Visiting the Welsh Capital
Cardiff High Street
With each visit to the U.K. I try and visit a different part of it, technically I have been to Wales, I've caught the train to Holyhead to board a ferry to Ireland. But I don't count passing through as visiting!
I had heard Cardiff being advertised on the radio and became interested in seeing it. (Advertising does work!) The logistics of visiting Cardiff were quite simple, it's a relatively relaxing 2 hour train journey. The train company Great Western Rail runs trains every 30 minutes during busy times. I paid for my ticket online but then had to print it out on a machine at Paddington station. Instructions had been emailed to me and it all worked!
Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and I was surprised to discover that it was only declared the capital in December 1955. The city itself is older, I appreciated that it's quite small and very easy to walk around. The train from London leaves from Paddington Station and then comes into Cardiff Central Station. I booked accomodation nearby, just off the High Street and everywhere I wanted to go was closeby.
St. Mary's Street, which turns into High Street has various arcades either side and the High Street end is mainly pedestrian traffic. The Brewery Quarter was just opposite where I was staying, although very quiet during the day time, it looked like it was a popular night spot with a variety of bars.
The Cottage which has a very strong Harry Potter movie look about it!!
Cardiff High Street Arcade, with a variety of coffee shops and cafes.
Cardiff Central Market, old style marketplace.
St. John the Baptist Parish Church
Cardiff Castle Arcade, more cafes, in the High Street closer to the castle.
Despite it being June, the weather the couple of days I was in Cardiff was cold and wet! That coloured my view of the city somewhat! I spent the afternoon of the first day in the local shopping Centre called St. David's Centre which apparently is the largest shopping complex in Wales. It was big!
By day 2 I was ready to wander a bit further afield and wanted to go down to Cardiff Bay. There is a local train, I think it was one or two stops but as it wasn't that far I chose to walk down. The walk took about 20 minutes, just as I was coming into the bay area I spotted a statue. It was Mahatma Gandhi, puzzled I then looked up why it was there. The statue was unveiled to commemorate the 148th anniversary of Gandhi's birth, the Hindu council of Wales were the organisers of this tribute and it took 3 years of donations to raise the money for the statue. It's placed at the end of Lloyd George Avenue as Gandhi stated that he was inspired by Lloyd George's championing of the Welsh language campaign for the preservation of India's. The statue is a tribute to the relationship between Wales and India.
Gandhi statue
The Cardiff Bay area has had a major redevelopment and is the location of some important cultural and government buildings.
The Wales Millennium Centre
The National Assembly for Wales.
Cardiff Bay
The area has restaurants and cafes, I had lunch at the cafe on the pier in the picture. It was a very pleasant location even on a miserable day!
Carousel at Cardiff Bay
Pierhead
The historic red building is called Pierhead, it was built in 1897 for the Cardiff Railway company. The building has been restored and it's now a local history museum. The clocktower is called 'Baby Big Ben' which I thought was cute!
The Norwegian Church
This building is now called the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, it holds art displays and there's a small cafe. The church was originally established in 1868 as a place of sanctuary offering food and shelter to all sailors. There were a number of these Norwegian churches built in ports around the world, I've seen at least one other one. This church's main claim to fame was that it was where the children's author Roald Dahl was baptised as his family worshipped in the church. When it fell into disrepair in the 1970s and 80s he was instrumental in helping to raise money for its preservation. The church has a Dahl Gallery to commemorate what he did for the church.
Rather than walking back to the city centre I saw that there's a boat that will take you up the river to Bute Park next to the castle. It's a nice alternative to doing a bay cruise when the weather isn't great. I took the Aquabus, it departs every half hour from Mermaid Quay and it's only 4 pounds for an adult one way. Tickets are purchased onboard, and it's cash only! You get a short trip on the bay as the boat heads for the river Taff and then it cruises up the river to the landing at Bute Park, the trip takes about 25 minutes.
With each visit to the U.K. I try and visit a different part of it, technically I have been to Wales, I've caught the train to Holyhead to board a ferry to Ireland. But I don't count passing through as visiting!
I had heard Cardiff being advertised on the radio and became interested in seeing it. (Advertising does work!) The logistics of visiting Cardiff were quite simple, it's a relatively relaxing 2 hour train journey. The train company Great Western Rail runs trains every 30 minutes during busy times. I paid for my ticket online but then had to print it out on a machine at Paddington station. Instructions had been emailed to me and it all worked!
Cardiff is the capital city of Wales and I was surprised to discover that it was only declared the capital in December 1955. The city itself is older, I appreciated that it's quite small and very easy to walk around. The train from London leaves from Paddington Station and then comes into Cardiff Central Station. I booked accomodation nearby, just off the High Street and everywhere I wanted to go was closeby.
St. Mary's Street, which turns into High Street has various arcades either side and the High Street end is mainly pedestrian traffic. The Brewery Quarter was just opposite where I was staying, although very quiet during the day time, it looked like it was a popular night spot with a variety of bars.
Despite it being June, the weather the couple of days I was in Cardiff was cold and wet! That coloured my view of the city somewhat! I spent the afternoon of the first day in the local shopping Centre called St. David's Centre which apparently is the largest shopping complex in Wales. It was big!
By day 2 I was ready to wander a bit further afield and wanted to go down to Cardiff Bay. There is a local train, I think it was one or two stops but as it wasn't that far I chose to walk down. The walk took about 20 minutes, just as I was coming into the bay area I spotted a statue. It was Mahatma Gandhi, puzzled I then looked up why it was there. The statue was unveiled to commemorate the 148th anniversary of Gandhi's birth, the Hindu council of Wales were the organisers of this tribute and it took 3 years of donations to raise the money for the statue. It's placed at the end of Lloyd George Avenue as Gandhi stated that he was inspired by Lloyd George's championing of the Welsh language campaign for the preservation of India's. The statue is a tribute to the relationship between Wales and India.
The Cardiff Bay area has had a major redevelopment and is the location of some important cultural and government buildings.
The area has restaurants and cafes, I had lunch at the cafe on the pier in the picture. It was a very pleasant location even on a miserable day!
The historic red building is called Pierhead, it was built in 1897 for the Cardiff Railway company. The building has been restored and it's now a local history museum. The clocktower is called 'Baby Big Ben' which I thought was cute!
This building is now called the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, it holds art displays and there's a small cafe. The church was originally established in 1868 as a place of sanctuary offering food and shelter to all sailors. There were a number of these Norwegian churches built in ports around the world, I've seen at least one other one. This church's main claim to fame was that it was where the children's author Roald Dahl was baptised as his family worshipped in the church. When it fell into disrepair in the 1970s and 80s he was instrumental in helping to raise money for its preservation. The church has a Dahl Gallery to commemorate what he did for the church.
Rather than walking back to the city centre I saw that there's a boat that will take you up the river to Bute Park next to the castle. It's a nice alternative to doing a bay cruise when the weather isn't great. I took the Aquabus, it departs every half hour from Mermaid Quay and it's only 4 pounds for an adult one way. Tickets are purchased onboard, and it's cash only! You get a short trip on the bay as the boat heads for the river Taff and then it cruises up the river to the landing at Bute Park, the trip takes about 25 minutes.
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