Newport people have always partied in style.
The Cardiff Queen, a Glasgow-built paddle steamer, was bought to be a floating nightclub on the Usk. Her rusty upper hull was painted powder pink, instead of with waterproof red lead.
But the tide was low when she arrived in Newport on 29th February ‘68. She scraped her way into the mud of the Usk and sat stranded until the tide refloated her.
This accident turned partygoers’ dreams of dances on deck turned to scrap - the ruined steamer was sailed upstream and cut up at Cashmore's scrap yard.