Huw Llywelyn Rees


 

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10th August

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By: Huw Llywelyn Rees
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On this day 1952, Dylan Thomas made his first and only TV appearance for the BBC reading his story "The Outing", footage of  which has never been recovered.   

"The Outing" follows the adventures of a group of old men and a young boy on a charabanc pub crawl to Porthcawl which - due to the effects of alcohol - they never reach. 

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On this day 1405, the town of Haverfordwest was burned by a force of Henry VI  of France, who were allies at the time of Owain Glyndwr.  

A Short History of Haverfordwest;    Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, with an approximate population of 13,500, it is a major "road hub", connecting West Wales with the M4 South Wales corridor and it is Pembrokeshire's principal commercial and retail centre, there having been significant retail development recently in the suburb of Withybush.  

There are two competing explanations for the name of the town, either "ford used by fat cows" from Old English  hæfar =heifer, fat cows, or that during the Tudor Period monarchs called it "Hereford or Hertford in the West".

There is no documentary evidence of a settlement on the site before the 12th century, but archaeological discoveries suggest that the Romans did occupy the area and it seems unlikely that Haverfordwest, with its obvious strategic advantages of a defensive bluff overlooking the lowest fordable point on the Western Cleddau and its accessibility to sea traffic, would not have been settled in some way.  

1100  - Haverfordwest Castle is recorded as having been founded by the Norman Gilbert de Chuv.  

1107, 1111 and 1151  -   The Flemish are said to have arrived in three groups, initially mercenaries in the invading army of William the Conqueror, who were granted lands in the Gower and Pembrokeshire as a reward.  The Flemings were reportedly unpopular and are recorded as extinct in Pembrokeshire by 1327 but Flemish mercenaries reappear in 1400 when at the behest of Henry IV they joined an army of 1500 English settlers who marched north from Pembrokeshire to attack the army of Owain Glyndwr at Mynydd Hyddgen.  

1213 - 1219  -  Haverfordwest was the centre for significant woollen cloth manufacture and received its first marcher charter from William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke, it also obtained the lucrative trading privileges of an English borough. 

1220  - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth ( Llywelyn the Great), Prince of Gwynedd threatened the Marshal and burned the town but failed to take the castle.  

1284  -  King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile visited the castle for the first time during a royal pilgrimage to St Davids. Eleanor was said to have fallen in love with the castle and purchased it four years later. 

1348  - In common with other large towns, Haverfordwest was affected by the Black Death, with large parts of the town abandoned,  

1359-67  -  Edward, the Black Prince occupied the castle. 

1405  - The town was burned by the French allies of Owen Glendower,  

1479  - The town was designated a county corporate, in order to support a campaign against piracy in local waters and remained officially "The Town and County of Haverfordwest" until the abolition of the borough in 1974.  

1642  - During the English Civil War, the borough supported Parliament, whilst the gentry supported the Royalists.  This led to the town changing hands five times during the conflict. 1648  - Oliver Cromwell  ordered the castle to be destroyed and threatened to imprison the townsfolk unless it was demolished   1779  - The derelict medieval castle was converted to a prison    1820  - A new prison building was erected within the castle grounds, which today houses the Pembrokeshire Record Office. 

1940  Haverfordwest was bombed during WW2.  It was unexpected and no warning siren sounded. There were no reported casualties.


  

Born this day 1946 in The Vale of Glamorgan.   

Peter Karrie - singer , best known for his portrayal of the lead role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera.  He was twice voted the favourite Phantom of members of The Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Society. He has also starred in many other West End musical productions, including Les Miserables and Chess.  Karrie has had his own television and radio shows on BBC Wales.   

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On this day 2008 Nicole Cooke claimed Britain's first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics  becoming the first Welsh person to win Olympic gold for 36 years. 

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Born this day 1930 in Newport

Derrick Sullivan - former Welsh soccer international, who was part of the Wales squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweeden.