Another story that I can tell you is the one about the Glamorganshire Canal, which is now the park where they have the Bute Town Carnival. My Uncle Reg worked for a sand and gravel people in Cardiff Docks called Bulls and they had this little sand boat called the Catherine Ethel. It used to get the sand out at sea and then come into the Glamorgan Canal and unload the sand at the wharf that they had by an old pub that they called the Sea Lock, at the bottom of Harraby Street. Harraby Street is still there but it is vastly changed now. My only point of reference these days is the old pier head building where we used to go and get out pay from. Somebody-we have never found out who, untied the boat from its mooring at night and set it free. So the boat smashed through the canal gate and emptied it. The force of the water was enough to take the boat and the gates as far as the red house pub near Penarth. The whole of the canal emptied that morning. I have got a feeling it must have been about 1955 because I was in school and we were scrambling everywhere to see all the fish that were there. I remember finding a gold signet ring there that oddly enough had the reverse of my mothers initials reversed on it. She wore it for years afterwards. It was amazing to see there was all this detritus and whatever left over. Anyway consequently they decided not to refill the canal with water and that is why it was concreted in, it has now been turned into this long meandering park. The canal went through Bute town and the timber float was fed by it- that was where they would keep timber until it was needed. It was a very dangerous place as kids because we would play on the timber, not being aware of the danger.
Anyway the canal used to end up by the back of Boots in town on Queen Street. The feeder for it is still there, under Churchill way and comes out on the castle grounds. The only claim to fame I had was that my uncle used to be in charge of this boat.