Casgliadau Arlein

The Hotel de Marl was set up in an area of Grangetown, Cardiff by local men trying to evade the 1881 Sunday Closing Act, banning the sale of alcohol in Welsh pubs. The hotel was actually a series of pits dug into the ground for drinking men to meet up in and drink on Sundays. These pits were considered legal after a court case ruled that they were a crude form of gentlemens club, therefore drinking was allowed within these types of club. The caption reads, 'Waiting the Barman's Return'. The members of the crude gentlemen's club were clearly awaiting the delivery of the kilderkins of beer. This photograph was taken on Sunday 28 May 1893. The Hotel de Marl was between Ferry Road and the River Taff.