Cardiff City Centre

The city centre in Cardiff is an area riddled with alleys and arcades, as well as a number of small shopping centres, including the Capitol, St. David’s Centre and Queen’s Arcade. Some of the main streets are:

Queen Street

Queen Street (Welsh: Heol y Frenhines), after which a local railway station is named (the station is actually on Station Street), is the main pedestrianised shopping street in the city. Originally called Crockherbtown, the street was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria in 1886. The junctions at either end of the street look somewhat distorted, since until 1974 vehicular traffic was permitted along its length. It meets Newport Road at its eastern end, Duke Street at its western, and Park Place approximately half-way along. Further down Park Place is the New Theatre, Cathays Park and a number of buildings owned by Cardiff University (most notably, several entire terraces). A local landmark is Principality House, head office of the Principality Building Society.

St. Mary Street and the vicinity

St. Mary Street (Heol y Santes Fair) and High Street (Stryd Fawr). The former street is named after the 11th century church of St. Mary, the largest in Cardiff until it was destroyed by the Bristol Channel floods of 1607. Today the stretch of road is the home of a number of bars and restaurants, including the Cardiff Hard Rock Cafe, as well as branches of many major banks. It is usually closed south of the junction with Wood Street at weekends, to allow the efflux from night clubs and pubs located in that part of the street to clear. The Prince Of Wales (a J D Wetherspoon establishment) is a particular problem, both due to its high capacity, and its main frontage onto Wood Street (which stays open).
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Industry in Cardiff

The industrial development and growth of Cardiff was initially centred on the transportation of coal, where coal mined from the Rhondda Valley was sent to the port by barge along the valley of the River Taff, initially by canal and later by the Taff Vale Railway. A logical extension of the coal business was the development of an iron and steel industry, based largely on the port and the coal of the South Wales valleys. The 1980s brought closures to the industry in the entire region, and thousands of local workers were made redundant as the steel industry moved out of Cardiff, including the largest GKN steelworks in Newport Road.

Cardiff’s port, known as Tiger Bay, was once one of the busiest ports in the world and - for some time - the world’s most important coal port. Indeed, Cardiff’s Coal Exchange was reputedly the first host to a business deal for a million pounds Sterling.

The Tiger Bay area also housed one of the UK’s earliest immigrant communities. After a long period of neglect as Cardiff Bay, it is now being regenerated as a popular area for arts, entertainment and nightlife. Much of the growth has been thanks to the building of the Cardiff Barrage.

The city’s central region, extending from the Hayes (a name allegedly derived from hedge) is now full of attractive modern buildings. This area of Cardiff will also shortly be redeveloped, as part of St Davids Centre - Phase 2 project. Highlights of this project will include a new Central Library and a John Lewis store. The affected area is bounded by The Hayes, Mill Lane, Mary Ann St and Bute Terrace.

The city is also host to S A Brain, a brewery with premises in Cardiff since 1882.

Attaractions of Cardiff

Cardiff Castle is one of Wales’s leading tourist attractions. Situated in the very heart of the capital, alongside city centre shopping and the magnificent Bute Park, the Castle’s enchanting fairytale towers conceal an elaborate and splendid interior.

Contained within its mighty walls is a history spanning nearly 2,000 years, dating from the coming of the Romans in the first century AD. After the Norman Conquest, the Castle’s Keep was built and a number of Medieval fortifications and dwellings followed.
Cardiff Castle Interpretation Centre Archaeological Dig

The Castle fell into the possession of many noble families, until, in 1766, it passed by marriage to the Bute family. The 2nd Marquess of Bute was responsible for turning Cardiff into the world’s greatest coal exporting port. The Castle and the Bute fortune passed to his son John, the 3rd Marquess, who by the 1860’s was reputed to be the richest man in the world

From 1866 the 3rd Marquess employed the genius architect William Burges to transform the Castle lodgings. Within gothic towers he created lavish and opulent interiors, rich with murals, stained glass, marble, gilding and elaborate wood carvings. Each breathtaking room has its own special theme, including Mediterranean gardens and Italian and Arabian decoration.

As well as visiting the spectacular interiors, visitors can enjoy the Castle grounds, where peacocks, ducks and geese wander freely, and enjoy a break in the Castle Tea Rooms which offers a warm welcome for coffees, light lunches and afternoon tea.

Finally, a visit to the gift shop at the main entrance can provide a memento of this unique site.

Politics & Transport in Cardiff

Politics

Since gaining autonomy at the county level in 1996, Cardiff has been governed by Cardiff County Council. From then until 2004 the Labour had a large working majority. In 1995, the balance was 61 Labour , 9 Liberal Democrats , 1 Conservative and 1 Plaid Cymru. In 1999 the balance was 50 Labour , 18 Liberal Democrats , 5 Conservatives, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent.

Following the 2004 local elections, no individual political party has a majority on Cardiff County Council. The Liberal Democrats have 32 councillors (33 were elected, but one councillor crossed the floor to Plaid Cymru) and have formed a minority administration, Labour have 27, the Conservatives have 12 and Plaid Cymru have 4. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Rodney Berman, is from the Liberal Democrats.

