2002 in Wales

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales – Charles
• Princess of Wales – vacant
• First Minister – Rhodri Morgan
• Secretary of State for Wales
• *Paul Murphy
• *Peter Hain
• Archbishop of Wales – Rowan Williams, Bishop of Monmouth
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
• *Meirion Evans
• *Robyn Llŷn

  Events

• In the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons poll, 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
• March 13 - Ferry introduced on Fishguard-Rosslare route.
• April - Welsh Assembly Government concessionary travel scheme 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.
• 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.
• *Donald Wales sets a UK electric land speed record of 220 km/h at Pendine Sands in Bluebird Electric 2.
• 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
• *Welsh language:
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Eurig Wyn
• 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

  Drama

• Dic Edwards - Franco's Bastard

  Film

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

  Welsh-language films

• Gwyfyn.
• Oedd yr Addewid

  Music

• 3SL - "Take it Easy"
• Carreg Lafar - Profiad
• Feeder - Comfort In Sound
• Mclusky - Mclusky Do Dallas
• Bonnie Tyler - Heart & Soul/Heart Strings

  Broadcasting

English-language television

• Cable TV

  Welsh-language television

• Gwyfyn

  Sport

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, Garden Village & Newport YMCA.
• Welshpool Town are champions of the Cymru Alliance.

  Horse racing

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

  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.

  Snooker

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

  Births

• 23 February - Emilia Jones, actress, daughter of Aled Jones

  Deaths

• 2 January
• *Ian Grist, politician, 63
• *Arthur Joseph, cricketer, 82
• 7 January - Jon Lee, rock musician, 33
• 12 January - Moss Evans, trade union leader, 76
• 3 February - Edward Thomas Chapman, Victoria Cross recipient, 82
• 22 February - David James, cricketer, 80
• March - Geoff Charles, photojournalist, 93
• 2 March - Mary Grant Price, costume designer, 85
• 3 March - Bill Hopkin, rugby player, 87
• 6 March - David Jenkins, Librarian of the National Library of Wales 1969–79, 89
• 12 March - Cyril P. Cule, author, 99
• 7 May - Sir Ewart Jones, organic chemist and academic administrator, 91
• 26 September - Willie Davies, Wales international rugby union and league player, 86
• 6 October - Nick Whitehead, athlete, 69
• November - Ernie Jones, footballer, 81/82
• 3 November - Sir John Habakkuk, economic historian, 87
• 20 November - George Guest, organist and choirmaster of St John's College, Cambridge, 78
• December - Brian Morgan Edwards, businessman, 68
• 10 December - Steve Llewellyn, rugby league player, 78
• 24 December - Jake Thackray, singer-songwriter, 64
• 31 December - Billy Morris, footballer, 84