Dancing, Taff Swim, iron horse – cherished memories of our park
IN 1994 Cardiff’s Roath Park celebrated its centenary and I had the pleasure, indeed the honour, of providing the words to Roath Park Centenary 1894-1994: A Postcard Souvenir. I told of how the opening of Roath Park on June 20, 1894, almost brought Cardiff to a standstill.
Thousands of people, some from far away places, lined the route of the carriage procession which made its way through the city to Roath Park for the ceremonial opening.
Over the years, Roath Park has become a cherished place in the hearts of thousands of Cardiffians and it has been an important feature of our capital city.
Before its construction this 130acre common land was known as a “malarial bog” and the original estimate for its building was £40,000, but the final cost was around £70,000.
At the time of its building the houses in Wellfield Road, Ninian Road, Ty Draw Road, Mackintosh Place and Lake Road East had yet to be built.
Fast forward to the 1930s and the open-air dancing that was staged there proved a huge success and there was even talk of laying a cement dance floor around the bandstand.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 people enjoyed the music with crowds on the esplanade and round the dancing enclosure.
Earlier, on weekdays in summer time, around 600 people could be seen swimming in the lake.
However, there was no mixed bathing in those days so the ladies and gentlemen had to keep to their own swimming areas.
Some Cardiffians will remember the annual Taff Swim which was sponsored by the South Wales Echo.
This prestigious event attracted such stars as Paulo Radmilovic who won gold medals for water polo and swimming at the Olympic Games between 1906-1920.
The Taff Swim had been held in the River Taff but moved to Roath Park in 1931.
That was until pollution of the lake rendered swimming inadvisable and it was declared off-limits to swimmers in 1960.
Hard to believe now that there was a Roath Park Annual Aquatic Carnival dating back to 1911. This event included rowing as well as swimming races and also entailed some “crazy races” such as the plank and shovel race, where contestants lay face down on a plank and propelled themselves along with a shovel. The Captain Scott memorial lighthouse clock tower was erected in 1915 as a memorial to Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition and at one time the figure head of Scott’s ship the Terra Nova was on display in the park.
As a young lad, Roath Park with its children’s slide and iron horse which sat six of us young kids, was a regular haunt.
Later on as a Roath (Cardiff) Harrier I ran lap after lap around the park and later still more happy memories of taking our grandson there every Friday evening.
What are your memories of Roath Park?
YOU WRITE:
DAVID Yorath: “Thank you for your recent article and picture of the Coronet Cinema in Woodville Road.
“I had the good fortune to live three doors away from the bug house from 1935 until it closed. It was the main source of family entertainment. It had two different programmes each week – Monday to Wednesday and Thursday to Saturday. It was closed on a Sunday as was every other cinema at that time.
“When I was a child I went with family members to see both programmes twice.
“As if that wasn’t enough, I also joined most of the local children in the ‘tuppeny rush’ on a Saturday afternoon although I must admit that I actually went in the three-penny seats.
“Those B movies and in particular the serials, mostly Westerns starring Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry, were the high spot of my week. My top memory though was of the time the projectionist took me into his projection box to show me how he actually showed the films to the adoring masses. I had bragging rights in school for weeks after that. Happy days despite the war!”
■ Please send your memories 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.