Awesome views for annual races at Penllyn Castle
MANY Cardiffians will remember the annual point-to-point steeplechases that were held at Penllyn near Cowbridge during the 1950s and 1960s.
They were organised by the Glamorgan, Pentyrch and Llangeinor hunts and the venue had been in days long gone the home of the Glamorgan Hunt Steeplechases.
This is how Ruffs Guide To The Turf described the course: “The course is right-handed and the pretty slopes under Penllyn Castle enable the races to be viewed without the assistance of a grandstand.
We also learn “the fences are made of birch and gorse” and that “most of them formed part of the natural countryside and no fence is jumped twice which speaks for its extent”.
The famed Anthony and Rees brothers from west Wales enjoyed early success at Cowbridge and it was there that the First Viscount Lord Tredegar, Godfrey Charles Morgan, whose equestrian statue can be seen in front of Cardiff’s City Hall, once won a race on his famed charger Sir Briggs which had carried him in the famed but ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.
The Western Mail back in 1907, told its readers: “Cowbridge is one of the few remaining old-fashioned meetings. Unlike Cardiff (this was the one at Ely 1855-1939) and Monmouth, it has no pretensions to the dignity of a club and perhaps it is the old fashioned flavour that it retains that causes it to enjoy such popularity.”
However, con men were in abundance at the April 1890 races and the Western Mail reported: “Outside the ring were the usual appliances for plucking the pigeons, such as the three-card trick and a sort of monkey lottery,new to Cowbridge.”
Back then the races were so popular
that Great Western Railway and Taff Railways laid on special trains from throughout the country to transport race-goers who used to flock to the annual Glamorgan Hunt Steeplechases.
Bunting would be strung up in the town and from the primrose-carpeted slopes of the natural grandstand the landed gentry would mix with vagabonds and rogues to witness the racing.
However, fast forward to the 1950s and 1960s when the point-to-point meetings were held there and there will be those who can remember some of the riders and horses that graced the Penllyn turf.
Horses such as Spurn Head, River Picnic, Mr Worth, Stoney Bridge, Chingley Golden Heart and Cardiff Princess to name just a few.
And riders such as Colin Davies later of Persian War fame, farmers Fred Mathias, Bill Jones, Jim Thomas, John Llewellyn, Wyndham James and Lloyd Jones who rode Chingley Golden Heart, a great favourite with enthusiasts.
Marion Thomas, Rose Harry, Jean Nuttall, Mary Williams, Celia Conley and Jackie Savage come to mind when one thinks of the women riders that competed there.
The first ever evening point-to-point meeting was staged at Penllyn and what a success it turned out to be with some 800 cars parked beneath the glades of picturesque Penllyn Castle.
It came about after three of the Glamorgan Hunt officials were invited to a wedding on the day of the races, and not wishing to miss either the wedding or the point-to-point decided to make it an evening fixture.
It was at this meeting that the famed Mariji gained her fifth success of the season finishing a long way in front of My Bluff.
However, the biggest cheers were reserved for 16-year-old Jackie Savage from Penarth who finished fourth on Whizz Bang 11.
Jackie, whose long golden plaits used to trail down her shoulders, weighed only 5st, which meant that she had to carry a stone more in weight in lead!
Jackie later won over the course on Dillwyn Thomas’s Cardiff Princess beating the highly rated No Credit.
Sadly, with the closure of the delightful Penllyn Racecourse in 1970 the Glamorgan, Pentyrch and Llangeinor hunts all had to find new venues and as I had began my racereporting career at this former National Hunt racing course it was a sad time for me too!
“I was interested in your article about Roath Park on April 17 in which you gave pollution as the reason for the banning of swimming in the lake in 1960.
“The main reason for the ban was the discovery of the cause of ‘swimmers itch’ that people suffered.
“At the time I was studying at Cardiff University where Dr David Erasmus discovered that the itch was caused by a parasite which lived part of its life in a pond snail. Its microscopic larva (like a mini-tadpole) swims between its two hosts and if it encounters human flesh on the way will attempt to burrow into the skin.
“Multiply this by several hundred and you get a rash which itches.
“Hence, after reporting his observations to the health authorities, Dr Erasmus suggested the ban on swimming.
“No doubt other forms of pollution were also part of the ban on swimming in the lake.
“I always read your fascinating articles and as a Cardiffian they often bring back memories – Morton Jenkins.”
Please send your stories and pictures to Brian Lee, Cardiff Remembered, South Wales Echo, Six Park Street, Cardiff CF10 1XR or email brianlee4@virginmedia.com – please include your phone number as I cannot reply by letter.