Transport

by cycle: links to the north using the National Cycle Network and Taff Trail
by rail: has several rail links: South Wales Main Line and regional Valley Lines
by bus and coach: on the National Express network, as well as served by regional buses
by road: linked to the east and west by the M4 motorway, to the north by the A470.
by air: Cardiff International Airport is located 10miles to the south west of the city
by waterbus: across Cardiff Bay from Mermaid Quay to Custom House at Penarth adjacent to Cardiff Barrage

Culture, Media, Sport and Tourism

The city has a professional football team, Cardiff City F.C., nicknamed “The Bluebirds”. There is also the world-famous Cardiff RFC or Cardiff Blues rugby union team, and the Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey team. The city also features an international sporting venue, the Millennium Stadium. Cardiff hosted the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Cardiff is home to Cardiff Castle, the National Assembly for Wales, St. David’s Hall, the National Museum and Gallery, and Cathays Park (including municipal buildings modelled on those in New Delhi), and the Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral. The Welsh National Opera moved into the Wales Millennium Centre in November 2004.

Cardiff’s centre is a particularly green one with Bute Park, formally the castle grounds, extending northwards from the top of the Cardiff’s main shopping street (Queen Street); when combined with the adjacent Llandaff Fields to the northwest it produces a massive open space skirting the river Taff. Unfortunately Cardiff’s central green spaces are now under threat of development. Other popular parks include Roath Park in the north, donated to the city by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887 and which includes a very popular boating lake; Victoria Park, Cardiff’s first official park; and Thompson’s Park, formerly home to an aviary removed in the 1970s.
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History of Cardiff

The name Cardiff is an Anglicisation of Welsh name “Caerdydd”. There is uncertainty concerning the origin of “Caerdydd” “Caer” means “fort” or “castle,” but although “Dydd” means “Day” in modern Welsh, it is unclear what was meant in this context. Some believe that “Dydd” or “Diff” was a corruption of “Taff”, the river on which Cardiff castle stands, in which case “Cardiff” would mean “the fort on the river Taff” (in Welsh the T mutates to D).

Others favour a link with Aulus Didius Gallus, as it is known that the Romans established a fort in Cardiff when he was governor of the nearby province, in which case Cardiff might mean “the Fort of Didius”. A Norman castle still exists, within the site of the earlier Roman fort, but was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period by John Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, and the architect William Burges. Original Roman work can, however, still be distinguished in the wall facings.

There is a second castle north of the city, called Castell Coch (Welsh: “the Red Castle”). The current castle is an elaborately decorated Victorian folly designed by Burges for the Marquess and built in the 1870s. However, the Victorian castle stands on the footings of a much older medieval castle possibly built by Ivor Bach, a regional baron with links to Cardiff Castle also. The exterior has become a popular location for film and television productions.
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Facts About Cardiff

Geography

Area Ranked 19th
- Total 140 km²
- % Water ? %
Admin HQ Cardiff
ISO 3166-2 GB-CRF
ONS code 00PT
Traditional county Glamorgan
Ceremonial county Cardiff
Coordinates 51°29N 3°11W

Demographics

Population: Ranked 1st
- Total (2004 est.) 316,800
- Density Ranked 1st, 2,263 / km², 91.57% White, 1.99% Mixed, 3.96% S. Asian
Ethnicity 1.28% Black, 1.20% Chinese or other.
Welsh language Ranked 18th
- Any skills 16.3%

Politics
Control (No overall control)
MPs Kevin Brennan, Alun Michael, Julie Morgan, Jenny Willott,

Districts

Adamstown, Birchgrove, Butetown, Canton, Cardiff Bay, City centre, Cathays, Cyncoed, Gabalfa, Heath, Llandaff, Llanedeyrn, Llanishen, Llanrumney, Maindy, Mynachdy, Pentrebane, Pentwyn, Penylan, Pontcanna, Radyr, Riverside, Roath, Splott, St Mellons, Tremorfa, Trowbridge

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Located on the South Wales coast it is administered as a unitary authority. It was a small town until the early nineteenth century and came to prominence following the arrival of industry in the region and the use of Cardiff as a major port for the transport of coal. Cardiff was made a city in 1905 and proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955. In the Census 2001 the population of Cardiff was 305,340, making it the 16th largest settlement in the United Kingdom.

The Welsh capital is a city undergoing major renewal, as is evidenced by the amount of building and reconstruction that is taking place. Most noticeable of all, particularly for the visitor emerging from the railway station, is the looming modernity of the Millennium Stadium, which dominates the skyline on the western edge of the city centre. Both in the city centre itself and at the equally impressive Cardiff Bay development, home to the brand new Wales Millennium Centre, an air of optimistic rejuvenation is almost palpable.

Home of the recently established Welsh National Assembly, Cardiff is currently on an upward curve, virtually a city reinvented since the low points of the 1970s and 1980s. Then it was difficult to believe that less than a century earlier, the city had been one of the great powerhouses of the British Empire, exporting vast amounts of coal from the nearby Valleys and steel from the huge plants in South Wales. When these industries all but died out during the last quarter of the 20th century, prospects appeared bleak. Yet, thanks to government and European Union encouragement, new employers have moved in to help fill the economic void. A measure of this successful economic regeneration is the fact that available hotel bed spaces in Cardiff have increased by over 40% in the past five or so years.
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