The latest episode of Vanished Wales told the story of Curran's - where one of Wales' greatest singers started her career. A former employer of Dame Shirley Bassey, Curran Steels was a factory that was located on the east bank of the River Taff. People keen to see the factory now, will be sorely disappointed, as it has been replaced by modern apartments.
Founded over 100 years ago, the firm initially produced furnaces for annealing metals, however it later became famous for enamelware. The company was founded by Edward Curran whose father Charles, had settled in Cardiff because of work created by the city's docks. Curran's' first design was a new type of furnace that was built in 1904. In 1914, Curran's developed the expertise to start producing military armaments. During the Second World War, Curran's became a munitions factory once again and was the only British company with the manufacturing capacity to do so.
When the war ended, the factory resumed it's production of enamelware. Notably, in 1961, Curran's began producing pressed steel baths. Several years before, in 1951, a young Shirley Bassey would start working there at the age of 14, where she would pack chamber pots. She joined the factory after leaving Splott Secondary Modern School. Aside from working at Curran's - Bassey, an alumni of Moorland Primary School also in Splott, would also sing in local pubs and clubs. In 1953, she would sign her first professional singing contract with Columbia Productions.
Former Curran's employee Bassey has gone on to become one of Wales' biggest stars, notably singing the title songs to three James Bond films. She would go on to release 70 albums and sell nearly 140 million records over seven decades, becoming the first Welsh singer to score a number one single with As I Love You in 1959.
In 1999, Bassey was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. The star, who has remained true to her Welsh roots, received the Freedom of the City of Cardiff in 2019, which you can read more about here.
In the third episode of ITV's Vanished Wales, aired on May 27, it is revealed that a lot of the women that worked at Curran's would sing. According to former employee, Tom O'Neil, Bassey's voice would champion over the others. He said: "She was one of the leading singers down there, you could often hear Shirley's voice blasting over the top of them." He also described how he would regularly see her riding her bicycle home from work.
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Vanished Wales also explores how there were "plenty of perks of being on the Curran's payroll." It is mentioned how the company would put on a vast array of social events for it's workers. "You could join one of the factory's sporting events, dance the night away at one of its glittering parties, or enjoy a day out at the company's expense," the show's narrator said.
One person who did just that was former-employee Bob Morgan. "They had a drama club, then they had a miming team. They had their own well set up sports club," he said as he remembered his time at the company. Bob said that he had a "whale of a time" whilst working for the firm.
Unfortunately, by the 1980s, Curran's was in decline. It no longer made ammunition and plastic was replacing enamelware, rendering it useless in homes. This led to Novar Ltd. (formerly Caradon) acquiring Curran's in 1985. The firm would continue production for 20 further years.
The site is now apartment blocks and mark a stark contrast to the engineering empire that dominated the docklands. Although Curran's closed in 2005, we should be thankful that it gave us one of the world's greatest singing stars in the shape of Dame Shirley Bassey.
Catch up with Vanished Wales on ITV Hub and the series continues on Friday, june 3.
