1971 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1971 to Wales and its people.

← 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1971 in Wales → 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	List of years in Wales 1971 in The United Kingdom Ireland Scotland

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales – Charles
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• Secretary of State for Wales – Peter Thomas
• Archbishop of Wales
  • Glyn Simon, Bishop of Llandaff (retired)[1]
  • Gwilym Williams, Bishop of Bangor (elected)[2]
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Tilsli[3]

Events

• February - Harold Charles becomes Bishop of St Asaph.[4]
• 6 May - Singer Dickie Valentine is killed in a car accident on the Glangrwyney bridge near Crickhowell.[5]
• 28 May - Opening of the Llanberis Lake Railway.
• 1 August - It becomes legal to register marriages in the Welsh language.[6]
• date unknown
  • The Welsh Nursery Schools Movement is founded in Aberystwyth.[7]
  • Anglesey Aluminium opens its smelting plant on the outskirts of Holyhead.[8]
  • Wylfa Nuclear Power Station becomes operational.

Arts and literature

• Mary Hopkin marries record producer Tony Visconti.
• Welsh performers participate in the first Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Bangor)
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Emrys Roberts
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Bryan Martin Davies
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Ifor Wyn Williams

New books

English language

• Rhys Davies - Nobody Answered the Bell
• John L. Hughes - Tom Jones Slept Here

Welsh language

• Islwyn Ffowc Elis - Y Gromlech yn yr Haidd
• Gwynfor Evans - Aros Mae
• Tudor Wilson Evans - Ar Gae'r Brêc
• Beti Hughes - Aderyn o Ddyfed
• Alan Llwyd - Y March Hud
• Eluned Phillips - Cofiant Dewi Emrys[9]
• Gwyn Thomas - Y Bardd Cwsg a'i Gefndir

Music

• John Cale & Terry Riley - Church of Anthrax[10]
• Man - Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In?
• Iris Williams - Pererin Wyf (single)

Film

• Merthyr Tydfil is one of the locations used for the filming of 10 Rillington Place.[11]
• Ruth Madoc appears in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof.

Welsh-language films

• None

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

• Max Boyce appears on the Welsh-language music show, Disc a Dawn.[12]

English-language television

• Comedy duo Ryan Davies and Ronnie Williams transfer their successful Welsh language show to BBC1.
• 22 March - Sesame Street's UK debut is on HTV.
• 14 April - Nerys Hughes gets her big break in The Liver Birds, first aired on this date.

Sport

• BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year - John Dawes
• Cricket - May: In a Glamorgan home match at Sophia Gardens, Roger Davis is struck on the temple while fielding at short leg and survives largely thanks to the intervention of Dr Colin Lewis (grandfather of Rhydian Roberts).[13]
• Gymnastics - Pam Hopkins wins the British Women's Championship.
• Rugby union - Wales win their sixth Grand Slam.
• Sailing - Nicolette Milnes-Walker becomes the first woman to sail non-stop single-handed across the Atlantic.

Births

• 11 January - Tom Ward, actor
• 23 January - Scott Gibbs, rugby player
• 19 March (in Taunton) - Kirsty Williams, politician[14]
• 2 April - Chico Slimani, singer[15]
• 8 July - Neil Jenkins, rugby player
• 18 August (in Limerick) - Aphex Twin, musician
• 8 September - Martyn Margetson, footballer
• 3 October - Zoe Lyons, comedian
• 26 October - Damon Searle, footballer
• 5 November
  • Chris Addison, Cardiff-born comedian[16]
  • Rob Jones, footballer
• date unknown
  • Jason Walford Davies, poet and academic
  • Eleri Siôn, née Jones, media presenter

