officer Commander Bill Collins worked with a team of local organisers, selected by athletic associations from all counties through which passed.

The silver-gilt and enamel baton was designed by Cardiff jeweller and former soldier, Colonel Roy Crouch. It was 40cm in length and 4cm in diameter and decorated with Welsh national symbols of a red dragon, daffodils and leeks, along with crowns representing the royal connection.

“VI British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Wales 1958” was inscribed on the baton, which was manufactured by Turner and Simpson, silversmiths, of Birmingham.

The relay set off on July 14, 1958, from Buckingham Palace travelling through England and all 13 Welsh counties on its way to Cardiff.

It went through Llangollen, Wrexham, Flint, Llandudno and Caernarfon before heading south down the west coast through Dolgellau, Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Haverfordwest, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea and Bridgend were also on the route before Aberdare, Brynmawr, Abergavenny and Newport then on to Cardiff.

The opening runner was Dr Roger Bannister, the first sub-four-minute miler. He was joined by fellow 1954 Games champions Chris Chataway and Peter Driver. the running route

A total of 664 athletes, including 32 schoolboys, were involved in the relay, which covered more than 600 miles over almost four days.

One of those was retired BT worker Norman Richards, who carried the baton in 1958 and then again in the Queen’s Baton relay in 2014.

“The 1958, Empire Games was the biggest sporting event of its kind ever held in Wales. I was 18 at the time – it was huge,” recalled Mr Richards, from Tonyrefail.

“The Empire Games not only attracted thousands of spectators, but it was broadcast all over the world on television and radio.

“It was also the first time that the Queen’s Baton Relay was introduced, so I really was holding a piece of sporting history in my hands.”

John Richards from Cardiff also took part. He was sent a certificate and note to thank him for taking part. “Thanks for the part you played”, it read.

An official car followed each runner and speeds were between 6.5 and 7.5 minutes per mile.

The athletes village was at RAF St Athan. Janet Parry-Jones, who worked at the games, remembers they were not staying in purpose-built villages as there are now, but “basic and simple” RAF camp accommodation.

Inside the athletes village, there were 1,500 beds, wardrobes, 6,000 blankets and the same number of sheets. Buses took the athletes from their temporary home to their stadia. The dining rooms were ready to feed 1,400 at any one time.

Entertainment in the athletes’ village included chess and snooker and writing tables were provided to write home as well as an on-site post office. Athletes walked around, some in traditional dress, others in baggy tracksuits with the badge of their country on the front. Runners and cyclists made use of the country lanes and running track for training and children gathered at the gate to gather autographs.

During his stay in Cardiff, Prince Philip toured the village, meeting athletes from across the Commonwealth. At 5.30pm, the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the stadium, greeted by the band and drums of the Welsh Guards.

The teams filed into the Arms Park stadium with Canada taking the lead and Wales – as hosts – at the rear. They passed metres from Prince Philip and some teams, like the Bahamas, had just a single competitor.

Each team paraded in their national colours, with the Australian team described in the newspapers the next day as resembling a “green crocodile” and the Welsh team “a flame in crimson and white”.

There were huge roars as the men and women of the Welsh team paraded past.

At 6.33pm, the last runner in the baton relay entered the stadium. Until then, the name of the last runner had been kept secret, but it was rugby player Ken Jones, then 36. Wearing a red vest with Welsh badge and white shorts, he completed a lap of the trap and handed the baton to the Duke of Edinburgh.

He handed the baton over to Prince Philip who told the crowd “I hereby declare the sixth British Empire and Commonwealth Games open”. Hundreds of birds were released to mark the occasion. The teams then left the stadium, replaced with a 500-strong choir and the ceremony ended with the Welsh and British national anthems.

Cardiff welcomed 35 nations and 1,122 athletes to compete between July 18 and 26.

Cardiff Arms Park was home to the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics events and tape was still