Huw Llywelyn Rees


 

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2nd September

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By: Huw Llywelyn Rees
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On 2nd September 1402, Henry IV attempted to regain control after Owain Glyndwr's emphatic victory at The Battle of  Bryn Glas.

In June of that year he crossed into central Wales, from Shrewsbury and Hereford Castle and drove through Powys towards the Cistercian abbey of Strata Florida, which he had previously used as a base during the early years of the rebellion.

After terrible weather and constant harassment by Owain's forces Henry reached Strata Florida and partially destroyed the abbey, executing monks suspected of pro-Owain loyalties.  However, he had failed to engage Owain's forces in any large numbers and Owain's forces engaged in hit-and-run tactics on his supply chain, forcing Henry's army  to retreat.  As they did so the weather turned and the army was nearly washed away in floods.  Henry was reduced to sleeping in his armour, and nearly died when his tent blew away.

Henry and his army returned to Hereford Castle, starving and demoralised, with nothing to claim for their efforts.



Strata Florida Abbey ( Abaty Ystrad Fflur) is a former Cistercian abbey situated nearPontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron.    

It was originally founded on the banks of the Afon Fflur, a short distance from the present site. by a group of  Cistercian monks from Whitland Abbey, 

It is considered that the present Abbey was founded around 1164 A.D, by The Lord Rhys, who because of pressure from the Normans, transferred his patronage from St Davids to Strata Florida and it is why many of his descendants were buried there.

In 1184, After its foundation Strata Florida increased in power and authority and its influence was felt throughout Wales.  It is believed that the Brut y Tywysogion, the most important primary historical source for early Welsh history, was compiled at Strata Florida.

Around 1238, Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great), held a council at Strata Florida, at which he made the other Welsh Princes swear that they would acknowledge his son Dafydd as his rightful successor.

In 1401, Strata Florida Abbey was the military base of king Henry IV and his son, later to become Henry V,  during the early years of the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr. 

Strata Florida was dissolved in the 1540s during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monastries

Strata Florida became a place of pilgrimage for wealthy Victorians in the late 19th century.


Born this day 1929 in Cwm, Ebbw Vale (to an Italian-Welsh father and Welsh mother above the family owned chip shop)

Victor Spinetti (Vittorio Giorgio Andrea Spinetti)  - Tony award winning actor, who studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a regular performer in London's West End.

Spinetti also appeared in more than 30 films, including the Beatles' movies "A Hard Day's Night", "Help" and "Magical Mystery Tour", as well as Zeffirelli's "The Taming of the Shrew", " The Return of the Pink Panther", "The Krays" and Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood. 

It is said that Spinetti's connection with the Beatles began because George Harrison's mother would  only go and see their films if Spinetti was in them. He later turned John Lennon's book, "In His Own Write", into a play which he then directed at the National Theatre.  Spinetti was also the voice of the arch villain character Texas Pete in the S4C animated series Super Ted.


Edward Edwards (c. 1726 – 2 September 1783) was a scholar and clergyman, born in Talgarth, Towyn, Merionethshire.  He was a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, where he later appointed Vice-Principal.

Edwards and writer Samuel Johnson, who stayed with him at Jesus College were friends and exchanged letters. Edwards had a keen interest in matters connected with Wales, but his primary interest was Greek literature and the works of the Greek philosopher Xenophon.

 


Penrhyn Quarry Railroad - one of the oldest narrow gauge railways in the world.  On 2nd. September 1800, encouraged by the success of the one mile long  Llandegai Tramway, built in 1798 to connect Lord Penrhyn's slate quarries at Bethesda to a local flint mill that ground clay and chert into flints, the owners of the quarry started construction of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway, connecting the quarry to the sea at Porth Penrhyn.  However, b 1874 the railroad was no longer able to keep up with the output of the quarry and a steam locomotive  was introduced.  It was closed in 1962.  

rgergter



Welshman Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn (9 October 1775 – 2 September 1850) was an influential politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was originally elected to parliament for the notorious rotten borough of Old Sarum (Salisbury) and later represented Montgomeryshire for 51 years.

In  1822 Williams-Wynn was appointed to the cabinet, in the Tory government of the Earl of Liverpool.  However, he joined the Whig party when he was not offered a position in the 1828 government of the Duke of Wellington.  He was subsequently appointed Secretary of War and then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by the Whig Prime Ministers Lord Grey and Sir Robert Peel.  At the time of his death in 1850, he was Father of the House of Commons.

rgergter



Cardiff Ely Bread Riots 2nd September 1991. 

The Cardiff Ely Bread Riots or Petrol Riots refer to an outbreak of violence that occurred in the council suburb of Ely in Cardiff from the 2nd to the 6th September. The riots are reported to have started following a dispute between two shopkeepers over the price of bread, which many believe sparked an underlying problem of social exclusion.