Y Queens, Abertawe Straeon Tafarn


Y Queens, Abertawe

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-Hello and welcome

-to Straeon Tafarn...

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-..with me, the thirsty wanderer,

-Dewi Pws Morris.

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-It's a real challenge

-to tour Wales, visiting pubs...

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-..meeting interesting people,

-learning some history...

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-..seeing the sights

-and performing with the band.

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-It's a hard life - not!

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-One of my childhood memories...

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-..is of cycling

-to Gelliwastad mountain.

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-We enjoyed having a picnic

-and meeting various characters...

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-..such as Owain Glyndwr and Llywelyn.

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-You're imagination ran wild

-on top of Gelliwastad mountain.

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-# Nobody lives

-on Gelliwastad mountain #

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-Gelliwastad mountain

-leads the way to Swansea.

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-Have you ever wondered why locals

-are called Swansea Jacks?

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-There are three explanations.

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-First, the local miners

-called their lunch boxes jacks.

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-Second, they called the sailors

-in the docks Jack Tars.

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-However, I like the story

-about a dog named Swansea Jack.

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-If someone fell into the water

-in the bay...

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-..they'd tie a rope

-around Swansea Jack...

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-..and he'd swim out

-to save them from drowning.

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-I like that story.

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-I wouldn't mind being called

-a Swansea Jack for that reason.

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-I'm visiting the town's

-old maritime quarter...

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-..that has undergone

-a radical transformation.

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-As a child living in Treboeth,

-a Marina was an old banger.

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-How times have changed!

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-However, the Queen's Hotel

-is still open...

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-..and is one of the docks'

-oldest establishments.

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-Historian John Bwlchllan

-had arrived before me.

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-He sounded like the president

-of the National Jacks Party.

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-In the early 19th century...

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-..there were 10,000 people

-living in Swansea.

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-Cardiff had 1,800 residents

-and resembled a village!

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-In the mid 19th century,

-32,000 lived in Swansea...

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-..and 18,000 in Cardiff.

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-If you had asked someone in 1850

-what the capital of Wales was...

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-..they'd definitely

-have said Swansea.

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-The first English and Welsh weekly

-papers were published in Swansea...

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-..and Wales's first daily newspaper.

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-The Royal Institute of South Wales

-was also established here.

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-This area produced 75%

-of Britain's copper...

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-..and 50% of the world's copper

-came here.

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-Wooden vessels were used

-in the early 19th century.

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-They would rot in salty sea water.

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-They were protected

-with a layer of copper...

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-..hence the phrase copper-bottomed.

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-The copper came from Swansea,

-which was the commercial centre.

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-Swansea has a wealth

-of early 19th century architecture.

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-There's nothing to match this

-in Cardiff.

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-This is the birthplace

-of modern Wales...

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-..and the Queen's

-was at the heart of it.

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-Goodness me, John makes me feel

-so proud of the place!

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-I could have spent all day with him,

-but David Jenkins was waiting.

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-He was ready to enlighten me

-on the town's maritime history.

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-Swansea is a very old port.

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-It had been a major coal exporter

-long before Cardiff.

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-The River Tawe

-cut through layers of coal.

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-They could literally shovel coal

-onto boats from the shore...

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-..and sail off towards north Devon!

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-The 18th century

-witnessed the influx of industries.

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-The founder of Morriston,

-Richard Morris...

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-..developed the first copperworks

-in Llangyfelach.

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-Copper ore was imported

-from Cornwall and Parys Mountain.

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-There was a wonderful mix

-of people here during that period...

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-..from Anglesey chaps

-to Cornishmen.

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-There would have been

-a fantastic mix of people here.

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-The area was originally

-referred to as the Burrows.

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-Some wanted to develop Swansea

-into a tourist area...

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-..with bathing machines

-and so on...

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-..but industry prevailed.

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-The Marquis of Bute

-owned the dock area in Cardiff.

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-He demanded the opening

-of Cardiff docks in 1839.

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-Swansea didn't have such a figure,

-so they formed a committee.

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-When the Welsh form a committee,

-there's no hope!

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-The North Dock

-eventually opened in 1851.

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-It was the first dock

-to open in Swansea.

