Annie Phillips,
Canal Bank, Gabalfa, Cardiff
(Research article by Tommy Page)
To everybody who knew her,
Annie Phillips was a woman of
mystery. Living alone in an almost derelict cottage on the banks of a
long forgotten canal bank in Cardiff, she was an enigma.
To countless children after World War 2,
Annie Phillips was
a godsend. From this old, almost derelict cottage, she sold sweets
and lemonade to children from the Mynachdy, and Gabalfa housing
estates.
Annie’s cottage was situated adjacent to the Mynachdy
Lock gates, some 130 yards east of the present canal bridge at
Western Avenue, Cardiff, where today is situated Excelsior Road, the
main route to Tesco’s and other premises on what is now an
Industrial estate.
Annie’s address was number 2 Mynachdy Lock Cottage, which
was often recorded as Monachty Lock Cottage. She lived their alone
from 1953, until her death in 1962.
The Mynachdy Lock itself was Lock No 48 out of a total of 51
locks, on the canal.
The Glamorganshire Canal was built circa 1790, and carried iron,
coal and limestone from Merthyr Tydfil to the Sea Lock at Cardiff
Docks.
My family moved to Gabalfa in 1951, when I was 4 years old, and as
children growing up in this area, we would often walk “
down the
old canal bank, to Annie’s”
As you ventured under the road bridge, from Western Avenue North,
(from the Gabalfa estate) remnants of the canal were clearly visible.
The walls of the actual canal were prominent. All that was missing
was the water. !
A narrow towpath winded its way along the side of the canal.
The towpath passed the remains of derelict buildings on the right.
Behind these derelict buildings there was a small wooded and
overgrown area, and a small stream that ran from the Gabalfa Estate,
and passed
Annie’s cottage, before entering the River Taff
in what we called the Yankee Woods.
The woods are still there today. (2016)
To the left of the towpath, on the opposite side of the canal was
the Super Oil Seals and Gaskets factory. This factory later moved to
Llanishen, Cardiff .
Mynachdy Lock itself (adjacent to Annie’s cottage) was quite
prominent. As children we played on what was left of the old rotting
wooden lock gates. On the opposite side of the Lock stood the gable
end of an old cottage wall, together with the foundation ruins of the
building.
Alongside this old gable end wall, there were 2 flagstones
standing erect .We were told they were old gravestones. They were
more likely markers for the barges that used the canal in its heyday,
or even markers for pet graves.
As you walked passed
Annie’s Cottage, the towpath dipped,
and levelled out. To the right was the stream that ran past the
cottage, and further on, an old pig sty, where the pigs would often
escape, and could be seen running along Gabalfa Avenue, at all hours
of the day.
To the left, on the opposite side, was the old British Ropes
Company. (Later Excelsior Ropes)
Entrance to
Annie’s shop/cottage was via a narrow wooden
footbridge that crossed the small stream. Outside her front door were
2 wooden benches where we would sit and eat our sweets, crisps and
drink lemonade. Nobody ever entered her home. The front door to the
cottage was painted green, and was a stable type door. The top half
of the door was often open, and the bottom half secured. To gain
Annie’s attention, one only had to shout her name, and then
she would shuffle to the door.
Peering into the gloom of the cottage, an old wooden display
cabinet was visible, stocked with jars of sweets, liquorice, arrow
roots and other confectionary.
Annie also sold cigarettes, either in packets of five or
even singularly. As I recall cigarettes were one old penny each.
Annie’s nearest neighbour was old Billy Hill who lived in
a tiny cottage behind
Annie’s, in a little wooded copse. The
house was virtually invisible behind the overgrown foliage.
Every day Billy would visit his sister’s house in Western Drive,
Gabalfa, presumably to eat and wash.
These were the only 2 inhabited buildings on this stretch of the
former canal. All the others had long been demolished.
In the mid 1950’s
Annie was a woman of about 60 years of
age, 5’.6” tall, medium build.
She always wore slippers, with her stockings rolled down to her
ankles. She often wore a pinafore over her dress. At first sight to
young children, she appeared quite intimidating, but was quite a
gentle person once you got to know her.
Annie had a gruff Welsh accent, and the smell of cats
inside the cottage was evident, and sometimes overpowering.
We would often take old lemonade bottles back to her, and obtain
an old penny or twopence in return.
I cannot recall seeing any mains electricity or gas in the
cottage, but there may have been.
There was certainly no lighting on the Canal towpath, and at night
the area appeared frightening, especially in the long dark winter
months.
Occasionally
Annie would have a visitor, her son Clarence
Phillips. When Clarence was around we were always on our best
behaviour.
He appeared to be a tall thin man with horn rimmed glasses. He
often admonished us if we were too noisy or truculent.
Annie died at Cardiff in 1962. At the time of her death,
her age was recorded as 76. From my research, I believe she may have
been only 68 or 69 years old.
Who was Annie
Phillips?
Very little is known about
Annie’s early life, but there
is a wealth of information regarding her husband, who’s name was
William George Phillips.
William George Phillips was born at 74 Severn Road,
Canton, Cardiff, on 10
th January 1876.
He was baptised at the Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist,
Cardiff, on 26
th January that year.
William was the eldest of 11 children born to Joseph
Phillips, and Elizabeth Greedy.
Joseph was a native of Gloucestershire, and Elizabeth hailed from
Somerset
On the 1911 Census, the Phillips family are residing at Mynachdy
Lock Cottage.
Joseph Phillips, (
William’s father) is recorded as an
invalid, and his wife Elizabeth as a “General Dealer” One of
their sons, Arthur is recorded as a “Canal Bargee”
The term “General Dealer” covers a multitude of employments,
but it could be that as early as 1911, Mynachdy Lock Cottage was
selling sweets and refreshments to the barge workers on the canal.
