Tiger Bay Whalers T Shirt

The inspiration for this piece probably came from the Wurriyas, the eighties two-tone band in John Williams' novel Cardiff Dead. Or it might have come from watching the crowds promenading in the cool splendour of Cardiff Bay on a warm summer evening.

Unlike the segregated ghettos prevalent in English cities today, Tiger Bay – as the Butetown area of Cardiff was once unofficially known – was a model of racial harmony. Seafarers from all over the world settled around the old Cardiff docks, intermarried and made new lives together.

That's not to suggest it wasn't a hard place. But poverty and estrangement can be great levellers. The people of Tiger Bay accepted each other's cultures whilst assimilating the culture of South Wales and the valleys.

In reality, though, Tiger Bay was a rundown slum of terraces, brothels, seedy pubs and gambling dens that it's hard to be sentimental about. The development of Cardiff Bay has transformed Cardiff into a capital city that stands comparison with others around the world. But the name 'Tiger Bay' was just so evocative.

I thought about 'Wailers', as in 'Bob Marley and the...', but people who catch Whales seemed much more exotic. And the typography works better.

Printed green on 165-gram yellow 100% cotton jersey.

Price: £18.00 (£20.70 inc. VAT)

CYMRAEG – ENGLISH