Teacups and Blotting Paper

Cardiff Blues

2009-05-17T15:23:00.002+01:00

The last ever Cardiff Blues rugby match at the Arms Park will be played today against Edinburgh. The Blues then move to their new home at Leckwith which is also now home to the Bluebirds.

British and Australian war dead exhumed 94 years on

2009-05-05T13:00:00.002+01:00

Forensic experts began to excavate a World War I mass grave in France on Tuesday at a solemn ceremony to launch the recovery of hundreds of fallen British and Australian troops.

Relatives and soldiers gathered with British, Australian and French dignitaries on a patch of land near the northern French village of Fromelles, for a formal blessing of the site at the launch of a five-month dig.

"Today marks the beginning of the journey to afford many of those killed at Fromelles with a fitting and dignified final place of rest," said Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, vice chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Archaeologists and forensics experts hope to recover the bodies of up to 400 servicemen from Pheasants Wood outside Fromelles, today a small and quiet red brick hamlet near what was once the World War I front line.

Genetic tests will hopefully allow some of the men to be identified, and all will be given a full military funeral, 94 years after they lost their lives in a doomed assault on German lines, on July 19, 1916.

From July 19 next year, the anniversary of the battle, they will be greeted by a new Commonwealth war cemetery, built on land donated by the French state.

The remains will be reburied initially as unknown soldiers, each with a headstone and a British or Australian military badge where identifiable from scraps of uniform or equipment.

Six Months On

2009-05-03T14:42:00.007+01:00

It is six months today since mam's beautiful boy Ben crossed Rainbow Bridge. Never far from our thoughts and never out of our hearts, you are so deeply missed poppet. Sleep in peace little man.

Goodbye Ninian Park

2009-04-25T19:49:00.000+01:00

The football stadium of my beloved home city closed today, one year short of its centenary. The ageing ground is being replaced by a new 30,000-seater stadium shared with the Cardiff Blues rugby team. Ninian Park was built in 1910 by ambitious amateur club Riverside FC who turned professional and joined the Southern League as Cardiff City. The ground was named after Lord Ninian Stuart of the Bute family who agreed to be a guarantor for the club. The new 30,000 capacity venue stands opposite the old ground on the former site of the Leckwith athletics stadium. The Bluebirds will share it with the Cardiff Blues rugby region. They will be leaving their present home at Cardiff Arms Park in the city centre, although in recent years many of their bigger games have been switched to the neighbouring Millennium Stadium.