Author Archives: Dean Atkins

Like many industrialised towns of South Wales, boxing was a popular sport and pastime, and the 19th and 20th century allowed renowned figures such as ‘Peerless’ Jim Driscoll and Joe Erskine to emerge from the docks area of Cardiff just as they did from other parts of Cardiff and the South Wales valleys. One ofContinue reading “The Boxers of Tiger Bay”

Sifting through various pieces of writing, I found this article which was intended to follow  a previous blog post: Standing around at the Station.  It was written last year as one of a series of articles exploring the place that religion has played in the growth and life of Cardiff, both yesterday and today. ThisContinue reading “When they sneeze, we cough”

‘The Lesson thou has taught’ The ninth article of faith is a plain wooden pulpit, although only a third of the original remains. So, let’s climb into it and look down over two very different people from the past: the successive nineteenth century vicars of St Mary’s Church for whom this pulpit proved so importantContinue reading “Articles of Faith 9: a Pulpit pulled down”

Straying saints and fast cities This screen seems solid, unmoveable, part of the fabric of the building. Yet it came from another church building now long gone, the former church of St Dyfrig. The church stood on Wood Street in an area of Cardiff once known as Temperance Town near Central Railway Station before theContinue reading “Articles of Faith 7: A Rood Screen”

The next article of faith is another letter from our archives and written to the successor of Fr Jones who retired as Vicar in 1903. The letter was sent just a year later from the rather ominously sounding “Royal Commission of Ecclesiastical Discipline” to the Reverend Gilbert Heaton. The Mystery Worshipper Pinned to the cornerContinue reading “Articles of Faith 6: Letter from 1904”

The Fabric of the Church The murals of St Margaret and St Winifred, two female saints, are part of the fabric of St Mary’s Church, a constant mark in the masonry, and a continued reminder of the work of certain women in the parish: the Sisters of the Society of St Margaret who came toContinue reading “Articles of Faith 5: Mural of St Margaret”

Between the Lines The fourth item is a simple letter, written in scribbled handwriting, sent to the Vicar at the time, Fr Griffith Arthur Jones, from the Revd J.W. Doran. Together, they were working on a Gregorian Psalter in Welsh, indicated from the outset by the way the letter is dated: “Feast of the dearContinue reading “Articles of Faith 4: A Letter of 1882”

My ships have passed away To uncover the story of this brass lectern, with its grand eagle bearing the weight of the word, wings outstretched ready for flight, we need to turn back a hundred years and more, back to 1905 and a turning point in Cardiff’s history, and the story of a life-long friendship.Continue reading “Articles of Faith 3: Brass Lectern”