Kathleen & May Returns to Cardiff
Cardiff Capital Times ~ 21st August 2002
One of the Tall Ships, Kathleen and May, makes a spectacular return to Cardiff on Wednesday (21 August) at about 7.00pm, when she enters the Bay through the Barrage locks. The 125-foot ship, which has historic links with Cardiff, will be moored at the pontoons in front of Roald Dahls Plass, on the Bay waterfront, until Friday 23 August. She was one of the regular commercial shipping fleet that traded in Cardiff, carrying oats and pit props into Wales and exporting coal from the port.
The Kathleen and May made her last trip under full sail from Cardiff to her home port of Youghal in Ireland in 1931, with 202 tons of coal. She was then fitted with an engine and continued to ply the Welsh coal trade until the Second World War. Councillor Marion Drake, Cardiff Council Cabinet Member (Culture, Sport and Enterprise) welcomed the return of the vessel: “There should be great interest in the return to Cardiff of this historic ship, which is so closely linked to the city’s maritime past. The freshwater Bay provides a spectacular location for such a visit and the perfect vantage point for people to get a close look at the ship while she is moored at the waterfront.”