1973 in Wales explained

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1973 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Wales – Peter Thomas^[1]
• Archbishop of Wales – Gwilym Williams, Bishop of Bangor^[2]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Brinli^[3]

Events

• 10 February - A special conference of the Trades Union Congress is held at Llandrindod Wells as part of the campaign to establish a Wales TUC.^{[4] [5]}
• April - Elections take place to the new county councils of Wales
• April - The first Welsh-language papur bro community newspaper, Y Dinesydd, is founded.^[6]
• 10 May - Elections take place to the new Wales district councils, with big gains for the Labour Party in South Wales.^[7]
• May - Sony opens its factory in Bridgend, the first major Japanese investment in Wales.
• 15 May - The Llyn Brianne dam is officially opened by Princess Alexandra.^[8]
• 17 July - Sixteen-year-old Sandra Newton is found murdered at Tonmawr.^[9]
• 16 September - Sixteen-year-olds Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd are found murdered at Llandarcy. Their murders, along with that of Sandra Newton in July, will remain unsolved for 29 years.^[10]
• 23 October - Professor Brian Josephson wins the Nobel Prize for Physics.^[11]
• During the year, there are 424 road deaths in Wales - an all-time record.
• Drilling for oil and gas begins off the coast of Wales. A fourth oil refinery opens at Milford Haven.

Arts and literature

• The Welsh Philharmonia Orchestra is founded.
• Theatr Ardudwy at Coleg Harlech, designed by Colwyn Foulkes & Partners, opens.
• Sir Richard Armstrong becomes conductor of Welsh National Opera.
• Joe Strummer begins his studies at Newport College of Art.
• Welsh actress Angharad Rees marries Christopher Cazenove.

Awards

• • National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Ruthin)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Alan Llwyd
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Alan Llwyd
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Emyr Roberts
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Drama Medal - Urien Wiliam

New books

English language

• Leo Abse - Private Member
• Gwynfor Evans - Wales Can Win
• Richard Hughes - The Wooden Shepherdess
• Emlyn Williams – Emlyn

Welsh language

• Huw Lloyd Edwards - Y Llyffantod
• Jane Edwards - Tyfu
• W. J. Gruffydd (Elerydd) - Cerddi'r Llygad
• Moses Glyn Jones - Y Ffynnon Fyw^[12]
• T. Llew Jones - Barti Ddu^[13]
• Judith Maro - Atgofion Haganah^[14]
• Caradog Prichard - Afal Drwg Adda^[15]
• Gomer M. Roberts - Cloc y Capel^[16]

New drama

• Islwyn Ffowc Elis - Harris

Music

• 23 November - Max Boyce records his legendary Live at Treorchy show at Treorchy Rugby Club.^[17]
• Karl Jenkins' first album with Soft Machine, Six, wins the Melody Maker British Jazz Album of the Year award. Jenkins also wins the miscellaneous musical instrument award.
• Grace Williams - Ave Maris Stella and Fairest of Stars

Visual arts

• Ivor Roberts-Jones - Statue of Winston Churchill, Parliament Square, unveiled on 1 November by Lady Churchill.^[18]

Film

Welsh-language films

• None

English-language films

• Holiday on the Buses filmed on location at Pontins holiday camp, Prestatyn^[19]

Broadcasting

• The Labour Party publishes a study arguing that independent television arrangements in the UK are causing non Welsh-speaking residents to lose their Welsh identity.^[20]

Welsh-language television

• Youth music programme Disc a Dawn ends its six-year run, to be replaced the following year by Gwerin 74, a folk music show.^[21]

English-language television

• Fish (with John Ogwen)
• Hang out your Brightest Colours, controversial documentary by Kenneth Griffith^[22]
• Philip Madoc makes a memorable appearance as a U-boat captain in Dad's Army.^[23]

Sport

• Athletics – Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club wins the British Athletics League Championship for the second time.
• Cycling – The Welsh Cycling Union is formed.^[24]
• Horse racing – Geoff Lewis wins both the Epsom Oaks and the 1,000 Guineas on "Mysterious".^[25]
• Rugby union – Japan plays its first rugby match in Europe at Penygraig in the Rhondda Valley.
• Snooker – Ray Reardon wins his second World Championship title.^[26]
• Berwyn Price wins BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.^[27]

