1975 in Wales
Encyclopedia
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1975 to Wales
and its people
.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and its people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
.
Incumbents
- Prince of WalesPrince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
- Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay... - Princess of WalesPrincess of WalesPrincess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
- vacant - Secretary of State for WalesSecretary of State for WalesThe Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
- John MorrisJohn Morris, Baron Morris of AberavonJohn Morris, Baron Morris of Aberavon, KG, PC, QC is a retired British politician. He was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1959 to 2001 and Secretary of State for Wales from 1974 to 1979.-Background and education:... - Archbishop of WalesArchbishop of WalesThe post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
- Gwilym Owen WilliamsGwilym Owen WilliamsGwilym Owen Williams was Bishop of Bangor from 1957 to 1982 and Anglican Archbishop of Wales from 1971 to 1982....
Events
- 20 March - Opening of the Cleddau Bridge at Milford HavenMilford HavenMilford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...
. - 14 April - Actor/singer Michael FlandersMichael FlandersMichael Henry Flanders OBE, was an English actor, broadcaster, and writer and performer of comic songs. He is best known to the general public for his partnership with Donald Swann performing as the duo Flanders and Swann....
dies suddenly of an intracranial berry aneurysmIntracranial berry aneurysmAn intracranial berry aneurysm, also known as a saccular aneurysm, is a sac-like outpouching in a cerebral blood vessel, which can seem berry-shaped, hence the name. Once a berry aneurysm has formed it is likely to rupture, causing a stroke...
while on holiday in Betws-y-CoedBetws-y-CoedBetws-y-Coed is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It has a population of 534. The name Betws or Bettws is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English 'bed-hus' - i.e. a bead-house - a house of prayer, or oratory...
. - May - A leak from the Esso Tenby tanker off the coast of PembrokeshirePembrokeshirePembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
kills an estimated 1,300 seabirds. - 28 July - 8 people are injured when a train derailed between Sarnau and St. Clears
Arts and literature
- RyanRyan DaviesRyan Davies was a popular Welsh entertainer of the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in the Carmarthenshire village of Glanamman in the Black Mountain, Wales, and was educated in Bangor and at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His first professional appearance was in the National Eisteddfod of...
and RonnieRonnie WilliamsRonnie Williams was a Welsh actor and comedian.Williams struggled with his choice of an acting career, making an isolated television appearance in The Wednesday Play in 1966...
announce the end of their comedy partnership.
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in CricciethCricciethCriccieth is a town and community on Cardigan Bay, in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It has a population of 1,826....
)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Gerallt Lloyd OwenGerallt Lloyd OwenGerallt Lloyd Owen is considered one of the best "strict metre poets" in Wales. He began as a "political poet" in the 1960s, often using Medieval forms or imagery for purposes of Welsh nationalism. His political works at times satirized the failings of the Welsh people, or Welsh history, rather...
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Elwyn Roberts
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - withheld
New books
- Aneirin Talfan DaviesAneirin Talfan DaviesAneirin Talfan Davies was a Welsh poet, broadcaster and literary critic.Talfan Davies was brought up in Gorseinon. During the 1930s Davies worked in London as a pharmacist before returning to Wales and settling in Swansea. He was the brother of Alun Talfan Davies, with whom he founded the...
- Diannerch Erchwyn a Cherddi Eraill - J. Eirian Davies - Cân Galed
- T. Glynne DaviesT. Glynne DaviesThomas Glynne Davies , usually known as T. Glynne Davies, was a Welsh poet, novelist and television and radio broadcaster born in Llanrwst, Denbighshire, Wales.-Literary achievements:...
- Marged - Gwynfor EvansGwynfor EvansDr Richard Gwynfor Evans , was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. President of Plaid Cymru for thirty six years, he was the first Member of Parliament to represent Plaid Cymru at Westminster ....
- National Future for Wales - Jeremy HookerJeremy HookerJeremy Hooker is an English poet, critic, teacher, and broadcaster. He grew up on the edge of the New Forest village of Pennington, about two miles north of Lymington. After studying at the University of Southampton, Hooker lectured at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth...
- Soliloquies of a Chalk Giant - Richard Cyril HughesRichard Cyril HughesRichard Cyril Hughes is a Welsh historian.Hughes was born in Anglesey. He started his career as a teacher of Welsh at Grove Park School in Wrexham before moving to Bangor Normal College to lecture in education...
- Catrin o Ferain - Emyr Humphries - Flesh and Blood
- Richard LlewellynRichard LlewellynRichard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd , better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd Vivian Llewellyn Lloyd (8 December 1906 – 30 November 1983), better known by his pen name Richard Llewellyn, was a Welsh novelist.Llewellyn Richard Dafydd...
