1978 in Wales

Centuries:	18th; 19th; 20th; 21st; ;
Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	List of years in Wales; Timeline of Welsh history 1978 in The United Kingdom Scotland Elsewhere

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1978 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Wales – John Morris^[1]
Archbishop of Wales – Gwilym Williams, Bishop of Bangor^[2]
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
- Bryn (outgoing)^[3]
- Geraint (Bowen) (incoming)^[2]

Events

March - Moss Evans is elected leader of the Transport and General Workers Union.^[4]
March/April - Closure of the steelworks in Ebbw Vale and East Moors.^[5]
unknown dates
- The Welsh Office is given responsibility for further and higher education in Wales.
- The National Language Centre is established at Nant Gwrtheyrn in the Lleyn peninsula.^[6]

Arts and literature

Richard Burton records the narrative for the concept album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.
Operatic contralto Helen Watts is appointed a CBE.
Gregynog Press is reincarnated as "Gwasg Gregynog".^[7]

Awards

National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Cardiff)
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - withheld^[8]
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Siôn Eirian^[9]
National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Harri Williams

New books

English language

Ruth Bidgood - The Print of Miracle^[10]
Ken Follett - Eye of the Needle
James Hanley - A Kingdom
Robert Minhinnick - A Thread in the Maze
John Tripp - Collected Poems
Gwyn A. Williams - The Merthyr Rising^[11]

Welsh language

Marion Eames - I Hela Cnau^[12]
Gwyn Thomas - Croesi Traeth
T. Arfon Williams - Englynion Arfon

Music

Dave Edmunds - Tracks on Wax 4
Geraint Jarman - Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

Film

Kenneth Griffith appears with Richard Burton in The Wild Geese.

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

Shane becomes the first film to be dubbed into the Welsh language for television.^[13]

English-language television

17 March - BBC Wales comedy film Grand Slam stars Hugh Griffith and Windsor Davies.^[14]
BBC Wales drama serial Hawkmoor, based on the life of Twm Siôn Cati, stars John Ogwen and Jane Asher.
Elaine Morgan's adaptation of Off to Philadelphia in the Morning, the novel by Jack Jones, stars David Lyn as Joseph Parry and Connie Booth as his wife, Jane. Meredith Edwards, Rachel Thomas and William Squire also appear.

English-language radio

13 November - BBC Radio Wales is launched,^[15] following the demise of the 'Radio 4 Wales' service (previously the Welsh Home Service). The first show is AM, presented by Anita Morgan.

Sport

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year – Johnny Owen^[16]
Boxing – Johnny Owen wins the Commonwealth bantamweight title.
Darts – Leighton Rees wins the World Professional Darts Championship.
Rugby union – Wales win their eighth Grand Slam.
Snooker
- 29 April – Ray Reardon wins the World Championship for the sixth time.^[17]
- 1 December – Doug Mountjoy wins the UK Snooker Championship in Preston.^[18]

Births

21 January - Rachael Bland, née Hodges, broadcast journalist (died 2018)^[19]
1 February - David Hughes, footballer
12 February - Gethin Jones, television presenter
26 July - Eve Myles, actress
2 September - Matthew Watkins, rugby union player (died 2020)
17 November - Tom Ellis, actor
25 December - Simon Jones, cricketer
date unknown
- David Llewellyn, fiction writer
- Rachel Trezise, fiction writer

Deaths

6 January - Ted Jones, trade union leader, 81^[20]
11 January - William John Edwards, Cerdd Dant singer, 79
17 February - Joseph Owen, cricketer, 69^[21]
20 February - Tom Jones, footballer, 88^[22]
23 February - Arwyn Davies, Baron Arwyn, politician, 80^[23]
24 February - David Williams, historian, 78^[24]
2 March - Frances Williams, composer,^[25]
6 March - David Price-White, lawyer and politician, 71^[26]
4 April - Sir Morien Morgan, aeronautics engineer, 65^[27]
9 April - Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, architect, 94^[28]
13 April - William Rees-Thomas, psychiatrist, 90^[29]
14 April - Thomas Hollingdale, Wales rugby union international, 77
16 April - Eddie Morgan, Wales international rugby player, 64
25 April - Harry Griffiths, footballer and manager, 47
18 May - Selwyn Lloyd, politician, 73^[30]
2 July - Philip Scott Yorke, last Squire of Erddig, 73
21 August - Rhys Davies, 76, novelist and short story writer^[31]
25 August - Tyssul Griffiths, rugby player, 59
4 September – Leonora Cohen, suffragette, trade unionist and feminist, 105
12 September - Bobby Delahay, Wales rugby union captain, 78
13 November - W. S. Gwynn Williams, composer, 82^[32]
23 November - Edward Jones, 82, cricketer^[33]
16 December - Harry Phillips, Wales international rugby player, 75