Deaths

• 2 January – Harold Jones, convicted murderer, 64[17]
• 12 January – Gwenan Jones, historian and politician, 81[18]
• 4 March – Ifan Gruffydd ("Y Gŵr o Baradwys"), author, 75[19]
• 8 March – Harold Lloyd, American comedy actor of Welsh descent, 77[20][21]
• 18 March – Jack Gore, Wales international rugby player, 71
• 9 April – Dewi Morgan, poet, scholar and journalist, 93[22]
• 19 April – Thomas Evan Nicholas (Niclas y Glais), writer and political activist, 91[23]
• 18 May – William Mainwaring MP, miners' leader[24]
• 20 May – Waldo Williams, poet, 66[25]
• 29 May – Howell Lewis, Wales international rugby player, 83
• 5 June – Clifford Dyment, poet, 57[26]
• 5 July – Idris Jones, chemist and rugby player, 71
• 11 July – Brenda Chamberlain, poet and artist, 59[27]
• 4 September – C. E. Vulliamy, author, 85?[28]
• 1 October – Bill Davies, cricketer, 65
• 9 November - Ceri Richards, artist, 68[29]
• 27 November - Leslie Thomas, politician, 65
• 1 December - Jack Jenkins, Wales international rugby player, 91
• date unknown
  • James Conway Davies, historian and palaeographer, 79[30]
  • Jack Evans, footballer

See also

• 1971 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Who was who. A. & C. Black. 1971. p. 728.
2. Norman Doe (5 March 2020). A New History of the Church in Wales: Governance and Ministry, Theology and Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-108-49957-6.
3. Meic Stephens (April 1986). The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. Oxford University Press. p. 589.
4. The Times, 4 February 1971; pg. 16; Issue 58090; col D Church news
5. Neil Sean (15 November 2014). Live from the London Palladium: The World's Most Famous Theatre in the Words of the Stars Who Have Played There. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4456-4329-8.
6. Statutory instruments. 1971.
7. Gearóid Mac Eoin; Anders Ahlqvist; Donncha Ó hAodha (1987). Third International Conference on Minority Languages: Celtic Papers. Multilingual Matters. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-905028-64-4.
8. James R. King (23 February 2001). The Aluminium Industry. Elsevier. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-85573-876-8.
9. Meic Stephens (April 1986). The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. Oxford University Press. p. 476.
10. Dr Keith Potter; Dr Pwyll ap Siôn; Professor Kyle Gann (28 December 2013). The Ashgate Research Companion to Minimalist and Postminimalist Music. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 495. ISBN 978-1-4724-0278-3.
11. Rhianwen Long (15 April 2014). Merthyr Tydfil Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4456-1833-3.
12. Gareth Price (12 January 2018). Broadcasters of BBC Wales. Y Lolfa. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-78461-535-2.
13. James Rothwell (24 November 2014). "Glamorgan cricketer Roger Davis on how he nearly suffered same fate as Phil Hughes - but was saved by Rhydian Roberts' grandfather". WalesOnline. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
14. "UK: Wales: AMs". BBC News. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
15. "Mr Yousseph Chico Slimani". Company Check. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
16. "Chris Addison: The thinking man's comic adjusts to fame" The Independent (13 November 2011). Retrieved 30 September 2019
17. "Murdered Abertillery Girl's Niece Learnt About Tragedy in Book". BBC.co.uk. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
18. Nerys Ann Jones. "Jones, Gwenan (1889-1971), educationalist and author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
19. Bedwyr Lewis Jones. "Gruffydd, Ifan (1896-1971), author". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
20. "Died". March 22, 1971. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
21. "Harold Lloyd, Bespectacled Film Comic, Dies of Cancer at 77". Los Angeles Times. March 9, 1971. Retrieved June 8, 2008. Comedian Harold Lloyd, 77, who bumbled through more than 300 films as a bespectacled victim of life's difficulties, died of cancer Monday at his Beverly Hills home.
22. Nerys Ann Jones. "Morgan, Dewi 'Dewi Teifi'; (1877-1971), poet and journalist". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
23. D. Ben Rees. "Nicholas, Thomas Evan ('Niclas y Glais'), (1879-1971), poet, minister of religion and advocate for the Communist Party". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
24. John Graham Jones. "Mainwaring, William Henry (1884-1971), Labour politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
25. James Nicholas (1975). Waldo Williams. University of Wales Press for the Welsh Arts Council. p. 85.
26. Ernest Kay (1976). The International authors and writers who's who. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-900332-34-0.
27. Kate Holman (7 November 1997). Brenda Chamberlain. University of Wales Press. p. 11.
28. Meic Stephens (23 September 1998). The new companion to the literature of Wales. University of Wales Press. p. 761. ISBN 978-0-7083-1383-1.
29. Oxford University Press (21 June 2012). Benezit Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators. OUP USA. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-19-992305-2.
30. Edward Weldon,The Society of American Archivists (1972). The American Archivist Volume 36.Number 4.October 1973. p. 408.