2010 in Wales

← 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2010 in Wales → 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Centuries:	19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	List of years in Wales Timeline of Welsh history 2010 in The United Kingdom England Scotland Elsewhere Welsh football: 2009–10 • 2010–11

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2010 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales – Charles, Prince of Wales
• Princess of Wales – Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall (does not use title)
• First Minister – Carwyn Jones
• Deputy First Minister of Wales – Ieuan Wyn Jones
• Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales – Dafydd Elis-Thomas
• Secretary of State for Wales
  • Peter Hain (until 11 May)
  • Cheryl Gillan
• Archbishop of Wales – Barry Morgan (Bishop of Llandaff)
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Jim Parc Nest

Events

• 1 January – Welsh people honoured by the Queen in the 2010 New Year Honours List include Menna Richards, Director of BBC Cymru Wales (OBE) and banker Dyfrig John (CBE).[1]
• 6 January – School closures and icy road conditions result from heavy snow in most areas of Wales.[2]
• 7 January – A report issued by the Ministry of Defence concludes that the two pilots involved in the Kenfig air crash of March 2009 "did not see each other".[3]
• 12 January – Further heavy snow hits south and west Wales, as local authorities begin to run out of grit to treat roads.[4]
• 12 February – Welsh Secretary Peter Hain and Assembly Environment Minister Jane Davidson announce plans to make the M4 in Wales a "hydrogen highway", with alternative energy refuelling points. [5]
• 5 February – Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson is recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission as one of four new non-party-political peers.[6]
• 14 February – Welsh rugby international Andy Powell is arrested near Junction 33 on the M4 motorway at 0600 GMT 14 February 2010, in possession of a stolen golf buggy.[7]
• 15 February – For behaviour "contrary to the squad's code of conduct", Andy Powell is removed from Wales' 35-man training squad for the Six Nations Tournament 2010.[8]
• 16 March – Welsh Slate announces the closure of Oakeley Quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog.[9]
• 17 March – Government figures show that the unemployment rate in Wales, at 9.2% is higher than any other home country, and higher than all but two other regions of the UK.[10]
• 16 April – Four men are killed and a fifth is seriously injured in a car crash near Porthcawl.[11]
• 6 May – In the United Kingdom general election, the Conservative Party wins 8 seats, Labour 26, Plaid Cymru 3 and the Lib Democrats 3.
• 12 May – Cheryl Gillan is confirmed as Secretary of State for Wales in the new UK government of David Cameron; she is the first woman to hold the post.
• 25 May – The Learned Society of Wales is launched [12].
• 28 May - Llanrwst celebrates the 400th anniversary of the almshouses built by Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet.
• 16 June – New members of the Gorsedd are announced by the National Eisteddfod of Wales. They include Tim Rhys-Evans, Edwin Regan and Jill Evans.[13]
• 23 June - A Danish tabloid newspaper accuses Stephen Kinnock of tax evasion. (Kinnock is married to Danish politician Helle Thorning-Schmidt.)
• 24 June – Barry-born Julia Gillard becomes Australia's first female prime minister.
• 28 June – The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, unveils a new memorial on the site of Six Bells Colliery. The sculpture, known as "The Guardian of the Valleys", commemorates the pit disaster of 1960 and is a tribute to those who work in dangerous industries.[14]
• 5 August - The Faenol Festival is cancelled for the second year running.
• 23 August - The remains of Anglesey-born MI6 worker Gareth Williams are discovered locked in a sports bag at his Pimlico flat.
• 29 August - Air-sea rescue services begin a frantic search for missing kayaker Elizabeth Ashbee, who became separated from four colleagues in rough waters and bad weather at Ynys Feurig near Rhosneigr, Anglesey. Wales Online Her body is found in Caernarfon Bay two days later.
• September – The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, created by the merger of Trinity University College and the University of Wales, Lampeter, admits its first students.
• 13 September - Archaeologists working at Caerleon announce the discovery of a suit of Roman armour.[15]

