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21st July
The Battle of Shrewsbury July 21st 1403.
While Owain Glyndwr was making inroads in Deheubarth, his allies were less successful in the North. Having forged a strong alliance with the Mortimer family through marriage, in 1403 Owain joined his son-in-law in supporting the powerful Earls of Northumberland and Worcester in their bid to overthrow Henry IV. Henry 'Hotspur' Percy of Northumberland raised a force and in early July 1403 marched south to meet with his uncle Worcester and Owain Glyndwr. By 19th July, he had recruited an army of 1400. Unfortunately for Percy, news of the rebellion had reached The king, and by the time Percy had reached Shrewsbury, the King's army, led by Henry himself and his son 'Hal' (later to become Henry V) was waiting for them.
The army of Owain Glyndwr was at this time still engaged in Carmarthen, but rather than retreat to fight another day, the notoriously impetuous Hotspur decided to engage his enemy without reinforcements. Much of Saturday 21st July was taken up with negotiations between the two armies, but these talks broke down and the battle commenced near Battlefield Church. The sky turned black with opposing archers firing at the opposition. It is believed that this was the first battle where the longbow was used by both sides. Initially, it was Percy who held the upper hand with many of his archers killing most of the royal vanguard while other fled in terror. A Percy cavalry charge killed the royal standard-bearer, endangering the king. During the battle the Prince of Wales was wounded but still managed to lead his forces to support his father. Sir Henry Percy was killed and, leaderless, the rebel army fled. The Earl of Worcester was captured and was subsequently tried for treason, convicted and executed. It is reported that the entire field was hidden by the bodies of the dead. Thousands died in only a few hours. However the victors lost many more knights than the rebels and their total losses may have equalled those of the rebels in the two or three hours that the battle lasted.
It is clear that with a stronger force, the outcome could have been very different for the rebels, and it is interesting to speculate how the History of Wales could have taken a different course had Glyndwr and his followers been present at this battle.
On 21st July 2010, the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David was formed by merging two of the oldest higher education institutions in Wales, the University of Wales, Lampeter with Trinity University College, Carmarthen.
The University of Wales, Lampeter was founded in 1822 by royal charter and was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales and was the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge. Trinity College began life in 1848 as the South Wales and Monmouthshire Training College and was the oldest teacher training college in Wales.
Born this day 1945 in Watford
"the greatest conversion since Saint Paul"
John Taylor - former Wales and Lions rugby international, best remembered for his match-winning conversion against Scotland in 1971. Taylor stepped in, when the usual kicker, Barry John was unable to take the kick and clinched a 19 - 18 victory with the remarkable touchline score. Taylor played for the British and Irish Lions on the 1971 tour to New Zealand but was was notable for the stand he took against apartheid by turning down the opportunity to tour with the 1974 Lions to south Africa.
The first recorded person to surf the Severn Bore was Col J Churchill on 21 July 1955
The Severn Bore
A tidal bore is a surge wave in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave of water that travels up a river against the normal direction of flow. As the bore is formed, the decreasing width and depth of the river form a funnel shape which draws the wave along.
The Severn Bore is one of the biggest in the world and is one of Britain's few truly spectacular natural phenomena. The shape of the Severn estuary is such that the water is funnelled into an increasingly narrow channel as the tide rises, thus forming the large wave that can travel up to 13 miles per hour.
* The largest recorded Severn Bore was on 15 October 1966 when it reached a height of 9.2 feet (2.8 m)
The Royal Welsh Show starts this week.
The Royal Welsh Show, first held in Aberystwyth in 1904, is the biggest agricultural show in Europe. In 1963, its success led to the development of the permanent showground at Llanelwedd, where it is held for four days in July each year, attracting more than 200,000 visitors. Exhibitors attend from across Wales and beyond, and victory at the Royal Welsh Show is regarded as particularly significant, not only in Wales but throughout the United Kingdom. Arguably the most popular event at the show is the Welsh Cob Senior Stallion class, which brings spectators from all around the world. The 50+ stallions are paraded at the trot in front of the grandstand, raising thunderous roars from an appreciative crowd.
The Elan Valley Reservoirs were officially opened on 21st July 1904.
The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of five man-made lakes created by the damming of the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The five lakes are known as the Caban Coch, Garreg Ddu, Craig Goch, Pen y Garreg and Claerwen.
They were built because of the lack of clean water in the rapidly growing city of Birmingham, which had expanded during the late 19th century. Outbreaks of water-borne diseases resulted in the Birmingham Corporation Water Act of 1892, which allowed the acquisition of land by compulsory purchase for the purpose of creating an adequate water supply. While the reservoirs were being constructed, thousands of manual workers and their families lived in the purpose-built Elan Village.
There were many reasons for choosing the Elan Valley as the water source for Birmingham. There was high rainfall, and the valleys were narrow downstream, making it easier to build masonry dams.
The city of Birmingham is built on relatively high ground and reservoirs in the moorlands of mid-Wales would allow the water to be supplied via aqueduct by gravity alone, without the cost of pumping. The local bedrock was suitable for retaining the water held in the reservoirs, and also, the sparse population in what was a remote area made securing ownership of over 70 square miles relatively easy.
Only the affected landowners were to be given financial compensation, with tenant farmers and smallholders being evicted without payment. Estate workers and servants employed by the two large estates of Cwm Elan and Nantgwyllt also lost their income and their homes. For some of these, there was no alternative other than the workhouse in Rhayader.
As yet the Birmingham City Council has not followed the lead of its Liverpool counterparts who have apologised for the flooding of Capel Celyn in Snowdonia to supply water for the city from the Tryweryn reservoir. They also refused to donate money towards a museum charting the impact of supplying water to the UK's second city. A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: "The city council is unable to make a direct donation because of the limited direct benefit to Birmingham people and, therefore, the restrictions on our legal powers." However, this attitude is not felt to reflect the feelings of the majority of people in Birmingham.
The first race meeting was held at Ffos Las racecourse on 21st July 2009. It is the first new National Hunt racecourse to be built in the United Kingdom for 80 years.
Situated in the Gwndraeth Valley, north of Llanelli, Ffos Las is also used as equestrian sports and conferencing venue and was built on the site of a disused open cast coal mine at a cost of £20 million.