- Green, Green, My Valley Now - Prys MorganPrys MorganPrys Morgan FRHistS FSA FLSW is a Welsh historian.He was born in Cardiff, the son of academic T. J. Morgan. Like his brother, Rhodri Morgan, Prys Morgan was educated at Whitchurch Grammar School and St John's College, Oxford. He then joined the teaching staff of the University of Wales, Swansea,...
- Iolo Morganwg - Leslie NorrisLeslie NorrisGeorge Leslie Norris FRSL , was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. Up to 1974 he earned his living as a college lecturer, teacher and headmaster...
- Mountains, Polecats, Pheasants and other Elegies - Bernice RubensBernice RubensBernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...
- I Sent a Letter to My Love - Peter TinniswoodPeter TinniswoodPeter Tinniswood was an English radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, and author of a series of popular cricketing novels...
- Except You're a Bird - John G. WilliamsJohn G. WilliamsJohn G. Williams was a Conservative MP representing Edmonton—St. Albert in the Canadian parliament from 1993 to 2008. He was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland...
- Maes Mihangel - Rhydwen WilliamsRhydwen WilliamsRobert Rhydwenfro Williams, known as Rhydwen Williams , was a Welsh poet, novelist and Baptist minister. His work is mainly written in his native Welsh language, and is noted for adapting the established style and context of Welsh poetry from a rural and bygone age to that of a modern industrial...
- The Angry Vineyard
Music
- Max BoyceMax BoyceMaxwell Boyce MBE is a Welsh comedian, singer and former coal miner. He rose to fame during the mid-1970s with an act that combined musical comedy with his passion for rugby union and his origins in the mining communities of South Wales...
- We All Had Doctors' PapersWe All Had Doctors' PapersWe All Had Doctors' Papers is a live album by Welsh comedian and singer Max Boyce, first issued in 1975. It was his fourth album release and followed his break through recording Live at Treorchy. The album contains a mixture of comedic and traditional songs, along with Boyce's interactions with... - Edward H. Dafis - Ffordd Newydd Eingl-Americanaidd Grêt o Fyw
- Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
- Subtle As A Flying Mallet (album) - Andy Fairweather-LowAndy Fairweather-LowAndrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band, Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.-Early career:Fairweather Low first found fame as a...
- "Wide Eyed And Legless" (top ten hit single)
Film
- Rachel RobertsRachel Roberts (British actress)Rachel Roberts was a Welsh actress noted for her fervour and passion; Roberts is best remembered for her forthright screen performances in two key films of the 1960s, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life, in both of which she played the older mistress of the central male...
appears in Picnic at Hanging RockPicnic at Hanging Rock (film)Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian feature film directed by Peter Weir and starring Anne-Louise Lambert, Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name, by author Joan Lindsay....
. - Ken LoachKen LoachKenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
's Days of HopeDays of HopeDays of Hope is a BBC television drama serial produced in 1975. The series dealt with the lives of a working-class family from the turmoils of the First World War in 1916 to the General Strike in 1926...
is partly set in Wales.
Welsh-language television
- The Siberry Report recommends a new Welsh-language fourth channel broadcasting 25 hours a week of Welsh-language programs, with BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and HTV each responsible for 50% of the output.
English-language television
- Grand Slam, starring Hugh GriffithHugh GriffithHugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
and Windsor DaviesWindsor DaviesWindsor Davies is a British actor, well known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the 1970s/1980s British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum.-Early life and career:... - How Green Was My ValleyHow Green Was My ValleyHow Green Was My Valley is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, telling the story through narration of the main character, of his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed to have based the book on his own knowledge of the Gilfach Goch area, but this was proven...
adapted for television by Elaine MorganElaine Morgan (writer)Elaine Morgan OBE is a Welsh writer for television and also the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology, especially the aquatic ape hypothesis: The Descent of Woman, The Aquatic Ape, The Scars of Evolution, The Descent of the Child, The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, and The Naked Darwinist...
, starring Stanley BakerStanley BakerSir Stanley Baker was a Welsh actor and film producer.-Early career:William Stanley Baker was born in Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, Wales. In the mid-1930s his parents moved to London, where Baker spent most of his formative years...
, Sian PhillipsSiân PhillipsJane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
, Mike GwilymMike Gwilym-Early life:Born in Neath, Gwilym is the brother of actor Robert Gwilym, son of Arthur Aubrey Remington Gwilym and Renée Mathilde Eugénie Léonce Dupont. His parents were the proprietors of a women's clothing chain in Wales. Mike's Belgian maternal grandfather was the oil industrialist Edmond Jules...
