FIGHT TO GET THE MESS OUT OF A MESS!
WHEN Darren ‘Buster’ Roberts was a police officer, he probably walked down Wharton Street countless times. The street, cutting through Cardiff’s city centre, runs the length of the historic Howells building and links the Hayes to St Mary Street and Golate, which leads directly towards the Principality Stadium.
It arguably could not be more central. But in his 22 years with South Wales Police, Buster (his mum calls him Darren, he says) never realised the street was home to a private members’ club sandwiched between a bar and a clothes shop – let alone one that would offer him a warm welcome when he retired from his policing career.
But now he’s fighting for the future of this place: the United Services Mess. The mess, as it’s known was initially founded by officers from Maindy Barracks in 1909 as a place to meet and relax but it’s since opened its doors to the wider public and counts different professions among its membership, from judges and firefighters to NHS workers and barristers.
This membership, though, is shrinking. There’s an almost ironic tension between the concept of a private members’ club and the need to get people through the doors in their numbers. But the mess is facing the same problems with which all hospitality businesses are contending (bills, business rates and staffing among them) – and with fears that it might not survive the next 12 months, Buster has been left with little choice but to try to save it.
“The membership of the mess is dwindling, and I believe this is due to people simply not knowing about us,” he tells Wales on Sunday.
“The last census showed in Cardiff that there were over 14,000 people that were serving or veteran military personnel living in the city.
“The only way we will be able to save one of Cardiff’s historical establishments is by recruiting new members. It is a fantastic safe place in the very heart of our capital city where everyone treats each other with respect and courtesy.”
The building itself – housed behind a sturdy deep-blue door between the Glassworks and Coco Blush boutique – is stuffed to the rafters with military memorabilia, which covers almost literally every inch of some walls. The plush red seats, historic rolls of honour and pictures of notable military personnel – like Group Captain Lionel Wilmot Brabazon Rees, the only Welsh aviator to be awarded the
Victoria Cross when he shot down several Gotha bombers in the First World War – have barely changed over the years.
But the mess’ outlook has. Women and men are equally welcome and there’s a real drive to attract younger members to ensure this unique organisation’s future.
Having spent more than two decades with South Wales Police and another nine previously with the RAF police, if anyone should have known about the mess’ existence, it would be Buster. But he wasn’t aware of it until he was invited to a social evening where he immediately felt the camaraderie that many miss when they leave police and armed forces jobs.
“It’s just a bunch of people with similar life experiences,” says Buster.
“You know when you walk into a place and immediately feel straight at home, comfortable and welcomed? It was that from day one when I joined the mess. There hasn’t [previously] been an active recruitment. It was always done by friends of friends who became members.” Now, the appeal is more active. “We want more normal everyday professional people, good people, to enjoy it. Members support each other; if they’re not well, people will go and help them out.”
This appeal has been partly achieved by a lick of virtual paint to the mess’ official website and a renewed push for events – with a big screen to show rugby matches and quizzes, as well as dinners and games nights.
Buster is keen to point out a big event coming up in the calendar – Armed Forces Day on Saturday, June 29.
The mess is the only place in Cardiff hosting an official event, and any serving or veteran military personnel are welcome to visit free of charge.
When we first visited the mess in 2019, Tony Lewis – now its honorary vice-president – told us it would have been “heaving” on a Friday night.
A member since 1979, Mr Lewis said: “There was a bank with four branches in Cardiff and on a Friday night they would send a young clerk over to save a table for them all. Now we have to put on events to survive.
“It is certainly still important to those who come here, especially those involved in the military. It’s the camaraderie – and it’s a part of Cardiff.”
The building was once leased by James Howell who founded the department store Howells right across the street. It’s believed that before being used for the mess, Howells used the building as storage for stock and as some offices.
After the mess was set up the first president was Lord Tredegar who took part in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. Throughout its long history the mess has also been visited by several Royal family members.
One of the rooms is dedicated to HMS Cardiff which has long shared a relationship with the mess.
In 2007 the bell of the former ship was formally handed to Mr Lewis by the ship’s last captain, Commander Mike Beardall. The Cardiff Room in the mess is full of memorabilia and parts of the actual ship, and is where the former crew hold their reunion meetings.