Swansea - Brynmill Park Prior to 1928. And the First-Ever Televised Play.

            The Postcard

A Valentine's Series postcard featuring an image that is a glossy real photograph. The card was posted in Llanelli using a 1d. stamp on Tuesday the 11th. September 1928. It was sent to:

Mr. & Mrs. E. A. Want,
65, The Roundway,
Great Cambridge Road,
Wood Green,
London.

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"Received P.C.
With thanks.
Best wishes from all.
Maud & George &
Family."

Brynmill Park

Brynmill Park is a Victorian park containing a lake, which formerly supported a population of whooper swans, but now often hosts a pair of mute swans, as well as many other waterfowl. The lake was originally constructed as a reservoir, before being converted to recreational use.

In 2007, restoration work started at Brynmill Park in order to restore the facility to its Victorian splendour. Work at the park's play area formed a £1.3 million scheme led by Swansea Council and part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Local councillor Peter May and the Friends of Brynmill Park have also been actively involved in the initiative. The project involves the restoration of the bowls pavilion and a discovery centre offering multifunctional educational facilities.

Other aspects of the Brynmill Park project include:

-- The installation of two floating nesting islands on the lake to improve habitats for wild birds.
-- Various aquatic planting at four areas of the lake, a reedbed and a variety of water lilies and marginal plants at the south-western lake inlet.
-- The re-surfacing of paths and the installation of new seats and bins.
-- The refurbishment of railings and gates.
-- The demolition of the old OAP Pavilion and toilet block and the construction of toilets beside the bowling green.
-- The repairing of part of the stone wall that forms the lake edge on the north-western side of the park.
-- The improvement of the large lawned area to the eastern side of the lake by sand slitting and connection to a restored drainage system. Sand slitting is a secondary drainage system applied to take excess water away from the surface down to the main system and lateral drains below. Sand slits are usually 50-75mm wide and 200-300mm deep, inserted at 1 – 2m spacing. The slits are backfilled with gravel and then topped with sand or rootzone.

Brynmill Park is separated from Singleton Park by Brynmill Lane. Singleton Park houses the Brynmill Stream which was once the town boundary, and which was being used to power a corn mill as far back the fifteenth century.

The First-Ever Televised Play

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, in the 11th. September 1928, WGY of Schenectady, New York, transmitted the first live play ever broadcast on television. 

The only viewers were journalists watching the program on a 3-inch x 3-inch screen three miles away. The small screen size and low resolution meant that only the faces of the actors were shown.

A Sound Recording in Leicester Square

Also on that day, a recording which lasted three minutes and fifty-three seconds was made by the Columbia Graphophone Company at half past two in Leicester Square. 

The disc was a 12" 78rpm disc made in association with the Daily Mail Newspaper. A man named Commander Daniel can be heard narrating, as well as various urban traffic noises, including horse-drawn vehicles and motor cars.
   

Taken on: December 23, 2024

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