Births

• 20 January - Stephen Crabb, politician (born in Scotland)^[28]
• 15 February - Adrian Lewis Morgan, actor
• 27 February - Mark Taylor, rugby union player and manager
• 24 April - Gabby Logan, television presenter
• 3 May - Jamie Baulch, athlete (born in Nottingham)^[29]
• 10 May - Ryan Nicholls, footballer
• 29 May - Lee Jones, footballer
• 4 July - Bradley Dredge, golfer
• 6 August - Donna Lewis, singer
• 22 August - Lee Dainton, skateboarder
• 17 September – Jason Mohammad, radio and television sports presenter
• 6 October - Ioan Gruffudd, actor^[30]
• 9 October - Sian Evans, singer
• 3 November - Mark Evans, comedy scriptwriter
• 29 November - Ryan Giggs, footballer^[31]
• 25 December - Ewen MacIntosh, comic actor (died 2024)^[32]

Deaths

• 8 January - Sir David Hughes Parry, professor of law and university administrator, 80^[33]
• 11 January - Vernon Morris, cricketer, 78
• 30 January - Trystan Edwards, architectural critic, town planner and amateur cartographer, 88^[34]
• 12 March - Willie Llewellyn, Wales international rugby player, 94
• 19 March - Sir Clement Price Thomas, surgeon, 79^[35]
• 23 May - Kenneth Allott, poet and critic^[36]
• 29 July - Guy Morgan, rugby player, 65
• 9 August - Donald Peers, singer, 66^[37]
  • • 11 August Johnnie Clay, Test cricketer, 75
  • Gil Morgan, rugby league player, 65
• 17 August - Elena Puw Morgan, novelist, 73^[38]
• 21 September - C. H. Dodd, theologian, 89^[39]
• 8 October - Evan Tom Davies, mathematician, 69^[40]
• 3 November - Melville Richards, academic, 63^[41]
• 4 November - Billy Williams, dual-code international rugby player, 67
• 16 November - Dai Hiddlestone, Wales international rugby player, 83
• 24 November - Brigadier Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes, soldier and medical administrator, 81^[42]
• 28 November - Anne Griffith-Jones, educationist, 83 (in Malaysia)^[43]
• date unknown - Morris Meredith Williams, painter and illustrator^[44]