Arts and literature

• 13 May – Only Men Aloud! win the Album of the Year award at the Classical BRIT Awards[16].
• 20 September - David Essex marries Welsh actress Susan Hallam-Wright at St Cross Church in Talybont, near Bangor.[17]

Awards

• Glyndŵr Award
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair – Tudur Hallam
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown – Glenys Mair Glyn Roberts
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Drama Medal - withheld
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal – Jerry Hunter
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen – Grace Roberts
• Wales Book of the Year:
  • English language: Philip Gross - I Spy Pinhole Eye
  • Welsh language: John Davies - Cymru: Y 100 lle i’w gweld cyn marw
• Dylan Thomas Award:
• Kyffin Art Prize:

New books

• J. Graham Jones - David Lloyd George and Welsh Liberalism
• Nikolai Tolstoy - The Oldest British Prose Literature: the Compilation of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi

Music

Classical

• Huw Watkins - Violin Concerto

Albums

• Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man

Film

• Michael Sheen stars in Unthinkable

Broadcasting

English-language television

• Hidden Houses of Wales (with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen)
• Sherlock, produced by BBC Wales
• The Special Relationship (TV film) starring Michael Sheen as Tony Blair.
• Snowdonia 1890

Sport

• October - At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Wales wins medals in several sports:

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Dai Greene	Athletics	Men's 400 m hurdles	October 10
Gold	Robert Weale	Lawn bowls	Men's singles	October 13
Silver	Jazmin Carlin	Aquatics	Women's 200 m freestyle	October 5
Silver	Carys Parry	Athletics	Women's Hammer Throw	October 6
Silver	Becky James	Cycling	Women's sprint	October 7
Silver	Michaela Breeze	Weightlifting	Women's 63 kg	October 7
Silver	Jenny McLoughlin	Athletics	Women's 100m T37	October 8
Silver	Sean McGoldrick	Boxing	Bantamweight	October 13
Silver	Francesca Jones	Gymnastics	Women's rhythmic individual hoop	October 14
Bronze	Becky James	Cycling	Women's 500 m Time Trial	October 5
Bronze	Jemma Lowe	Aquatics	Women's 100 m Butterfly	October 7
Bronze	Jazmin Carlin	Aquatics	Women's 400 m freestyle	October 7
Bronze	Georgia Beth Davies	Aquatics	Women's 50 m backstroke	October 7
Bronze	Christian Malcolm	Athletics	Men's 200 m	October 10
Bronze	Rhys Williams	Athletics	Men's 400 m hurdles	October 10
Bronze	Anwen Butten & Hannah Smith	Lawn bowls	Women's pairs	October 11
Bronze	Keiran Harding	Boxing	Middleweight (75Kg)	October 11
Bronze	Jermaine Asare	Boxing	Light Heavyweight (81kg)	October 11
Bronze	Johanne Brekke	Shooting	Women's 50m Rifle Prone (Singles)	October 12

Births

Deaths

• 4 January – Hywel Teifi Edwards, writer and broadcaster, 74
• 20 January – Jack Parry, footballer, 86
• 11 February – Brian Godfrey, footballer, 69
• 14 February – Dick Francis, jockey and novelist, 89
• 3 March – Michael Foot, politician, 96
• 10 March – Micky Jones, musician, 63
• 14 April – Tom Ellis, politician, 86
• 30 April – Gwyn Rowlands, rugby union international, 81
• 8 May – Alan Watkins, political journalist, 77
• 28 May – Iwan Llwyd, poet and musician, 52
• 7 June – Stuart Cable, musician and television presenter, 40
• 23 June – Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, former Secretary of State for Wales, 78
• 20 July - Iris Gower, novelist, 75
• 10 August - Brian Clark, former Cardiff City footballer, 67
• 30 August - Owen Edwards, broadcaster, 76
• 16 September - Richard Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth, politician, 75
• 18 October - Mel Hopkins, footballer, 75

References