REPORTER Zoe West-Taylor takes a look back at the Penarth Times, 50 years ago this week.

l A PENARTH teenager admitted that he took his employer’s van without permission to attend a dance.

The18-year-old was seen driving the vehicle on a Saturday night, which he had taken without the consent of the owner.

He was seen driving the van by a police officer, magistrates heard on August 2.

He pleaded guilty to taking and driving the van without permission, and driving without third party insurance.

The youth, of Elfed Avenue, was fined £10 and his licence was endorsed twice, and he was fined a further £2 for failing to notify the registration authority for the change in the vehicle’s ownership.

l PENARTH’S international swimming trio achieved third place with the Welsh team in the Six Nations contest.

The team returned from Portugal on July 31, having competed against Spain, Norway, Belgium, Portugal and Switzerland. Wales takes third place for the first time in history, which was helped considerably by Ceinwen Edwards’ performances.

Taking a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke, Edwards broke the Welsh record in this race.

He was joined by Peter Godfrey and Mandi Haswell on the trip. Haswell’s performances in high board diving had an enthusiastic reception from the crowd, and was awarded a special medal and souvenir doll from the President of the Portuguese Swimming Association for her efforts.

Godfrey narrowly missed out on third place in the 200m freestyle race.

l QUESTIONS are being raised over the use of the Welsh language in post offices. Answering a question in parliament, the Postmaster General, Rt. Hon. Edward Short, MP, discussed the ways in which local post offices cater to Welsh-speaking members of the public.

Letters and phone calls from Welsh-speaking customers are answered in Welsh, even if this means connection with a distant exchange. However, none of the 500 different forms used by the post office are currently printed in Welsh.

Producing and distributing these forms in both Welsh and English would come at a financial and design cost, and the demand for them in Welsh is very small.

Mr Short estimates that printing these forms in both Welsh and English would cost the post office tens of thousands of pounds every year.