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-The second dock was built in 1859

-where the marina is today.

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-They imported copper ore

-into the North Dock...

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-..and exported coal

-from the South Dock.

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-This story is remarkable.

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-Why didn't I know this

-about my birthplace?

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-There's also more information...

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-..about the Welsh dominating

-the oceans of the world.

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-By the mid 19th century, there was

-a shortage of Welsh copper ore.

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-They looked further afield

-and travelled to Cuba and Chile.

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-It was the era of the Swansea Cape

-Horners who sailed around the Horn.

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-It took a year to export coal

-and collect copper ore from Chile.

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-There were no docks.

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-The coal was unloaded

-and carried to shore in small boats.

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-They then collected the copper ore.

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-They didn't see

-dear Swansea town for a year.

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-The Queen's must have been a great

-place to be during this busy period.

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-Imagine being a young sailor

-who's been away at sea for a year.

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-You've got a pocket full of money,

-so you're going to go mad with it!

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-Manon Eames is a regular here

-and has come to tell me more.

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-Where there are sailors,

-there are girls to entertain them.

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-Yes, I understand!

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-There's a Swansea saying, "You'll

-have to go on the museum steps."

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-These girls took their clients

-to the museum steps.

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-That was their place of work.

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-Apparently, in an attempt

-to look respectable...

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-..they didn't bargain openly

-with the customers.

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-They wrote their rates

-on the soles of their feet.

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-The girls would raise their feet

-at the bar to face the sailors.

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-There were prostitutes

-for captains...

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-..and for the various ranks

-of sailors in the pub.

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-The sailors collected their wages

-from offices based in the docks.

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-Sailors stayed on land

-for several weeks or months.

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-They would collect their wages

-from here and spend it at the pub.

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-I've got a great family story

-to tell you.

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-My partner's grandmother

-lived in Sandfields.

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-Her husband was a trawlerman

-and spent a lot of time in the pub.

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-She had already thrown his dinner

-over him in the pub.

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-He simply laughed at her,

-but her next plan was fantastic.

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-They had nine children in total.

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-In a fit of rage, she collected

-the children's shoes...

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-..and threw the 18 shoes

-directly at him in the pub.

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-Shoes were flying everywhere

-- fantastic!

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-I hope that doesn't happen to me!

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-I wonder what happened to this bear?

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-Before they decided to stuff me...

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-..David told me

-about the management in the dock.

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-The Richardson family

-moved here from Sunderland.

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-The Baths came from Falmouth

-and there were Welshmen too.

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-The Harris brothers

-lived at Pembroke Buildings...

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-..having moved from Dinas

-in Fishguard in the 1870s.

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-They established

-a shipping company in 1881.

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-Their steam boats

-transported anthracite coal.

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-I'm glad to hear

-that there were Welsh managers.

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-The docks must have been

-a hive of activity.

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-The place was full of characters.

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-It was a vibrant area with

-a lot of activity and foreigners.

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-A foreigner who left his mark

-on the docks and pub...

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-..in an unfortunate manner was

-the South African Zulu, Thomas Allen.

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-Thomas Allen was sitting here...

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-..then put his pint down and told

-the landlord that he would return.

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-He strolled out into the night.

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-He met a local girl on the street

-and made a deal with her.

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-She told him to follow her back

-to her room at the Gloucester Hotel.

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-But she didn't turn up.

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-So, he waited...

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-..and waited...

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-..and waited.

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-Then, he heard voices from outside

-the door and hid under the bed.

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-It wasn't the local girl,

-so Thomas Allen stayed under the bed.

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-He fell asleep, but then woke

-in darkness and struck a match.

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-The landlord of the Gloucester

-was in the bed with his wife.

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-He attacked Thomas Allen, who killed

-the landlord with a razor and fled.

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-Thomas was caught.

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-The landlord of the Queen's spoke

-favourably about him in court...

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-..and said that he wouldn't

-murder anyone intentionally.

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-However, the jury disagreed.

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-Allen was a foreign black man and

-the landlord was a popular local.

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-In April 1889, Thomas Allen

-was sentenced to be hanged.

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-A rowdy crowd of 2,000 spectators

-gathered here to watch.

