1985 in Wales
 1985 in Wales |
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This article is about the particular significance of the year 1985 to Wales and its people.
Incumbents
- Prince of Wales – The Prince Charles
- Princess of Wales – Diana
- Secretary of State for Wales – Nicholas Edwards
- Archbishop of Wales – Derrick Childs, Bishop of Monmouth
- Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Elerydd
Events
- May 16 - Dean Hancock and Russell Shankland are convicted of murder at Cardiff Crown Court and jailed for life. The previous November, at the height of the miners' strike, they caused the death of a taxi driver by dropping a concrete block onto his car as it passed under a bridge.
- June 29 - A55 Colwyn Bay Bypass completed.
- July 4 - At the Brecon and Radnor by-election caused by the death of sitting Conservative MP Tom Ellis Hooson, local farmer Richard Livsey takes the seat for the Liberals.
- December 20 - Swansea City, struggling in the English Third Division just three years after being in the First, are issued with a winding-up order in the High Court and are at risk of closure and being forced out of the Football League.[1]
- Terry Matthews sells his stake in Mitel to British Telecom.
- Cefn is founded to campaign for the civil rights of Welsh speakers.
- The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies is founded at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
- Seventeen women are prosecuted on conspiracy charges after the occupation of a nuclear bunker near Carmarthen.
Arts and literature
- Robat Powell becomes the first Welsh learner to win the Chair at the National Eisteddfod (see below).
Awards
- National Eisteddfod of Wales (held in Rhyl)
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Robat Powell
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - John Roderick Rees
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Margaret Dafydd
New books
English language
- Alice Thomas Ellis - Unexplained Laughter
- Lady Olwen Carey Evans - Lloyd George Was My Father
- David Hughes - The Pork Butcher
- Christopher Meredith - This
- Robert Minhinnick - The Dinosaur Park
- John Powell Ward - The Clearing
- Ivor Wilks - South Wales and the Rising of 1839
Welsh language
- Geraint Bowen - Cerddi
- Bryan Martin Davies - Lleoedd
- Glanmor Williams
- Harri Tudur a Chymru
- Grym Tafodau Tân
- Eluned Phillips - Cerddi Glyn-y-Mêl
Music
- Downtown Julie Brown makes her debut on Club MTV.
- "Dwylo Dros y Môr", performed by various artists, is the Welsh charity song released in coordination with Band Aid.
- Aled Jones - Aled Jones With The BBC Welsh Chorus (album)
- Living Legends - Better Dead Than Wed
Film
- Jonathan Pryce stars in Brazil.
- Richard Marquand directs Jagged Edge.
Welsh-language films
- None
Broadcasting
Welsh-language television
- Sam Tân (Fireman Sam)
English-language television
Sport
- Horse racing - Hywel Davies wins the Grand National on "Last Suspect".
- BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year - Steve Jones, marathon runner
Births
- 8 April - Gareth Rees, cricketer
- 13 May - Danny Thomas, footballer
- 16 June - Craig Morgan, footballer
- 17 July - Tom Cullen, actor
- 10 October - Marina Lambrini Diamandis, singer
- 14 December - Alex Pennie, musician
- 11 September - Danny Parslow, footballer
- 25 December
- Leon Pisani, pop singer
- Perdita Weeks, actress
Deaths
- 26 January - David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech, 66 (car accident)
- 4 April - Kate Roberts, author, 94
- 22 April – Sir Thomas Parry, academic, 80
- 8 May - Tom Hooson, politician, 52
- 9 June - Clifford Evans, actor, 73
- 1 September - Saunders Lewis, writer, 91
- 17 September - Laura Ashley, designer, 60 (brain haemorrhage)
- 28 October - Harold Davies, Baron Davies of Leek, politician, 81
- 1 November - Bruce Dargavel, singer
- 17 December - Gwyn Richards, dual-code rugby player, 79