A Welsh Hat Full of Swansea 🎩

Good morning, Swansea!

I came across this recently - a fold-out novelty postcard of Swansea, postmarked July 28th 1965, and published by Valentine & Sons of Dundee - A Welsh Hat Full of Swansea.

Turn it over and there's a handwritten message on the back: "Dear Mum and Dad, went to Swansea on Tuesday, we stayed all day, having a lovely time. The weather is not so bad. Auntie Rona's boys are coming on Saturday. From lovely Mary. xx"

Mary sent it to Mr & Mrs F. Davies at Sabre Road, near Emsworth, Hampshire. Whoever you are, Mary - sixty years later, it’s ended up back where it started - and it offers us a fascinating glimpse of post-war Swansea.

I'll catch you on Sunday!

Andrew

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The Guildhall (labelled "Civic Centre")

Completed in 1934 and designed by Sir Percy Thomas, the Guildhall was one of the few major civic buildings to survive the Three Nights' Blitz of 1941. It was also known as the city’s Civic Centre until the brutalist one on Oystermouth Road opposite the prison was built n the late 70s.

The Swiss Cottage, Singleton Park

Designed by architect P.F. Robinson for the Vivian family - the copper barons who owned the Singleton estate - it dates to 1826. When the park passed into public hands it became a tearoom, but in recent years has laid empty.

Castle Gardens

These gardens were laid out on the site of the Ben Evans department store, destroyed in the Three Nights' Blitz of February 1941. Before the store there had been a medieval manor house, and before that, the outer ward of Swansea Castle.

Oxford Street
The post-war rebuild of Oxford Street in full swing, with clean modernist shop fronts - and way before the street was pedestrianised. The cars date it squarely to the late 50s or early 60s

.The Lake, Brynmill Park

A reservoir in Brynmill was originally completed to supply water to the town in 1839, and became the centre of Swansea's first formal park in 1872. By the time this photograph was taken, people had been feeding the ducks on that same bank for well over a century.

Castle Gardens and St Mary's Church

St Mary's was badly damaged during the Blitz and reconstruction took until 1959 to plan and execute - the church you can see here was barely a few years old when Mary's postcard was sent.

Floral Clock and Civic Buildings
Swansea had a working floral clock in Victoria Park by 1912, the mechanism for which cost £47, and it became a symbol of the city. Floral clocks were a Victorian civic tradition, used to cultivate a sense of pride and draw people into town parks.

Castle Street
That clock tower mid-shot isn't a church - it was built as Swansea's head post office in 1858, in the Tudor Gothic style, with a clock added to the tower in 1867. It survived the Blitz but was eventually demolished in 1976. To the right, just out of frame, are the medieval remains of Swansea Castle itself.

The Docks, Swansea
In the mid-19th century Swansea was exporting 60% of the world's copper, and the docks were the engine that made it possible. By the 1960s, you could still see a regular flow of cargo liners alongside the remaining coal shipments, but the end was already coming. Today, it's Swansea Marina.

The Beach, Swansea
Swansea Beach packed on a summer's day, a donkey in the foreground, the old Slip Bridge visible behind the crowds. The Slip Bridge was built between 1914 and 1915 to carry pedestrians safely across the road and railway lines to reach the beach - it was a well-loved landmark for decades, but in 2004 it was removed, ostensibly for repairs, but the estimated cost of £350,000 to restore it was deemed uneconomic, and it never went back. The arch-shaped span now sits on the prom, a short walk from where it used to stand.

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into Swansea’s past, and I’ll catch you again on Sunday!

Andrew

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Sources:

Primary source material from the Friends of White Rock oral history project and West Glamorgan Archive Service.