References

^ Pryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996-02-23). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5.
^ ^a ^b NA NA (25 December 2015). The Macmillan Guide to the United Kingdom 1978-79. Springer. p. 875. ISBN 978-1-349-81511-1.
^ Meic Stephens (April 1986). The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. Oxford University Press. p. 220.
^ "Moss Evans". The Telegraph. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
^ Sander Meredeen (1 August 1988). Managing industrial conflict: seven major disputes. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-173226-4.
^ Mari C. Jones (1998). Language Obsolescence and Revitalization: Linguistic Change in Two Sociolinguistically Contrasting Welsh Communities. Clarendon Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-19-823711-2.
^ Printing History. American Printing History Association. 1987.
^ "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 3 October 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ David Ben Rees (1981). Wales: The Cultural Heritage. G.W. & A. Hesketh. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-905777-16-0.
^ Matthew Jarvis (2008). Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry: Writing Wales in English. University of Wales Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7083-2152-2.
^ David Howell (1984). British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906. Manchester University Press. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-7190-1791-9.
^ Katie Gramich (2007). Twentieth-century Women's Writing in Wales: Land, Gender, Belonging. University of Wales Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-7083-2086-0.
^ The Economist. Economist Newspaper Limited. 1978. p. 30.
^ Steven Blandford (2000). Wales on Screen. Seren. ISBN 978-1-85411-248-4.
^ Aldridge, Meryl (1 April 2007). Understanding The Local Media. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). p. 135. ISBN 978-0-335-22172-1.
^ "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^ "Welsh Open Snooker trophy named after legend Ray Reardon". BBC Sport. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^ "Profile: Doug Mountjoy". Eurosport. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^ "Rachael Bland obituary". The Guardian. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
^ Keith Gildart, "Jones, Edward ('Ted')", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.XIV, pp.188–199
^ Joseph Owen at CricketArchive
^ "Thomas Jones". mufcinfo.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
^ Who was who. A. & C. Black. 1971. p. 28. ISBN 9780312877460.
^ "Williams, David". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63676. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Charles Eugene Claghorn (1 January 1996). Women Composers and Songwriters: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. pp. 236-7. ISBN 978-0-8108-3130-8.
^ John Graham Jones. "Price-White, David Archibald Price (1906-1978), Conservative politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
^ Canadian Aeronautics and Space Journal. Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. 1978.
^ Richard Haslam; Clough Williams-Ellis (1996). Clough Williams-Ellis. Academy Editions. ISBN 978-1-85490-430-0.
^ REES-THOMAS, William’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 28 Dec 2012
^ Bassil A. Mardelli (April 2010). Middle East Perspectives: Personal Recollections (1947 - 1967). iUniverse. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4502-1116-1.
^ Huw Osborne (1 July 2009). Rhys Davies. University of Wales Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7083-2242-0.
^ Rhidian Griffiths. "Williams, William Sidney Gwynn (1896-1978), musician and administrator". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
^ Hignell, Dr. A.K. (December 2003). "Brief profile of Edward Jones". Retrieved 23 September 2011.

[1] Pryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996-02-23). Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-521-56350-5.

[NA2015-2] NA NA (25 December 2015). The Macmillan Guide to the United Kingdom 1978-79. Springer. p. 875. ISBN 978-1-349-81511-1.

[Stephens1986-3] Meic Stephens (April 1986). The Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. Oxford University Press. p. 220.

[4] "Moss Evans". The Telegraph. 14 January 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2024.

[5] Sander Meredeen (1 August 1988). Managing industrial conflict: seven major disputes. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-173226-4.

[6] Mari C. Jones (1998). Language Obsolescence and Revitalization: Linguistic Change in Two Sociolinguistically Contrasting Welsh Communities. Clarendon Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-19-823711-2.

[7] Printing History. American Printing History Association. 1987.

[8] "Winners of the Chair". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 3 October 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[9] David Ben Rees (1981). Wales: The Cultural Heritage. G.W. & A. Hesketh. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-905777-16-0.

[10] Matthew Jarvis (2008). Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry: Writing Wales in English. University of Wales Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7083-2152-2.

[11] David Howell (1984). British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906. Manchester University Press. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-7190-1791-9.

[12] Katie Gramich (2007). Twentieth-century Women's Writing in Wales: Land, Gender, Belonging. University of Wales Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-7083-2086-0.

[13] The Economist. Economist Newspaper Limited. 1978. p. 30.

[14] Steven Blandford (2000). Wales on Screen. Seren. ISBN 978-1-85411-248-4.

[15] Aldridge, Meryl (1 April 2007). Understanding The Local Media. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). p. 135. ISBN 978-0-335-22172-1.

[16] "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.

[17] "Welsh Open Snooker trophy named after legend Ray Reardon". BBC Sport. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2019.

[18] "Profile: Doug Mountjoy". Eurosport. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2019.

[19] "Rachael Bland obituary". The Guardian. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.

[20] Keith Gildart, "Jones, Edward ('Ted')", Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.XIV, pp.188–199

[21] Joseph Owen at CricketArchive

[22] "Thomas Jones". mufcinfo.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

[23] Who was who. A. & C. Black. 1971. p. 28. ISBN 9780312877460.

[24] "Williams, David". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63676. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[25] Charles Eugene Claghorn (1 January 1996). Women Composers and Songwriters: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. pp. 236-7. ISBN 978-0-8108-3130-8.

[26] John Graham Jones. "Price-White, David Archibald Price (1906-1978), Conservative politician". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 3 March 2020.

[27] Canadian Aeronautics and Space Journal. Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute. 1978.

[28] Richard Haslam; Clough Williams-Ellis (1996). Clough Williams-Ellis. Academy Editions. ISBN 978-1-85490-430-0.

[29] REES-THOMAS, William’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 28 Dec 2012

[30] Bassil A. Mardelli (April 2010). Middle East Perspectives: Personal Recollections (1947 - 1967). iUniverse. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4502-1116-1.

[Osborne2009-31] Huw Osborne (1 July 2009). Rhys Davies. University of Wales Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-7083-2242-0.

[32] Rhidian Griffiths. "Williams, William Sidney Gwynn (1896-1978), musician and administrator". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 13 October 2019.

[33] Hignell, Dr. A.K. (December 2003). "Brief profile of Edward Jones". Retrieved 23 September 2011.

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Incumbents

Events

Arts and literature

Awards

New books

English language

Welsh language

Music

Film

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

English-language television

English-language radio

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References