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-The Zulu murderer whose pint

-remains on the bar at the Queen's.

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-.

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-Touring Wales with the band

-is a great excuse to meet people...

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-..and hear stories

-from different areas.

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-One iconic poet from Swansea

-cannot be ignored...

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-..especially in a series

-about pub stories.

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-Dylan Thomas -

-a true Swansea Jack.

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-He drank in all the city's pubs,

-including the Queen's.

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-I can hear him now.

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-"Do not go gentle

-into that good night.

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-"Rage, rage against

-the dying of the light."

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-He sounds like a happy person!

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-During World War II...

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-..many areas around Swansea

-were heavily bombed by the Germans.

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-Dylan wrote about the shock

-of returning home to the destruction.

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-"It was a cold white day

-in the High Street..."

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-"..and nothing to stop the wind

-slicing up from the docks.

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-"For where the squat and tall shops

-shielded the town from the sea...

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-"..lay their blitzed flat graves

-marbled with snow."

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-# Rose-red sky above the snow

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-# Where bombed Swansea is alight #

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-I was 21 years old at the time

-and remember it well.

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-On the Wednesday night of the blitz,

-I attended Dinas Noddfa chapel.

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-The chapel is located

-near the Liberty Stadium.

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-It was surrounded

-by works and factories.

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-The young people's meeting

-started at 8.00pm.

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-As we started to sing,

-the air raid siren was sounded.

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-Everyone quickly moved

-to the deacons room.

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-It was more or less underground.

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-We could hear the aeroplanes

-coming from afar.

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-They sounded heavy and you knew

-that they were full of bombs.

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-The falling bombs

-made a frightful screeching noise.

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-We waited quietly

-to hear where the bombs dropped.

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-You must consider that the town's

-surface area was 40 acres.

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-The Germans dropped 1,200

-explosive bombs on the town...

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-..including an incredible

-56,000 incendiary bombs.

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-You wouldn't expect

-much of the town to be standing.

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-I stood on the road in Ynysmeudwy.

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-I was able to look down

-towards the river...

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-..the works in Pontardawe,

-the Mond and towards Swansea.

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-What I witnessed

-was beyond comprehension.

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-I could hear the bombers

-flying over me en route to Swansea.

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-We heard that a bomb had hit Hafod.

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-John Phillip worked in the area,

-so we decided to send someone there.

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-My father, Uncle Frank

-and Emrys Davies went down there.

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-They returned an hour later

-to say that he had been killed.

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-My father broke the news

-of his death.

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-We didn't go to bed that night.

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-It was a horrific period.

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-They wanted to bomb

-residential areas.

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-The explosions

-illuminated the entire town.

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-Maybe this is why the head

-of the RAF, Bomber Harris...

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-..took revenge on Germany

-for causing this mass destruction.

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-Over a course of three nights

-back in 1941...

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-..Swansea was bombed

-for a total of 72 hours.

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-It can only be compared

-to the London Blitz.

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-Why did this happen?

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-If the Germans wanted to crush

-the spirit of Swansea...

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-..then they made a big mistake.

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-The sympathy and compassion

-that permeated Swansea...

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-..was beyond all recognition.

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-The Queen's was one of the few places

-that wasn't bombed.

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-The war introduced a new clientele

-to the Queen's.

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-They were the GI Joes from America.

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-The one story

-that I like to believe...

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-..is that Rocky Marciano

-started his boxing career here.

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-Many places in Swansea

-make this claim...

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-..but I believe

-that it started at the Queen's.

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-He was a GI who was stationed here

-just before D-Day.

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-While in the bar, he was challenged

-by three Australians.

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-He floored the three of them...

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-..and discovered

-that he had a talent for boxing.

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-The authorities

-disapproved of pub brawls...

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-..and were about

-to sack him from the army.

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-The general didn't want to lose

-a lorry driver for D-Day.

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-They needed all of their soldiers,

-so they kept him on.

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-Rocky made a career out of boxing

-and become world-famous.

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-He's the only heavyweight

-who never lost a bout.

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-In later life,

-he said boxing was barbaric.

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-Rocky returned to Swansea

-because he liked the laver bread.

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-He arrived on the Mumbles train.

