After several years of sterling service, the old site was becoming cluttered and a little disorganised. It was also expensive to run, so we made the decision to move to a new location and have a thorough spring clean. That work is still ongoing, so you may still find some clutter, outdated pages, broken links or some things in the wrong place. We hope to have it all working properly and looking shipshape by the spring.
The Norwegian Church Arts Centre and Cafe also has a new site, www.norwegianchurchcardiff.com, where you will find opening hours, the latest schedule of events and a menu.
The new Norwegian Church charity recently appointed our society treasurer Thomas Husøy to lead an investigation into the history of the church and its community over the years.
Thomas has started to delve deep into the archives at the church and to hand, and over the coming year he will look in libraries, archives and personal collections further afield in Wales and Norway.
Already some members have come forward to tell us of mementoes and records they have themselves or know of elsewhere. Please do keep the information coming! Feel free to contact Thomas at thomas@norwegianchurchcardiff.com if you wish to discuss the Norwegian Church and the heritage project.
We will take great care of materials shared with us, take copies and make the material more widely available in a digital record of this community which has played such a central role in the life and development of Cardiff and south Wales.
This archive picture from the 1950s shows trawler CF27 Sasebo tied up at the old icehouse in Bute West Dock with the Norwegian Church in its original position in the background. Image courtesy of the Heritage and Cultural Exchange.
Wales’s small but vibrant Norwegian community celebrated the arrival of the festive season on Sunday (4 December), at their annual Festival of Light and Friendship at their iconic church on Cardiff Bay.
Norwegians came to Wales in the 19th century as sailors and traders bringing pit props and supplies to the coal mines of south Wales as the industry boomed. Many settled, including the family of author Roald Dahl. He was born in Cardiff and baptised in the small church that was built in the Bute docks to serve the local community and visiting seamen.
As the community dispersed, the white wooden church fell into disuse and disrepair, but in later life Dahl led the campaign to have it preserved. It was eventually rebuilt at its present position on the waterfront, and now serves as an arts centre and café. It remains a focal point for Norwegians living, working and studying across Wales.
The church café was open to all, serving Norwegian favourites including waffles, cakes, mulled wine, hotdogs and lapskaus – a close relation to Welsh cawl.
There were workshops in the main hall for those wanting to learn how to make Scandinavian-style Christmas decorations.
As dusk fell, there was a traditional outdoor lantern procession to light the Christmas tree and welcome Santa. The band of the Salvation Army played.
This event was hosted by the Welsh-Norwegian Society, the Norwegian Church Cardiff Bay Charity and Vestland County Council in Norway, which has long supported the restoration of the church building and the maintenance of cultural and education ties between south Wales and west Norway.
The local artists and craftspeople who took over the gallery of the church in the summer are back for a pre-Christmas season with a wide variety of hand-crafted art, candles, cards, ceramic cushions, furnishings, glass, jewellery, photography, laser art, recycled Welsh blankets, wirework, willow, wool and wood, to name a few. Do pop in and have a browse, bring a friend and stop for coffee and cake. We want more people to get to know and lovely the wonderful building and its treasures within!
For the latest news and more about the exhibiting craftspeople, visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/gallerygiftshopnc, Instagram: gallery.giftshopnc, Twitter: @gallerygiftnc
It was great to get together with members of the Welsh Norwegian Society at the Norwegian Church, especially after such a long time since the last event there, writes member Paul Kirby.
There was a good mix of long-standing and newer members along with visitors from the Lithuanian community, who are hoping to start their own society in the near future.
I had met Kjell Ebbesvik a few times at previous meetings and found his stories of past exploits as a captain in the Norwegian Merchant Navy fascinating. Clearly he had appreciated these opportunities to meet up with fellow Norwegians, and responded enthusiastically to the invitation to tell his stories more fully at this meeting by being interviewed by Anne Kirby, a currant committee member (and my wife!)
His life story was intriguing and when, at the end, there was the opportunity for questions from the 22 people present, they came thick and fast. There was plenty of time for drinking coffee and eating waffles, which could be purchased from the newly re-opened café, and for renewing friendships and welcoming new faces.
I look forward to the next gathering when, hopefully, there will be another guest speaker to bring new insights about Welsh/Norwegian connections. Thanks to all who helped to make this happen and especially to Kjell for his fascinating story of exploits on the high seas.
The latest group of Norwegian students to spend an academic year at Cardiff and Vale College have arrived in the capital from Cardiff’s twin region of Vestland – the new county surrounding the west-coast port city of Bergen.
Society treasurer Thomas Husøy joined the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Cardiff & the Lady Mayoress, Cllr Graham Hinchey & Mrs Anne Hincheyat, to welcome them at an event at Cardiff Castle.
We wish the visiting students hjertelig velkommen and hope they enjoy their year making friends and memories in Wales.
When I was given the address at which our midsummer BBQ was to be held, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The address was the house where my uncle’s family had lived and farmed for generations.
My uncle married into our family so he has no Norwegian connections, but his wife, my father’s sister, had a Norwegian grandfather. Sadly none of his grandchildren met him because he lost his life in 1915 when his ship hit a mine off Flamborough Head.
But I digress.
The farm once belonged to the Stevens family.
In the 1939 register, Ernest was farming. He was known around the UK for breeding and judging Ryland sheep.
Prior to that, in the 1911 census, William and his wife Lydia, together with their 4 children, including Ernest and Ethel (born 1904), my uncle’s mother, were living there. William was in charge of the farm.
In the 1901 census William was married to Margaret (who sadly died) and was a bus proprietor, but, obviously, when his father died he took over the farm.