, Nerys HughesNerys HughesNerys Hughes , is a Welsh actress, known primarily for her television roles.Nerys Hughes was born in Rhyl, . She studied drama at Rose Bruford College. She is best known for the role of Sandra Hutchinson in the enormously successful BBC TV series The Liver Birds which ran from 1969 to 1978 with a...
and Gareth ThomasGareth Thomas (actor)Gareth Thomas is a Welsh actor.Thomas is best known for the part of Roj Blake in the dystopian science fiction television series Blake's 7, but has taken roles in many other films and television programmes, including Adam Brake in Children of the Stones.Thomas trained at RADA and is now an...
.
Sport
- BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
- Pat ThomasPat Thomas (boxer)Pat Thomas was a Light-middleweight boxer, originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis, who took British citizenship and won two British boxing titles in the 1970s and 80s...
wins the British Welterweight title - DartsDartsDarts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
- Wales win the Home International Series. - SnookerSnookerSnooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
- Ray ReardonRay ReardonRay Reardon, MBE is a retired Welsh snooker player. He dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning six World Championships in that decade...
is World Professional Champion for the fourth time.
Births
- 12 March - Richard Harrington, actor
- 21 March - Mark WilliamsMark Williams (snooker player)Mark James Williams, MBE is a Welsh professional snooker player who has been World Champion twice, in 2000 and 2003. Often noted for his single-ball potting, he has earned the nickname, The Welsh Potting Machine...
, snooker player - 22 May - Kelly MorganKelly MorganKelly Morgan is a Welsh Commonwealth and Olympic Games badminton player born in Pontypridd.Morgan attended Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive school in Beddau, Wales.- 1996 Olympics :...
, badminton player - 18 June - JemJem (singer)Jemma Griffiths , better known as Jem, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Finally Woken, includes elements of rock, new wave-styled electronica and trip-hop...
, singer - 1 July - Hayley TullettHayley TullettHayley Tullett is a Welsh middle distance runner mainly competing over 1500 metres. Her main claim to fame is the bronze medal at the 2003 World Championships...
, athlete - 24 July - Dafydd JamesDafydd JamesDafydd Rhys James is a former Welsh international rugby union footballer who plays on the wing or at centre. He toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2001. He has earned 45 caps for Wales and three for the British & Irish Lions...
, rugby player - 26 September - Dai Thomas, footballer
- 5 November - Lisa Scott-LeeLisa Scott-LeeLisa Scott-Lee is a Welsh singer. She has worked as a songwriter and is a graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school. Lisa is best known as one fifth of pop group Steps from 1997 until their split on Boxing Day 2001 and recently reformed in 2011. Scott Lee released her debut...
, singer
Deaths
- 14 February - Arthur ProbertArthur ProbertArthur Reginald Probert was a British politician. He served as a Labour Member of Parliament from 1954 to 1974....
, politician, 67 - 3 March - T. H. Parry-WilliamsT. H. Parry-WilliamsSir Thomas Herbert Parry-Williams was a Welsh poet, author and academic.Parry-Williams was born at Rhyd Ddu, Caernarfonshire. He was educated at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Jesus College, Oxford , the University of Freiburg and the Sorbonne...
, poet, 87 - 20 April - Stephen Halden BeattieStephen Halden BeattieCaptain Stephen Halden Beattie VC was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
, recipient of the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, 67 - 23 April - Pete Ham, musician, leader of the group BadfingerBadfingerBadfinger were a British rock band consisting originally of Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans, active from 1968 to 1983, and evolving from The Iveys, formed by Ham, Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales, in the early 1960s. Joey Molland joined the group in 1969,...
(suicide), 27 - 21 May - A. H. DoddA. H. DoddProfessor Arthur Herbert Dodd , was an academic historian who taught and published widely, specialising in the politics of the Tudor and Stuart periods, Welsh history, and the history of the Industrial Revolution....
, historian - 7 August - Jim GriffithsJim GriffithsJames "Jim" Griffiths CH , was a Welsh Labour politician, trade union leader and the first ever Secretary of State for Wales.-Background and education:...
, politician, 84 - 6 November - Norman RichesNorman RichesNorman Vaughan Hurry Riches was a Welsh cricketer. The son of C. H. Riches of Tredegarville, Cardiff, Norman Riches joined Abingdon School from Chard School in 1900. He was a dentist but played cricket from 1901 for Glamorgan CCC, initially as wicket keeper. His first major innings was against...
, cricketer - date unknown
- Alun Jones (Alun Cilie), poet
- Huw Lloyd Edwards, dramatist