The Newtown Association

THE STREETS

Unless one lived in or had reason to visit the little streets leading off Tyndall Street you could be forgiven for thinking that Newtown consisted of Herbert Street, Tyndall Street, Rail Sidings, Warehouses and the entrances to the East and West Dock.

Those little streets, and there was onIy six of them, were not thoroughfares. That is to say if you were to drive through them from Tyndall Street they would only take you back to Tyndall Street or into Tyndall Field Goods Yard.

The result was that the only vehicular traffic to use them belonged either to the residents or to the trades people making deliveries there. What a pleasure it was to walk around that close community without the noise and fumes of traffic to detract from the wonderful atmosphere.

For the pedestrian there was an alternative approach, the one which I think was the best way to be introduced to Newtown. The footbridge over the railway took you straight into a charming world of small terraced houses and quaint corner shops. The comparision with bustling Adam Street bad to be experienced to be believed.

Looking through this book it will be observed that there is a predominance of Irish names listed. During the early part of this century,and the latter part of the last, large numbers of Irish came to Cardiff to work on the construction of the docks. The majority of them were accomodated in Newtown and it is from those early settlers that the "Little Ireland" title originated.

Much could be written about "Little Ireland" and the many characters it produced before it fell victim to progress and the demolition men. Tbe most famous of those characters was of course the boxer, "Peerless Jim" Driscoll, world featherweight champion and true gentleman.

That was long ago, the people and the streets are gone. The docks, the railyards, are being transformed, all traces of the old community have been almost ob-literated. Bricks and mortar can be destroyed, but thankfully, memories cannot. I wonder bow many of the ex-residents wander back in memory to walk once again the little streets of Newt own amid the ghosts of the past.

[NG Fox, "Newtown "Little Ireland" The Streets - The People" 1937/55/67/72]

Norman George Fox was born at 75 City Road, Cardiff in February 1924. His Irish grandmother, like so many others, had fled from Ireland to Cardiff during the Great Famine . She had many connections with Newtown. Norman attended St Peter’s School in Roath and served his time in the Royal Navy between 1941 and 1946. For many years he ran his own printing business in Mount Stuart Square. He had a particular interest in local community history and has also published a book on Lower Splott. Norman passed away on 16th July 1994. We are grateful to his wife, Joan, for allowing us to reproduce some of his work on these pages. We shall shortly be including the street register covering the years 1937, 1955, 1967, 1972.

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