Cardiff, Wales

One of the most common places I visited on the train from visits to Bristol was the capital of Wales, Cardiff. It is another place that has seen a lot of renovation and building work .... and not just in recent times !! ....

A welcome of  flowers, banners and reconstruction work

... as I noted on this occasion when leaving the railway station. The visitor is greeted by a thoroughfare of a busy bus station and a variety of associated small shops. While the main part of the city starts to the far right hand side of the bus station, attention is always drawn to the massive structure dominating the skyline to the left....

Hopes of sporting glory ....  floating away down the river !

One of the big passions of Wales that is noticed in souvenir shops is the love of the game of Rugby. The Cardiff Millennium Stadium was designed, built and opened in 1999 as the new and improved home of Welsh Rugby.

Pinnacle of achievement 

With a capacity of over 73,000 and its proximity to the railway station, it is an ideal location to additionally host major concerts and other sporting events. It is the second largest stadium in the world with a retractable roof.

Offside ?!

The Stadium was also used for several years to host 6 English FA cup finals while the new Wembley stadium was being built.

Retracing my steps to the opposite corner of the bus station and the start of the shopping area, it was time to see a little of what Cardiff had to offer. The first street that I came to was the most interesting as it plays host to several Victorian shopping Arcades. I seemed to build up a relationship with a few shops in this area and one of the eight arcades I visited a lot was the 1887 Castle Arcade.

Keeping away from the High street chain stores

The second hand bookstore Troutmark was on my itinerary every time and always successfully contributed to my baggage weight on the plane home !! The structures however of these arcades were magnificent...

Reflections -Mirrors and Glass

Other than the Victorian Arcades in this area, I discovered on the opposite side of the street a less ornate structure in the shape of Cardiff market...

The wood that was left over ?!

.... where the locals seemed to shop for meat, vegetables and other necessities that you would find less expensive in a market. However my interest was upstairs in "Kelly's records, a second hand CD music shop with DVDs next door .....

"Hi Mr Kelly, what's new today"

Nearby is the grand structure of Cardiff Castle (with an unfortunate sightseeing bus that would not move! ... but gives some colour to the photograph) which has a varied and strange history. Although there were several encampments and forts on this site since Roman times, it was not until the Norman era that a Castle keep was built. Soon after, during the later Norman period, the Castle Keep (interior building on a grassy mound) was rebuilt in stone. The Castle fell into the hands of a succession of Earls throughout the Middle Ages before ending up in the hands of John Stuart (3rd Earl of Bute) in the 18th century. He was responsible with his descendants for turning Cardiff from a sleepy fishing town into a major coal port during the following century.

The Castle was enlarged and refashioned into an Early Gothic style by the 2nd Marquis of Bute, while the 3rd Marquis, who was one of the richest men in Britain, continued with the project by turning it into a Medieval Palace with the help of Architect William Burges. The Clock Tower as a date example was constructed in 1869.

(It was unfortunate that the logistics of my Cardiff friday day out meant I had to be back on the 3pm train and I only ever visited the interior once on a saturday car trip much earlier than this occasion. The interior is a mixture of a Norman keep on a grassy mound with a guided tour of dark Middle Ages buildings depicting grand fire places and middle eastern architecture... most unusual probably best demonstrated by looking at google images interior cardiff castle )

Gatekeeper - Keeping ancient people in .... &  modern un-paying people out

In 1947, all of the Bute estate was sold off and the 5th Marquis gave the castle to the city which has been a tourist destination for many years.

Flying high above the others !

"anyone seen my fish ?!"

Walking to the left of the tour bus and Castle Tower, there was a bizarre looking wall that seemed to border Bute Park with some unusual stone animals perched on top of it.

"The changes I've seen over the years "

William Burges who was the architect for the 3rd Earl of Bute designed a built a wall in 1892 just in front of the Castle. However the road was later widened and the whole wall had to be moved along the road slightly. There were originally 9 animals on the original structure with a further 6 made in 1922.

Cardiff resident

During the 1930s, a newspaper column seemed to bring these animals to life by means of a cartoon. The children of the time thought and believed that they all came to life by night.

Retracing my steps back to the Castle and around the walls (avoiding the main shopping centre ! ), I came to a part of town in a different architectural age and style ....

The City Hall was built in 1906 and represents the best in Architecture of English Renaissance ...

French Rugby team feeling at home in Cardiff.

... on a street with a more unusual name !!

Monochrome - Taking the fire out of the dragon !

However, there is no doubt that the building is in Wales by the hot creature relaxing on the roof.

All to soon, it was 2.30 pm and time to think about going for my train. On this occasion though, I have difficulty in finding the platform as it does not seem to be through the normal access barriers. It turned out I had to walk through a food shop, up a modern staircase in the heritage building and it seems I am sitting on a platform perched precariously on the edge of a railway station.... like a stone animal on the side of a wall overlooking the car park.
If you get the wrong impression of the place on arrival with the renovation ... then on departure, well only the welsh would get away with this ......