William’s father was John Stevens, born 1828 at the Lizard, Cornwall. I was surprised at this revelation. We know that there was a great deal of “unofficial” emigration between Devon and south Wales as boats plied their trade regularly, but to travel from Cornwall, by sea, presumably, and to end up farming in Gower… that’s a new one on me.
When I showed my research to the lady who now owns the house she said that she found it quite spooky! But I hope I have helped her to learn a little more about the generations who lived there before her.
Since 1996 a group of Norwegian sixth form students has been coming to Cardiff to experience life and education in Wales.
This year, the group was smaller due to covid but this didn’t impact on the quality of the experience for the students. All of the nine students had a terrific time. They made great friends and enjoyed many opportunities to engage in sporting and cultural activities.
The group comes from the county of Vestland, which is twinned with Cardiff. They studied a wide range of A Level subjects at Cardiff and the Vale College whilst also studying Norwegian (which is a compulsory element of their education).
On Friday 10th June, the group came together with teachers, and the leadership team from Cardiff and the Vale College, friends, their host families and some family members from Norway to say farewell.
What a lovely evening it was! The celebration took place at Dosbarth restaurant situated on the fifth floor of the main Cardiff and Vale College building. It has stunning views over Cardiff and Penarth. The dinner was a lovely blend of Welsh and Norwegian dishes. The group was honoured with the presence of the new Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Graham Hinchey and his wife the Lady Mayoress, Anne Hinchey. It was a delight to have the company of Lisbeth Sjursen from Vestland Fylkeskommune who manages the educational exchange programme.
The Lord Mayor and some of the guests and Ivan Westley (Cardiff and Vale College Leader for the programme) gave lovely speeches about students and their successful academic year in Wales. The students themselves produced a slide show to celebrate the special moments of their year abroad.
Each of the nine students felt they had benefited from their year abroad. For Karoline Byrkne ‘meeting so many beautiful and amazing people has made my stay truly special and memorable.
For Nora Mowinck ‘the best part of my stay has been my amazing and beautiful friends. My host family is absolutely amazing and I have made memories I will never forget’. Ine Arntsdatter Leinum-Johnson said ‘the best part of my stay was getting to know new people, both from Norway and wales. Also getting to know a new culture and learning how to live in a different country and culture has been amazing.’
For Sara Børve ‘the best part of my stay has been the football and my friends. I have made memories and had the best year of my life.’
For Nathalie Liklefjære-Tertnæs the highlights were ‘getting to know new people through college and football, and all the things we’ve experienced such as the rugby, jubilee celebrations and football games’.
For Sebastian Birkeland the only boy in the group he found that ‘ the best part was getting to experience a completely different culture and learning about Britain and its history. I feel I have learnt a lot the past year and have become properly integrated into British culture.’
It was great to hear how much they all enjoyed and benefited from the experience.
We wish them all good luck in their exams and careers and hope that they will act as ambassadors for Cardiff and Wales on their return to Norway.
The iconic Norwegian Church café and arts centre on Cardiff’s waterfront has finally re-opened its doors to the public after a two-year closure – and it will again be run by the community which built it in the first place. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff Rod McKerlich ceremonially handed the building over to the Welsh Norwegian Society which ran a long and successful campaign to take the building back under its wing. The handover took place on Norway’s national day, 17th May, and Wales’ small Norwegian community gathered to celebrate, waving flags of red, white and blue, and singing their national anthem accompanied by the Salvation Army band.
The Lord Mayor of Cardiff Rod McKerlich ceremonially handed the building over to the Welsh Norwegian Society on Norway’s national day, 17th May 2022
Originally built in 1869 to serve Norwegian sailors visiting Cardiff, the church maintained a small congregation until 1974 when it finally closed it doors. It fell into disrepair and was finally dismantled and put into storage. Cardiff author Roald Dahl, himself of Norwegian heritage, was baptised in the church and lent his support to having it reopened. It was rebuilt in its present position as part of the redevelopment of the Bay, and has served as a popular café and arts centre ever since.
“The city council looked after the building well,” says Tyra Oseng-Rees, a Norwegian-born glass artist who now lives near Swansea and heads the society. “But it was hard for the building to maintain its particular identity and heritage while it was under council care. We wanted to breathe new life into the church as a living base and make it more Norwegian, to be a base for our community and to showcase arts and culture and food from Norway.”
That process has already begun, and under the new management the café is serving Norwegian-blend coffee, cakes and open-top sandwiches. A supplier has been found of treats from home, including pickled herring, liquorice and brunost, a soft brown cheese resembling fudge, which even the staff accept is an acquired taste.
The room formerly used for services now hosts civil weddings, meetings, events, and exhibitions, while local craftspeople have been selling their wares in the gallery upstairs. It is planned to have craft sales outside on the newly relaid terrace, which has unrivalled views of the Bay, the Mermaid Quay and the Pierhead building.
Jon Askeland, the mayor of Hordaland county, which is twinned with Cardiff and has had a long and supportive association with the Norwegian Church here, was present to witness the return of the building to the local Norwegian community.
“It’s amazing to see what the community has achieved here,” he said. “The centre provides us with a home abroad, here in Cardiff, a place we recognise and appreciate. It symbolises the long-lasting bond of friendship between Norway and Wales, and it has been given a new life.”
We are deeply saddened to report the sad but peaceful passing of our dear friend Karen Allen yesterday, 8 May 2022.
Karen was the former administrator of the Norwegian Church and a huge champion of the campaign to save it for the community. She was one of the most dedicated, passionate, warm, lovely and knowledgeable colleagues and inspired many of us. We will miss her dearly.
Welsh Norwegian Society 