On the 25 October 1896,
William George Phillips married
Jemima Jones at Cardiff. Jemima was a native of Welshpool,
Montgomeryshire.
William and Jemima had at least 5 children together, 3 of
whom were born in Penrhiwceiber, Rhondda, Glamorgan to where the
family had moved, presumably seeking employment.
William was employed as a collier, in the local colliery.
.
However,
William had suffered ill health, and by 1911, had
moved his family to Hall Street, Llandybie, Ammanford,
Carmarthenshire, where he took up an occupation as an insurance
salesman, probably with the mining company.
On the 1911 Census, his wife Jemima Phillips is shown as a
confectioner, an occupation later taken up by
William’s
second wife
Annie
In 1915,
William joined the army, but was invalided out,
due to severe Bronchitis, and periods of sickness.
His wife Jemima died in 1919.
The question remains:-
Who was Annie Phillips ?
Annie Phillips
.
The only certainties regarding
Annie are the following:-
* Her full maiden name was
Annie Mary
Smith
* She married
William George Phillips
at the Gabalfa and
Maindy Baptist Chapel, on North Road,
Cardiff on
4
th May 1921.
Her age was
recorded as 27 years.
(This indicates a birth year of around
1894)
* She was a spinster at the time of the
marriage
* Her fathers name was Charles Smith a
General Labourer (deceased)
* Annie’s address on the marriage
certificate was given as Monarchty Lock,
the same address as her husband
William.
* On the marriage certificate,
William’s
age is given as 45years
*
William was a widower, some 18
years older than Annie.
William’s occupation on the Marriage Certificate was
recorded as a colliery labourer, although by this time he was clearly
unfit to work underground, and had been invalided out of the army due
to his ill health.
The witnesses to the wedding included
William’s youngest
brother, Joseph Thomas Phillips, and a person named Henry Watts.
Henry was William’s brother-in-law, having married
William’s
sister, Charlotte, in 1903.
The Watts family lived nearby in Parkfield Place, Mynachdy, but
later moved to the Llandaff North area of Cardiff.
Annie and
William only had one child, Clarence Lloyd
Phillips, born in Cardiff in 1924. Clarence died in Cardiff in 1993.
It would appear that Number 2 Lock Cottage, Mynachdy, was in the
possession of the Phillips family for well over 50 years, until
Annie’s death.
William Phillips later became a road sweeper for the local
council, and was so employed up until his retirement, during the war
years.
William George Phillips died at 2 Mynachdy Lock, Canal Bank
on 24 October 1953.
He died of Cerebral Thrombosis and senility. His age was
documented as 74 years of age. His actual age was 77 years.
There is no record at all within the Cardiff area of his funeral,
nor any details of his burial and /or cremation.
It is possible, and indeed likely, he was buried with his first
wife Jemima, in the Carmathenshire area.
Annie Mary Phillips (Nee Smith) died on 20 November 1962 at
St David’s Hospital, Cardiff.
Her address was recorded as 2 Canal Bank, Mynachdy Lock, Cardiff.
Annie died of heart failure and senile degeneration.
Death details were provided by her son Clarence.
At this time, Clarence was residing at 80 Appledore Road,
Mynachdy, Cardiff.
Annie was cremated at Thornhill, Cardiff and her ashes scattered
in the Rose Garden at the cemetery.…
At the time of her death,
Annie’s age was recorded as 76
years, which indicates she was born circa 1886. This is at odds with
her marriage certificate which indicates she was born circa 1894.
If the marriage certificate is correct,
Annie would have
only been 68/69 years old when she died.
Shortly after
Annie’s death, Mynachdy Lock Cottage fell
into ruin. The property was finally demolished in 1965 along with all
other remnants of the Glamorganshire Canal.
Nothing is left of
Annie’s cottage, nor indeed of the
Glamorganshire Canal in this area.
There is no indication at all that the canal ever existed.
Conclusion
It has been almost impossible to correctly identify with
certainty, the true identity and parenthood of
Annie Phillips.
From the small scraps of Information available, and from my
research, I believe
Annie Mary Phillips (Nee Smith) was born
at Llanegwad, Llandeilo
Carmarthenshire in 1893. This date
roughly ties in with her marriage certificate, as well as the name
and occupation of her father.
Her parents were Charles Smith an agricultural labourer, and Jane
Davies.
Both Charles and Jane were born in Llanegwad in 1861
Annie was the eldest of at least 3 children born to them.
Charles, her father, died in Llanegwad, in 1904, aged 43 years
It may well be that
Annie was acquainted with both
William and Jemima Phillips, and knew them when they lived in
Llandybie, Ammanford.
We may never know.
Ammanford is only a few miles from Llanegwad and the Phillips
family were resident in that area for quite a few years.
I have examined the 1939 United Kingdom Register, which shows
William and
Annie living at “2 Mynochty Cottage”,
with their son Clarence.
William’s date of birth is clear, but unfortunately
Annie’s date of birth
is not decipherable.
Indeed there appears to be just a scribble, which may indicate
that
Annie did not know her true date of birth. !
Annie was known to countless people, but few knew anything about
her.
The story of a vulnerable old woman living alone in a tiny cottage
on a canal bank in a long forgotten area of Gabalfa and Mynachdy had
always intrigued me. I was determined that I would one day find out
the answer to a puzzling question: Who was
Annie Phillips ??
Hopefully I have achieved this goal.
Tom
Page…….tom.pag@ntlworld.com