2002 in Wales

← 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 2002 in Wales → 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Centuries:	19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 2002 in The United Kingdom England Scotland Elsewhere Welsh football: • 2002–03

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2002 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

For United Kingdom incumbents, see 2022 in the United Kingdom § Incumbents.

• First Minister – Rhodri Morgan ^[1]
• Secretary of State for Wales
  • Paul Murphy (until 24 October) ^[2]
  • Peter Hain
• Archbishop of Wales – Rowan Williams, Bishop of Monmouth (translated)
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
  • Meirion Evans (outgoing) ^[3]
  • Robyn Llŷn (incoming)

Events

• In the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons poll, ^[4] those with a Welsh connection who finished in the top 100 were:
  • Diana, Princess of Wales – 3
  • Elizabeth I of England – 7
  • Owain Glyndŵr – 23
  • Henry VIII of England – 40
  • Aneurin Bevan – 45
  • Henry V of England – 72
  • Richard Burton – 96
• 14 February – at the Ogmore by-election, the Labour Party candidate Huw Irranca-Davies holds the seat held by Sir Ray Powell until his death ^[5]
• 13 March – The ferry MS Stena Europe is introduced on the Fishguard – Rosslare route. ^[6]
• April – Welsh Assembly Government concessionary travel scheme (‘Cerdyn Cymru’) entitles over-60s and registered disabled people to uniform free off-peak travel on all stage carriage bus services.
• May – H & Claire release their debut single.
• May 25 – Jessica Garlick represents the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Estonia. ^[7]
• June
  • Archaeologists discover the Newport ship.
  • DNA from the exhumed body of Joe Kappen proves beyond reasonable doubt that he was responsible for the murders of three teenage girls in 1973.
• June 18 – Cowbridge businessman Peter Shaw is kidnapped while working in Tbilisi, Georgia. He is held in brutal conditions until he escapes in November.
• June 28 – David Morris receives four life sentences for the Clydach murders of June 1999. Despite his having been a suspect days after the murder was committed, it had taken police 21 months to arrest and charge him.
• July
  • Research reveals that Wales has the highest figures for company failures of any region of the UK.
  • Ebbw Vale Steelworks shut down.
• August – "Barney" saves his owners' lives by warning them of a fire at their home in Wrexham.
• August 5 – Rowan Williams is admitted to the Gorsedd of bards.
• October – Archaeological excavations on a Bronze Age site recover the Banc Ty'nddôl sun-disc, one of the earliest gold objects found in Wales.
• October 24 – Paul Murphy is appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Arts and literature

• Teenage actor Gethin Rhys Williams is killed in an accident in Spain.
• Connie Fisher wins the Wilbert Lloyd Roberts Scholarship in the National Eisteddfod "Songs from the Shows" competition.
• Menna Elfyn is named Poet Laureate for the Children of Wales.

Awards

• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Myrddin ap Dafydd
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Aled Jones Lewis
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – O! Tyn y Gorchudd – Hunangofiant Rebecca Jones by Angharad Price
• Wales Book of the Year:
  • English language: Stevie Davies, The Element of Water ^[8]
  • Welsh language:
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen – Eirug Wyn ^[9]
• John Tripp Prize for Spoken Poetry – Cliff Forshaw

New books

English language

• Richard J. Evans – Telling Lies About Hitler
• Ken Follett – Hornet Flight
• Steve Jones – The Descent of Men
• Jo Mazelis – Diving Girls
• Jan Morris – A Writer's House in Wales
• Steve Strange – Blitzed! The Autobiography of Steve Strange
• Rachel Trezise – In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl
• Rowan Williams – Arius – Heresy and Tradition

Welsh language

• Grahame Davies – Cadwyni Rhyddid
• Angharad Price – O! Tyn y Gorchudd
• Eirug Wyn – Bitsh ^[9]

Drama

• Dic Edwards – Franco's Bastard ^[10]

Film

• Christian Bale stars in Laurel Canyon.
• Anthony Hopkins plays Hannibal Lecter for the third time, in Red Dragon .

Welsh-language films

• Gwyfyn. ^[11]
• Oedd yr Addewid

Music

• 3SL – "Take it Easy" (single)
• Carreg Lafar – Profiad (album) ^[12]
• Feeder – Comfort In Sound (album)
• Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas
• Bonnie Tyler – Heart & Soul/Heart Strings (album)

Broadcasting

English-language television

• Cable TV (chat show with Stuart Cable) ^[13]

Welsh-language television

• Gwyfyn ^[14]

Sport

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year

• Mark Hughes ^[15]

2002 Commonwealth Games

• 25 July to 4 August – At the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, the Wales team wins a total of 31 medals: 6 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze.

Cycling

• Andrew Windsor wins the Welsh National Road Race Championships.

Football

• John Fashanu becomes Chairman of Barry Town.
• Barry Town are Welsh Cup winners after beating Bangor City 4–1, and win a sixth League of Wales title.
• Winners of the three divisions in the Welsh Football League are: Ton Pentre (Division 1), Garden Village (Division 2) & Newport YMCA (Division 3).
• Welshpool Town are champions of the Cymru Alliance.

