Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

24 The creation of St. Helen’s Mayor himself, who did not appear at the meeting. JTD had a great ally in Alderman William Thomas of Lan, a man known locally as “the pioneer of open spaces”. He had previously worked with JTD over what became known as Parc Llewelyn, and for the public meeting over the future of the land to the east of Gorse Lane, known as St. Helen’s Field, he assembled a compendium of testimonials plus a document signed by 800 people who supported the use of the area for healthy recreation. The Corporation deferred a decision about the future of St. Helen’s, as the dispute rumbled on for several years. But these were finally defeated in December 1885 when Alderman Thomas won a vote in favour of the St. Helen’s Field being used for recreational purposes and The Cambrian newspaper proclaiming: “Alderman Thomas is to be congratulated …having fought the prolonged fight and fairly won the battle in retaining the St. Helen’s Field as an open space for the use of the public.” 8 1. The Cambrian , 16 October, 23 October and 6 November 1874. PD Warren was born in London in 1851 and left Swansea in 1878 to work in Ceylon. He became Surveyor-General of Ceylon in 1904. 2. South Wales Daily News , 29 May 1876. 3. South Wales Daily News, 10 July 1878. 4 . South Wales Daily News, 11 July 1878. 5. The Cambrian, 12 July 1878. 6. ibid 7. The Cambrian, 21 March 1879. 8. The Cambrian, 24 December 1885. An aerial view of St. Helen’s and Victoria Park taken during the late 1920s showing the foreshore of Swansea Bay.