Read about 7 historical gems from Newport's fascinating history - from the Antarctic explorer from Maesglas to dolphins in Maindee pool

1) D-Day preparations

WEAPONS OF WAR: Bofors anti-aircraft guns ready for use in the D-Day landings, from a report in the South Wales Argus

TODAY Forge Lane is known for being crammed with traffic most days. 72 years ago there was gridlock of a different kind. It was said to be so full of weapons of war, that you could walk from one end to the other on the bonnets of the tanks, jeeps and lorries.

The lanes around Tredegar Park too were full of military hardware all waiting to embark on ships packed into Newport docks ready to play their part in the D-Day invasion.

Almost 40,000 tons of ammunition was brought by rail into the docks and loaded onto more than 30 vessels in the docks ready to land on the Normandy beaches as the allies invaded Europe.

The men and materiel massed across Gwent all came from across the Atlantic. Thousands of GIs descended on South Wales, setting up camp in Abercarn, Chepstow, Pontypool and Llantarnam among many other places. But it was in Newport that the greatest concentrations of troops were found.

Malpas Court hosted units including the 12th Port of Embarkation (Transportation Corps) the 20th Postal Regiment. Tredegar Park , the 36th Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squad, Llanmartin the 4th Armoured Signal Battalion. These were the logistics men who would land on Utah Beach in Normandy late on D-Day to support the initial landings.

2) Doric

WELL-BUILT: Fittings from the ocean liner 'Doric' found their way into homes around Newport after she was scrapped at Cashmores yard

She was a ship built to cross the high seas in style. Owned by White Star Line, of Titanic fame, the Doric sailed between Liverpool to Montreal carrying passengers in luxurious comfort. But eighty years after she met her end in a Newport breakers yard, parts of this ship from a bygone age still grace parts of the city. The great liner was one of many which were scrapped at Cashmores breakers yard.

Sat on the banks of the River Usk between where the SDR and George Street bridges are today the yard saw the end of liners like the fantastically named Reina del Pacifico, the Empress of France and great battleships like HMS Collingwood and the Doric.

The fixtures and fittings from ships scrapped there would be sold off and many Newport homes have a sideboard, a lamp or a door salvaged from a ship broken up at Cashmores. The lounge of the St Julians Inn in Newport is clad in panelling from the Doric while a handsome bench seat found its way to a farmhouse in Goldcliff.

3) White funnel steamers

NEWPORT VISITOR: The Cardiff Queen beneath the Transporter Bridge

They were a familiar sight on the banks of the Usk in Newport. Rakish white-funnelled ships would sail up to the town bridge. The P&A Campbell or White Funnel line would carry hundreds of people across the Severn Estuary for day-trips to Minehead, Clevedon and Ilfracombe.

The departing paddle-steamer would face south on Davis Wharf with the Art College to its left and the town bridge behind. A floating landing stage would rise and fall with the tide.

The ‘paddlers’ were well-suited to cope with the huge tidal range of both the Usk and Severn Estuaries. Their flat bottoms meant they stayed in service long after paddles gave way to propellers elsewhere on the sea.

Although steamers had stopped calling at Newport by 1955 they did return. After being restored in the 1970s, the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world, the Waverley still can be seen plying the routes across the Severn and calls at Newport. The Balmoral, while not a ‘paddler’, still sails with the White Funnel. Although they must make do with a mooring at Newport docks, they still rekindle memories of the days when steamers hooted in the heart of our city.

4) Dolphins at Maindee Pool

Before the days of such stringent health and safety and animal rights, the people of Newport jumped at the chance to see their very own dolphin show at Maindee Baths in 1983.

The shows, which took place from Boxing Day in 1983 to January 1984 for three weeks, were hosted by TV wildlife presenter Terry Nutkins.

Very little is known about the shows but a letter in the Argus from April 2007 states the author, who is not named, asked the council to make their dream come true and allow them to swim with dolphins.

They found themselves being guided around their local swimming baths holding on to a dolphin fin just a few weeks later. The doors of Maindee Baths were closed on December 23, 2005.

5) Perce Blackborrow

POLAR HOME: Men of Shackleton's expedition on Elephant Island. Perce Blackborrow is at the front with his legs stretched out.

A hundred years ago one of the greatest stories of human endurance and courage unfolded at the ends of the earth in which a sailor from Newport played his part.

Among the 28 experienced polar explorers, sailors and scientists who sailed for Antarctica in 1914 with Sir Ernest Shackleton's crew was Perce Blackborow, a young seaman from Newport who had stowed away on their ship, the Endurance.

When Shackleton's ship was crushed by pack ice, the men escaped to the uninhabited Elephant Island where they lived beneath upturned boats as they waited for a rescue party, led by Shackleton, to get help.

Blackborow’s feet developed gangrene and on the hellish island with meagre medical supplies, his toes were amputated. One of the men watching the operation noted of Blackborow: “The poor beggar behaved splendidly…When he came to he was as cheerful as anything and started joking directly.”

6) Gwent Gleemen

THEY were the Newport men whose choir took the States by storm and sang at the White House, yet few in Gwent have heard of them.

The Gwent Glee Choir travelled to America in 1912, having won the National Eisteddfod and then went on to perform for King George V and the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace.

They sang traditional Welsh songs like Men of Harlech and were feted wherever they went. The choir was invited to perform at the unveiling of the first ever Christmas tree at Madison Square, New York, in 1912, singing to more than 5,000 people.

Such was the impact they had they were invited to give private shows at the family homes of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, the Rockefellers’, and the then president Woodrow Wilson at the White House.

7) Belgia WW1

EARLY on the August 4, a German ship Belgia steamed towards Newport, its crew unaware that they were now at war with Britain.

Legend has it the ship was spotted by the keeper of the West Usk lighthouse as it anchored off Newport.

When news came here that war had broken out, Newport's chief constable sent twelve of his men to capture the German vessel.

Captain Cutliffe, the dock master, took thirteen policemen armed with borrowed army rifles in a tug boat to the now enemy vessel. They boarded the ship with no opposition and escorted the crew back to Newport. They all became the first prisoners-of-war of the conflict.

It was reported at the time that the Belgia needed coal and the captain had tried to contact the German Consul in Newport. He allegedly feared he would be captured by the French if he ventured out to sea.