Welsh Blog of the Week!

Great news - the blog has been voted Welsh Blog of the Week on the Welsh Bloggers blog (too many blogs...).

Photos - Literary Evening

A bit late but here are a couple of photos from the literary evening held at the Vulcan last month. If you have any more please get in touch - save.the.vulcan@gmail.com.

Photos - Nick Clegg

Here are a couple of photos from Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg's recent visit to the Vulcan.

Landlady Liz Smart shows Nick Clegg how to pull a pint.

Pints pulled by Clegg himself.

Nick Clegg being interviewed by Cardiff Uni's student newspaper Gair Rhydd.

Cadw Application Now Available to View

The application to Cadw which was submitted in March can now be viewed online here, with a fixed link on the side-bar.

The appendices referenced haven't been uploaded as there are about thirty of them but if you are interested in viewing these please get in touch - save.the.vulcan@gmail.com

Monty Dons at the Vulcan 11/05/09

The Monty Dons will be playing live at the Vulcan on Monday 11th.

Band member Alan Davies said:

We support the pub and will do all we can to stop the closure

Conference Photos

After putting out a request for photos I have been alerted to the fact that loads of great photos have been uploaded to the Save the Vulcan Facebook group.

Now, there are plenty of people who avoid Facebook like the plague so I will start to upload them here for all to see - kicking off with photos from the recent Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrat conferences.



Dave Wilton manning the stall at the Plaid Cymru conference.



The leader of Cardiff Council Rodney Berman with campaigners Graham Craig and Joe Cable.



Graham and Joe with Lembit Opik.

Cadw Application

Here is a summary of the recent application to Cadw - a link to the full application to follow.

Professor Dai Smith says:

“This building, fully functioning, is one of the few such remaining to signal the mix of Industry and Popular Culture that has been at the heart of modern Cardiff's identity, and particularly that working-class presence which from Butetown to Newtown has been systematically destroyed with no protection offered either its communal or architectural heritage.”

There are three sections to the Cadw application:-

1. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Vulcan was built in 1853, and its frontage and layout make a fine example of a traditional small Victorian urban pub – now a rare sight in Cardiff. The pub’s glazed tiled frontage dates from 1901, and the cast glazed terracotta urinals dating from 1914. The following have all written in support of listing The Vulcan:- The National Trust, The Victorian Society, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, Cardiff Civic Society, and Jonathan Adams (the architect of the Millennium Centre).

2. CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Vulcan is home to a group of respected and acclaimed authors. Cardiff author John Williams organizes regular get-togethers for writers at The Vulcan as it offers inspiration and is an ideal place for the group to share ideas. Members of the group include:- John Williams, Rachel Trezise, Peter Finch, and Des Barry. The Vulcan has also been a long-time favourite drinking spot of Manic Street Preachers front man James Dean Bradfield, and during the 1960’s the pub was frequented by Cardiff band ‘The Hennessys’. The Vulcan has also been used as a location for a film about Howard Marks, called ‘Mr Nice’. The film will showcase The Vulcan and South Wales around the world. BAFTA winning Rhys Ifans who stars in the movie has signed the petition to save the pub.

3. HISTORICAL OR SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Vulcan is of remarkable social significance as it is the sole remaining building with any link to Newtown, the area of Cardiff colonized by Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine in the 1840s and 1850s. The Vulcan housed Irish labourers during the construction and development of Cardiff Docks.

Your Photos

Here are some photos of the Vulcan but the best, most meaningful photos are taken on the spur of the moment. If you have some good photos to share of your time at the Vulcan please get in touch - save.the.vulcan@googlemail.com.

Bar Trek - Ideas!

Those of you stuck for ideas for the up and coming Bar Trek might want check out this link.

Nick Clegg Joins the Fight!

From the BBC:

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg took time out from his conference visit to visit a threatened Victorian pub.

The Vulcan Hotel in Adamsdown, Cardiff, is set to make way for a multi-storey car park, retail units and apartments.

Campaigners have called for heritage body Cadw to list the building and sent a 5,000-name petition to the assembly.

Mr Clegg said: "It's an important part of Cardiff's history, and with its tiled frontage and original features, it is an asset to the city centre."

Read the full story here.

Bar Trek

To celebrate the release of the new Star Trek movie we're holding a Star Trek fancy dress party at The Vulcan!

There'll be a cracking prize for the best fancy dress outfit!

Save the Vulcan t-shirts will of course be on sale too!

Spread the word!