See also

• 1973 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Obituary. The Guardian. 6 February 2008.
2. Web site: Archbishop Gwilym Owen Williams — "G. O.": His life and opinions by D. T. W. Price . David Wilbourne. 8 June 2018. Church Times. 6 May 2022.
3. Book: Meic Stephens. The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. registration. April 1986. Oxford University Press. 523. 978-0-19-211586-7 .
4. Book: Arthur Ivor Marsh. Concise encyclopedia of industrial relations: with bibliography. 1 December 1979. Gower Press. 978-0-566-02095-7. 336.
5. https://epdf.tips/queue/the-wales-tuc-1974-2004-devolution-and-industrial-politics-university-of-wales-p.html University of Wales Press: The Wales TUC, 1974-2004
6. Web site: Y Dinesydd. Y Dinesydd official website. 20 February 2019.
7. News: Stephen Mitchell, John O'Sullivan . Labour sweep to power in S. Wales . . 11 May 1973 . 1 .
8. Web site: Llyn Brianne Dam. Engineering Timelines. 20 February 2019.
9. Web site: Dead man named as triple murderer after DNA tests. 7 June 2002. Nicole Martin. The Telegraph. 31 January 2019.
10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1868685.stm BBC News Wales
11. Web site: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1973. NobelPrize.org. 20 February 2019.
12. Book: Meic Stephens. Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru. 1998. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1383-1. 395.
13. Book: Aleksander Bednarski. Maciej Czerniakowski. Paweł Tomasz Czerniak. New Perspectives in Celtic Studies. 5 February 2015. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 978-1-4438-7506-6. 115.
14. Book: Jasmine Donahaye. Whose People?: Wales, Israel, Palestine. 15 February 2012. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-497-4. 177.
15. Book: Russell Davies. People, Places and Passions: A Social History of Wales and the Welsh 18701948. 15 June 2015. University of Wales Press. 978-1-78316-239-0. 650.
16. Book: Meic Stephens. Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru. 1998. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-1383-1. 646.
17. Web site: Max Boyce - Hymns And Arias (Uk,1974,Emi 2291,PROMO 7). discoogle.com. 2011-03-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20110710132220/http://www.discoogle.com/wiki/Boyce,_Max_-_Hymns_And_Arias_(Uk,1974,Emi_2291,PROMO_7). 2011-07-10. dead.
18. News: Howard. Philip. Resolute and defiant as ever, Churchill's statue is revealed. The Times. London. 2 November 1973.
19. Book: Howard Maxford. Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. 8 November 2019. McFarland. 978-1-4766-2914-8. 400.
20. Book: Medhurst, Jamie. A History of Independent Television in Wales. 1 June 2010. University of Wales Press. 978-0-7083-2308-3. 172.
21. Web site: BBC Year Book 1975. 117. BBC. 20 February 2019.
22. Book: Mark Connelly. The IRA on Film and Television: A History. 10 January 2014. McFarland. 978-0-7864-8961-9. 48.
23. Book: Bill Pertwee. Dad's Army: The Making of a TV Legend. 3 November 2009. Bloomsbury USA. 978-1-84486-105-7. 137.
24. Web site: Archive. Welsh Cycling. 21 June 2024.
25. Book: Chronicle of the Horse. April 1973. Chronicle of the Horse, Incorporated. 10.
26. Web site: Profile: Ray Reardon . 2 March 2010 . . 16 May 2019.
27. News: BBC Wales Sport Personality winners . BBC Sport . 29 July 2021.
28. Book: Valerie Passmore. Dod's Parliamentary Companion: Guide to the General Election, 2005. 2005. Dod's Parliamentary Companion Limited. 978-0-905702-57-5. 97.
29. Web site: Jamie Baulch - profile. World Athletics. 18 December 2019.
30. Web site: Ioan Gruffudd biography. BBC Arts. 5 April 2020.
31. News: Chris . Whyatt . Ryan Giggs profile . BBC Sport . 24 May 2011 . 1 June 2011 .
32. Web site: Ewen MacIntosh, Comedian on British Sitcom 'The Office', Dies at 50. 21 February 2024. New York Times. 21 February 2024.
33. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31529, D. W. Logan: Parry, Sir David Hughes (1893–1973), rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010, accessed 30 October 2012
34. 31062. Edwards, (Arthur) Trystan (1884–1973). Gontran. Goulden. Andrew. Saint. 2004.
35. Web site: Price Thomas, Clement (1893-1973), pioneering surgeon. Alun Roberts. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 18 December 2019.
36. Ian Sansom, ‘Allott, Kenneth Cyril Bruce (1912–1973)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2015 accessed 4 March 2017
37. Trevor Herbert, 'Peers, Donald Rhys Hubert (1909–1973)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, May 2011; online edn, September 2011 accessed 16 April 2017
38. s14-MORG-PUW-1900. Morgan, Elena Puw (1900-1973), novelist, author of fiction and short stories for children. Katie Gramich. 21 June 2024.
39. s6-DODD-HAR-1884. Dodd, Charles Harold (1884-1973), biblical scholar. John Tudno Williams. National Library of Wales. 18 December 2019.
40. Web site: Evan Tom Davies. www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk. School of Mathematics and Statistics University of St Andrews, Scotland. 28 June 2015.
41. Web site: Y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig. Dr Brynley Francis Roberts. 3 February 2016. cy.
42. Web site: Gen. Hugh Hughes, freed Belsen Camp. 30 November 1973. New York Times. 5 April 2020.
43. Book: W. Ambrose Bebb. A Welsh Hundred: Glimpses of Life in Wales Drawn from a Pair of Family Diaries for 1841 and 1940. 15 July 2009. 978-1-4678-6128-1. 175. AuthorHouse .
44. Book: Duncan Macmillan. Scottish Art in the 20th Century, 1890-2001. Mainstream Pub. 2001. 9781840184570. 47.