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-It was the oldest passenger railway

-that closed in 1960...

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-..so he visited between the end

-of the war and 1960.

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-The world was changing,

-including Swansea.

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-After World War II, people used

-more electricity and less coal.

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-It was domestic coal

-rather than coal for industry.

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-It was a widespread deterioration...

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-..that was also felt

-in the tin and alcan industries.

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-At one stage, many local companies

-exported smaller freight.

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-Britain's most reputable

-shipping companies...

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-..such as Blue Funnel,

-Harrisons and Anchor Line...

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-..carried cargos of tinplate

-to distribute across the world.

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-However, the industry

-has now deteriorated.

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-A proportion of coal

-is still exported from Swansea.

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-Last week, a ship docked here

-and it was loading coal.

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-Swansea is no longer recognized

-as an important dock in South Wales.

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-It's surprising

-how so much has changed...

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-..since the days of cargo ships

-and destruction of the war.

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-But was so much change necessary?

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-That's all from the Treboeth old boy.

-I've got a gig to play.

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-My song for the Queen's pays tribute

-to characters from the past...

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-..and one or two from the future!

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-# Good health to you, gentlemen

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-# Come and see

-whether the wine is good

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-# Good health to you, gentlemen

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-# Come and see

-whether the wine is good

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-# Come and see, oh, la, la,

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-# Come and see

-whether the wine is good

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-# Come and see, oh, la, la

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-# Come and see if the wine is good

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-# We'll drink a dozen bottles

-before the night is over

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-# We'll drink a dozen bottles

-before the night is over - huh!

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-# Before the night, oh, la, la

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-# Before the night is over

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-# Before the night, oh, la, la

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-# Before the night is over

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-# Don't tell the deacons

-in case we get thrown out

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-# Don't tell the deacons

-in case we get thrown out - huh!

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-# In case we, oh, la, la

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-# In case we get thrown out

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-# In case we, oh, la, la

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-# In case we get thrown out

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-# Bury me in the wine cellar

-where the wine is good

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-# Bury me in a wine cellar

-where the wine is good - hoy!

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-# In a wine cellar, oh, la, la

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-# In a wine cellar

-where the wine is good

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-# In a wine cellar, oh, la, la

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-# In a wine cellar

-where the wine is good

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-# Put my feet by the wall to rest

-and my head under the tap

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-# Put my feet by the wall to rest

-and my head under the tap

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-# Put my head, oh, la, la

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-# Put my head under the tap

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-# Put my head, oh, la, la

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-# Put my head under the tap

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-# On my grave you can write

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-# Here lies the biggest drunkard ever

0:21:350:21:39

-# On my grave you can write

0:21:390:21:43

-# Here lies the biggest drunkard ever

0:21:440:21:47

-# Here lies, oh, la, la

0:21:480:21:51

-# Here lies the biggest drunkard

0:21:520:21:53

-# Here lies, oh, la, la

0:21:540:21:57

-# Here lies the biggest drunkard

0:21:570:22:00

-# Here lies, oh, la, la

0:22:000:22:03

-# Here lies the biggest drunkard

0:22:030:22:06

-# Here lies, oh, la, la

0:22:060:22:09

-# Here lies the biggest drunkard #

0:22:100:22:15

-CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

0:22:150:22:17

-CHEERS AND APPLAUSE

-

-Thank you very much.

0:22:170:22:19

-I enjoyed that gig.

0:22:210:22:24

-"In the Queen's,

-sweat ran down my back

0:22:250:22:27

-"Among the Welsh and the Jacks

0:22:270:22:29

-"There was plenty of cheer,

-a good deal of beer

0:22:290:22:32

-"And everyone enjoyed the craic."

0:22:330:22:35

-Goodnight.

0:22:370:22:39

-Altogether now!

0:22:390:22:40

-# Lleucu Llwyd,

-you are beautiful

0:22:410:22:46

-# Lleucu Llwyd,

-you're worth the world to me

0:22:460:22:51

-# Lleucu Llwyd, you're an angel

0:22:510:22:56

-# Lleucu Llwyd,

-I love you, you, you #

0:22:560:23:02

-S4C subtitles by Tinopolis

0:23:100:23:12

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0:23:120:23:12

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