Date: 08 May 2009
Time: 20:00 - 23:00
Location: The Vulcan Hotel
Street: Adam Street
Town/City: Cardiff, United Kingdom

Template email and who to send it to...

Update
A new three year lease has been agreed for the Vulcan, so no need to write in for the time being.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the template letter taken from the R.A.T.S website:

Dear Sir,

The Vulcan, one of Cardiff's oldest and most well-loved pubs, is under threat of demolition because of the original St Davids 2 Masterplan and the commitment to provide 500 parking spaces on the Adam Street site.

I understand that St Davids 2 representatives attended a meeting last week with developer Derek Rapport, the local AM and MP, the Heritage Minister and others.

I also understand that a potential line of action is for the local developer and now owner of The Vulcan Derek Rapport, to propose a reduced number of parking spaces (the existing 450) on the Adam Street site.

In order for this to be successful and save The Vulcan, St Davids 2 and the John Lewis Partnership must agree to it. I am therefore writing to urge you to agree with the proposals for fewer parking spaces on the Adam Street site.

This will let The Vulcan survive and flourish where it has been for 156 years - at the heart of Cardiff.

St Davids 2 cannot and must not sacrifice over 150 years of local history for a mere 50 parking spaces.

5000 people signed our petition to save The Vulcan, around 150 people attended a public meeting on the issue in February, and we have the support of one third of all Assembly Members, plus the leader and deputy leader of Cardiff Council.

Please tell me that you will accept 50 fewer parking spaces on the Adam Street site and thereby save The Vulcan for future generations to enjoy.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

And here is who to send it to:

Neil.Carron@landsecurities.com (St Davids 2, was at the meeting of bigwigs)

Richard.Akers@landsecurities.com (St Davids 2, MD of Retail)

Andrew.Dudley@landsecurities.com (St Davids 2 Project Director)

Jamie.Payne@landsecurities.com (St Davids 2 Project Manager)

Norman.White@landsecurities.com (St Davids 2 Deputy Project Director)

You can also write to the Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones, urging him to list the building - (he has powers independent of CADW to list things).

His contact details are:

e-mail: alunffred.jones@wales.gov.uk.

And a couple of media contacts:

The Western Mail (readers@mediawales.co.uk)

The South Wales Echo (ecletters@mediawales.co.uk)

Family Heritage

A great comment left by Dave the Brewer today that I think deserves bumping up to the top of the blog:

My grandparents ran this pub in the early 1950's...please don't destroy the pub my Mum left to give birth to me in 1952!

Jenny Willott MP on the Vulcan

Glamorgan student Katy Blake asked Jenny Willott MP why she thinks saving the Vulcan is important:

Used with permission of Adamsdownhere.co.uk

Save the Vulcan on Twitter

You can now follow the campaign on Twitter - should you want to...

Advertising

After running it by the team I decided to include some Google advertising on the blog with the hope of possibly raising a little money for the campaign. What do you think about this? Are the ads appropriate/tasteful? If you have any thoughts/concerns please get in touch.

Pub of the Month!

The Vulcan has the honour of being voted the Pub of the Month for the second month running by the Real Ale Tasting Society - R.A.T.S.

They also have a brilliant page dedicated to the Vulcan on their website with an extensive collection of contact details of people to write to, as well as an excellent, ready to send email - just add your name and it's good to go.

There are also some nice photos of the demonstration at the Senedd back in February on their homepage.

Orion IV

On Monday 16th March drinkers at the Vulcan were treated to an evening of live music by Cardiff based string quartet Orion IV. They played an eclectic mix of music spanning the years from when the pub was built in 1853 to the present day.

Glamorgan University student Nick Jones went along to find out more.

Audio used with permission of Adamsdownhere.co.uk.

Plaid Conference

A message from Rachel:

Hi guys,

We have a Save the Vulcan stall at Plaid's conference this Friday and Saturday.

If you can help out manning the stall, handing out leaflets etc, that'd be grand - please get in touch. Even a couple of hours help would be fantastic!The conference is Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th April at UWIC Llandaff. For a map click here.

This will be a great opportunity to raise the profile of the campaign and lobby some politicians about our cause.

For info please email us.

Thanks!

Welsh Wanders

Guardian Travel in partnership with Visit Wales recently visited the Vulcan as part of their Welsh Wanders series.

From the website:

John Williams, author and founder of the Laugharne festival, and award-winning author Rachel Trezise discuss Welsh literary heritage in Cardiff's threatened Vulcan pub - which has a great literary tradition itself.

See the slide show and listen to John and Rachel discuss literature and the Vulcan here.