December 20th is a great anniversary for Cardiff. On this day in 1955 the Home Secretary, Gwilym Lloyd George, son of the great man, declared the city capital of Wales. This was not a certainty. For most of its history Cardiff was a small and insignificant town. There were lots of other towns in Wales that were bigger and more important. Although its town charter dated back to the 12th century, in 1800 the population was still only 2000. All bets would have been on Swansea or Merthyr Tydfil to lead Wales. The town started to grow quickly after the opening of the Bute West Dock in 1839 and was the largest coal port in the world by the end of the century. City status was granted in 1905. The Welsh Office opened in 1964 and the Cardiff finally became a true capital city when the National Assembly first met in 1999.

Phew! My first blog completed! Lots more scribblings about Cardiff's history at cardiffonfoot.com.