List of events
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1997 to Wales and its people .
15 January – Diana, Princess of Wales calls for an international ban on landmines .[ 1]
21 January – Wales child abuse scandal : Over eighty people are named as child abusers in care homes in North Wales .[ 2]
March – Launch of the "Welsh Language in Chubut " project.
13 March – Launch of the Aberystwyth Centre for the Book.
1 May – In the UK general election , four female MPs are elected in Wales -- Julie Morgan , Ann Clwyd , Betty Williams and Jackie Lawrence . Lembit Öpik becomes MP for Montgomeryshire.[ 3]
24 May – Robert Hardy officially opens the Judge's Lodging museum in Presteigne .[ 4]
31 August – Newsreader Martyn Lewis announces the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
1 September – The Prince of Wales flies to Paris to bring home the body of his ex-wife. Bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones , the only survivor of the crash in which Diana died, remains in a critical condition.
6 September – At the funeral of the former Princess of Wales, her coffin is carried into Westminster Abbey by a contingent of Welsh Guards .[ 5]
18 September – The referendum on Welsh devolution results in a narrow "Yes" vote.
13 October – First section of the restored Welsh Highland Railway (60 cm (2 ft) gauge ) officially opens over 5 km (3 mi) of former standard gauge trackbed between Caernarfon and Dinas .
date unknown
Alun Hoddinott receives the Glyndwr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales.
Bryn Euryn, an archaeological site near Colwyn Bay , is identified as the probable base of Cynlas Goch, a 6th-century king.[ 6]
Cardiff Arms Park is demolished to make way for a new stadium.
Welsh Sheepdog Society is founded.
Jenny Pride becomes the first Welsh female to command a unit of the Royal Engineers .
English-language television [ edit ]
Welsh-language television [ edit ]
January – Alan Taylor , TV presenter, 72[ 14]
10 March – Wilf Wooller , cricketer, rugby player, journalist and sports administrator, 84[ 15]
2 June – Eddie Thomas , boxing champion and manager, 70[ 16]
10 July – Ivor Allchurch , footballer, 67[ 17]
16 July – Ron Berry , writer, 77[ 18]
2 August – Rhydwen Williams , poet, novelist, and minister, 80[ 19]
20 August – Bernard Cowey , Wales international rugby union player, 85
30 August – Gwilym Tilsley , poet and archdruid, 86[ 20]
31 August (in Paris) – Diana, Princess of Wales , 36
22 September – George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy , former Speaker of the House of Commons, 88[ 21]
6 November – Ray Daniel , footballer, 69
13 November – Alexander Cordell , novelist, 83[ 22]
15 November – Alf Day , footballer, 90[ 23]
16 November – Aubrey Edwards , cricketer, 79
28 December – Ronnie Williams , actor and comedian, 58
date unknown
^ "Princess Diana sparks landmines row" . On This Day . BBC . 15 January 1997.
^ "Carers accused in child abuse inquiry" . On This Day . BBC. 21 January 1997.
^ Vacher's Parliamentary Companion . A.S. Kerswill. 1999. p. 63.
^ The Judge's Lodging: History
^ Mary Robertson (1998). The Diana I Knew . Thorndike Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7862-1653-6 .
^ Nancy Edwards (1997). Landscape and Settlement in Medieval Wales . Oxbow Books. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-900188-36-4 .
^ International Who's who in Classical Music . Europa Publications Limited. 2007. p. 445. ISBN 978-1-85743-416-3 .
^ "Winners of the Chair" . National Eisteddfod of Wales . 17 November 2019.
^ "Winners of the Crown" . National Eisteddfod of Wales . 17 November 2019.
^ "Winners of the Prose Medal" . National Eisteddfod of Wales . Retrieved 7 November 2019 .
^ "Enillwyr Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen" . BBC Cymru (in Welsh). Retrieved 24 November 2019 .
^ Dai Jones (1997). Cyfres y Cewri: 17. Fi Dai Sy' 'Ma . Gwasg Gwynedd. ISBN 9780860741428 .
^ "BBC Wales Sport Personality winners" . BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2021 .
^ "Remembering the original Mr and Mrs" . WalesOnline . 27 March 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2019 .
^ Richards, Huw (2004). "Wooller, Wilfred (1912–1997), rugby player and cricketer" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/56486 . ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8 . (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Harry Mullan (4 June 1997). "Obituary:Eddie Thomas" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 4 February 2020 .
^ Farmer, David; Stead, Peter (1998). Ivor Allchurch M.B.E . Swansea: Christopher Davies (Publishing) Ltd. ISBN 0-7154-0733-3 .
^ Stephens, Meic (24 July 1997). "Obituary: Ron Berry" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 28 December 2010 .
^ Meic Stephens (7 August 1997). "Obituary: Rhydwen Williams" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 6 October 2019 .
^ A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland . Epworth Press. 2000. p. 353. ISBN 9780716205340 .
^ Beavan, John (23 September 1997). "Obituary: Viscount Tonypandy" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 18 November 2019 .
^ Buckingham, Mike. (1999). Alexander Cordell . Frame, Richard. Cardiff: GPC Books. ISBN 058527911X . OCLC 45729340 .
^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC . Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6 .