Splott - a district of Cardiff.

Splott is a part of the City of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The name derives from the old English name for land, the dictionary offering SPLOTT: speck, blot, patch of land.

Splott was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms called Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. Situated to the east and south of the city centre it was once characterised by its huge steelworks and rows of tightly knit terraced houses.

In the 2001 census, the population of Splott was 12074, in 5101 households of which only 183 are detached homes. Most of the housing stock is Victorian in origin built during the expansion of the City's iron and steel industries to accommodate the workers in the factories.

The history of Splott is written in the Cardiff Records. In medieval times, Splott was held by a family named Bawdrippe and it was made up mainly mainly of two farms, called the Upper and Lower Splott, situated between the village of Roath and the sea.

In 1440 the Splott is mentioned as bounding certain lands of the Countess of Worcester and Warwick, Isabel Despenser.

1596 - William Bawdrippe of Penmark built a house at the Splott and made it his chief residence. 1626 - William Bawdrippe was Member of Parliament for Cardiff. He sold Penmark and Splott to Sir Edward Lewis.

In 1880 the area between Cardiff and the sea, known as East Moors, was marshland apart from the farms of Pengam and Splott. Development began in the 1880s, when streets, houses, shops, pubs and Schools were built. Churches were built by the various denominations and Splott park opened in 1901. There have been many changes in the years since Splott was initially developed.

In 1962 I started work in the CWS biscuit factory in Moorland Road, Splott as a mechanic, stripping and repairing biscuit wrapping machines. The hours we worked were long as we had to carry out maintenance in the evenings when the machines were not in use. Over 300 women and girls worked at the factory, filling the boxes with packets of biscuits as they came off the machines, stacking them then wheeling the palletes of boxes away for dispatch. It was a great atmosphere to work in with constant laughter and joking. Most of the people employed there came from the surrounding streets of Splott and the older ones knew Shirley Bassey who had lived in the area and had attended Moorland Road school after her family moved there from Tiger Bay. One of the older ladies told me she remembered Shirley running around there with candles running out of her nose and no knickers on.

Portmanmoor Road was the very long road running from north to south with thousands of terraced houses on it and hundreds of streets branching off it. The road now ends in an industrial estate and its former housing was demolished and the people re-housed in modern estates.

There is a strong community focus and this is centred around churches, schools, pubs and sporting teams. Roman Catholics remain well catered for through St. Albans and the associated school. This continues to produce rugby teams of all age groups which compete in city leagues. Splott University Settlement was one the most successful baseball teams, winning the Welsh League title several times. Splott Adventure ABC is a local boxing club based in Splott who are affilated to the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association.They are a very succesful boxing club with Welsh & British Champions at all age groups.

Splott is featured in the third episode of the BBC series,Torchwood which is set in Cardiff, and also in 'Another Life,' a Torchwood novel.

Splott-born Lynne Bowles of BBC radio2 presents traffic news on the show hosted by Terry Wogan. On 14 December 2009, Wogan was made Lord of Splott live on the show in its final week, by resident and broadcaster Noreen Bray. She invested him on behalf of TAFFS, or Terry's Adoring Fans From Splott.

John Humpries, the radio and television presenter was born in Splott.

Helen Raynor, writer of the 'Ghost Machine' episode of Torchwood lives in Splott.

Clive Sullivan the Welsh Rugby League player grew up in Splott.

I was in Splott recently and walked around some of my old haunts. The place has changed a lot since the sixties but its still a thriving, bustling community. It brought back some pleasant memories.