Horse racing

• 27 December – The Welsh National is won by Mini Sensation, ridden by Tony Dobbin. ^[16]

Rugby union

• December – Brynmawr RFC and Abertillery RFC withdraw from the Principality Cup, after the Welsh Rugby Union makes an error during the live radio draw for the fifth round. ^[17]

Snooker

• 27 January – Paul Hunter wins the Welsh Open tournament in Cardiff. ^[18]
• 3 March – Mark Williams wins the China Open tournament in Shanghai. ^[19]
• 15 December – Mark Williams wins his second UK Championship title. ^[20]

Births

• 23 February – Emilia Jones, actress, daughter of Aled Jones
• 15 September – Medi Harris, swimmer ^[21]
• 17 December – Matt Richards, Olympic swimmer (in Worcester) ^[22]
• 22 December – Emma Finucane, cyclist ^[23]

Deaths

• 2 January
  • Ian Grist, politician, 63 ^[24]
  • Arthur Joseph, cricketer, 82
• 7 January – Jon Lee, rock musician, 33
• 12 January – Moss Evans, trade union leader, 76 ^[25]
• 3 February – Edward Thomas Chapman, Victoria Cross recipient, 82
• 22 February – David James, cricketer, 80
• 7 March – Geoff Charles, photojournalist, 93 ^[26]
• 2 March – Mary Grant Price, costume designer, 85 ^[27]
• 3 March – Bill Hopkin, rugby player, 87
• 6 March – David Jenkins, Librarian of the National Library of Wales 1969–79, 89
• 7 May – Sir Ewart Jones, organic chemist and academic administrator, 91 ^[28]
• 26 September – Willie Davies, Wales international rugby union and league player, 86
• 6 October – Nick Whitehead, athlete, 69 ^[29]
• November – Ernie Jones, footballer, 81/82
• 3 November – Sir John Habakkuk, economic historian, 87 ^[30]
• 20 November – George Guest, organist and choirmaster of St John's College, Cambridge, 78 ^[31]
• December – Brian Morgan Edwards, businessman, 68
• 10 December – Steve Llewellyn, rugby league player, 78
• 24 December – Jake Thackray, singer-songwriter, 64 ^[32]
• 31 December – Billy Morris, footballer, 84

See also

• List of statutory instruments of the Welsh Assembly, 2002
• 2002 in Northern Ireland

References

1. Hannan, Patrick (18 May 2017). "Rhodri Morgan obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 May 2017.
2. "Murphy returns as Welsh secretary". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
3. "An Archdruid's Experiences". People's Collection Wales. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
4. "100 great British heroes". BBC News. 21 August 2002. (contains the top 100, sorted alphabetically)
5. "Labour holds Ogmore with cut majority". BBC News. 15 February 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
6. "Stena Europe – Stena Line". NIFerrySite. 11 April 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
7. "Final of Tallinn 2002". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
8. "Best Books of 2002". The Observer. 1 December 2002. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
9. D Ben Rees (11 June 2004). "Eirug Wyn". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
10. Rebecca Nesvet. "Franco's Bastard". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
11. "Mwynhad yn y tywyllwch" [Enjoyment in the dark] (in Welsh). BBC. 26 November 2002.
12. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. St. Martin's Press. 2003. p. XLIV.
13. "Stereophonics sack drummer Cable". BBC Wales. 25 September 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
14. Robyn Tomos (1 November 2003). "Ffilm hynod sy'n brawf bod y diwylliant teledu Cymraeg wedi aeddfedu" (in Welsh). Western Mail.
15. "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
16. "2:50 Chepstow, Coral Welsh National Showcase Handicap (Chase) Class A Grade 3". Racing Post. 27 December 2002.
17. "Abertillery withdraw from Cup". BBC Sport. 11 December 2002.
18. "2002 Welsh Open Results". Snooker Database. 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
19. "China Open 2002". snooker.org. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
20. "UK Championship full results". BBC Sport. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
21. "Medi Harris profile". Eurosport. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
22. "Richards Matthew". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
23. "Profile". Cycling Archives. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
24. Andrew Roth (22 January 2002). "Ian Grist". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
25. Geoffrey Goodman (14 January 2002). "Moss Evans". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
26. Troughton, William. "Charles, Geoffrey (1909-2002), photographer.". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales . Retrieved 7 March 2018.
27. Veronica Horwell (16 April 2002). "Mary Grant Price". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
28. Pearce Wright (18 May 2002). "Sir Ewart Jones". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
29. "Nick Whitehead: Olympic sprinter and influential sports administrator". The Independent . 12 October 2002. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009.
30. Negley Harte (14 November 2002). "Sir John Habakkuk". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
31. John Gummer (4 December 2002). "George Guest". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
32. Alan Clayson (28 December 2002). "Jake Thackray". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2019.