Cardiff historian dies aged 74 after illness
- Published
Neil Sinclair died on Thursday night
A historian who chronicled the story of Cardiff's docklands has died at the age of 74.
Neil Sinclair died at home in the city on Thursday night, after an illness.
He wrote books about his home including The Tiger Bay Story and Endangered Tiger: A Community Under Threat.
He lived in flats built on top of where his childhood home used to stand at the heart of the area now more widely known as Cardiff Bay.
Speaking to BBC Wales in 2016, he described the rebuilding of the area in the 1960s as a "tragedy" which created a "lacklustre council estate; an architectural monstrosity".
He said: "I might go to sleep every night in the new Loudoun Square but when my head hits the pillow I'm back in the old Loudoun Square."
His other books include The Bible is African History and Nightmare in Yemen.
As a 12-year-old Mr Sinclair won a part in the film Tiger Bay, which used many of the locations in the area for its story of a Polish sailor on the run from the law.
His was the only genuine Cardiff accent used in the production.
Mr Sinclair was on the steering group of a community project, the Heritage and Cultural Exchange, which aims to tell the story of the city's docklands.
Mandy Chambers, another member of the group, wrote on Facebook: "I spoke to him just days ago, little knowing it would be the last time.
"RIP, Neil, you will never be forgotten. On behalf of all of us who knew him, we extend our deepest condolences to the family."
- Published11 April 2016
