Having barely been to Wales in the first forty years of my life, over the last few years I have paid many visits to Cardiff. Admittedly three of the visits were to watch West Ham in two play-off finals and a Cup Final!I spent Thursday evening and most of Friday in the Welsh capital filming for Telegraph TV. Each time I go I am struck by the vibrancy of the place. There's a real buzz, a real atmosphere there. It's a city on the up. It has some fantastic restaurants, fantastic bars and a superb ambiance. The regenerated Cardiff bay area is the place to be.
It's a huge irony that Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan fought the Cardiff bay redevelopment when Nicholas Edwards (now Lord Crickhowell) was Welsh Secretary in the Thatcher government. I am sure that Labour has done much in the last ten years to make Cardiff a better place, but the real spadework was done under the Conservatives, and Welsh Conservatives should be proud of that.
My only negative thing to say is the fact that they have recently closed one of the main streets to traffic, which caused havoc with my SatNav. There aren't any conventional 'no entry' signs, merely some blue ones, which I have never come across before. So before I knew I had done it I was in a buses and taxis only zone. But if that's the worst thing I can say about Cardiff, it's done well!
If I didn't live in the South East, Cardiff is one of the places I would happily consider living in. And I can't say fairer than that!
28 comments:
As a Cardiff resident - It's great to hear your endorsement of our fine city.
One of the many other things that Cardiff does well is it's automated license-plate recognition software, which interfaces neatly to the DVLA systems, so expect a small fine !
David, Cardiff.
It's a special place...it used to be my home...it can be ugly and dangerous at times, but come an International Rugby match, and there is no better place to be.
Glad you've enjoyed your visits.
Let me recommend North Wales, inparticular Llangollen!
Really Iain, can you not keep a secret?
Pleased to hear you enjoyed your visit to my hometown. Its always nice to see Cardiff getting a positive review.
I can't wait for a conservative government with the like of Iain clamping down on pesky pedestrianisation schemes which interfere with sat nav.
If only locals would consider visiting londoners cruising around getting lost in their Audis more when they consider their town planning options.
Iain: "There aren't any conventional 'no entry' signs... before I knew I had done it I was in a buses and taxis only zone..."
Your ticket will be in the mail already... welcome to ZaNuLab Britain, aided and abetted by town hall pygmies of all stripes - and I'll bet my shirt Cameron's piggies in the trough won't roll back this automated tax-theft either :-(
My wife and I recently visited Cardiff and we would echo your comments, it's a fine city. Our only complaint would be the rip-off parking charges - 80p for 15 minutes near the Millenium Stadium . After a short comfort break (toilets were a bit difficult to find) we moved on to another car park where we were charged a mere 60p per 15 minutes. These extortionate charges might put us off a future visit.
A word for Swansea. The only place south of the border where I've had a Scots pound note rejected was by a bus conductor in Swansea. The other passengers were so embarrassed by the shit's churlishness that they had a whip-round and paid my fare. How's about that?
a city once a bustle of export and commerce, manufacturing and trade.... now 'regenerated' to having "some fantastic restaurants, fantastic bars and a superb ambiance." and a bloody football pitch.
says it all really.
Agreed. Lived there for a couple of years in the 90s and would happily do so again. You're right about Crickhowell too - a much under-rated chap.
Given the stink that traders on St. Mary Street seem to be raising about the closing of the street to traffic (and the general lack of signs to indicate this), I'd suggest it's not only Londoners who don't like it.
Great place to live, work and study, having done all of the above there. The failure to find a workable replacement for Nicholas Edwards spelled the doom of the party in Wales, but it's now well on the way to recovery. All power to Nick Bourne and his National Assembly team for this.
You're right about Tom Harris's blog, Iain, it's not to be missed.
Reading toxic Tom's blog is like being a fly on the wall in the nulab bunker
Of Dr Who, Tom says:
"the question on everyone’s lips is: “Who?” Or possibly “How?” Maybe even “Why?” Whatever, there’s a question in there somewhere."
There is alright. The question is: how long before Gordon realises Tom's subconsciously spilling the beans on the crisis inside nulab and pulls the plug on his blog?
"I’ve heard all sorts of rumours..."
I bet you have, Tom.
"...about who might play the 11th Doctor: James Nesbitt, Simon Pegg (I started that one), Robert Carlisle, Jennifer Saunders...In the ’70s, a regular wheeze of the media was to speculate that the next Doctor Who actor would be a woman. “They can’t do that,” I would say with misogynist, pre-enlightened indignation. “They’d have to change the title to Nurse Who…” "
Or matron Harman?
"My guess? David Tennant. Something to do with his own severed hand, still sitting in a jar inside the Tardis, will allow him to regenerate into himself."
Complete with bloodied stumps?
"something like that. Whatever happens, it’s nothing that a good old reversal of the polarity of the neutron flow won’t be able to sort out."
Oh, no it's not, Tom, the alien takeover of the master's brain has gone on too far too long for that.
I lived in Penylan and worked (in "Tiger Bay")at Powell Duffryn House for the National Coal Board from 1969 to 1971. It was a great city then for a twenty-something but now it is light years ahead of what it was. Perhaps Dr Who has helped?
More pearls of wisdom from Tom Harris.
Tom declares the new Bond film "Too exciting for words" and the new Indiana Jones film:
a "complete waste of time and money...what a mess. Apparently, the reason this film was delayed for so long was that Spielberg was waiting for a script that was good enough. I hate to think what the ones he rejected were like."
.......
Asked if he was an Indy or a Bond man in an interview with Total Politics magazine, Gordon Brown said: "Indiana Jones"
When asked the same question, Mr Cameron was more definitive. "I'm a big Bond fan," he said.
Woops! Keep them coming, Tom.
And another gem from Tom Harris's blog:
Tom replies to SNP's Nicola Sturgeons grumble about MOD delays on the Clyde and Rosyth shipbuidling contract:
"Significant delay”? Seriously? How much of a “delay” would there be, Nicola, if you and your pals had succeeded in your wee plans for Scotland to secede from the rest of the country? How confident are you that an English government would spend billions of pounds securing Scottish shipyard jobs?"
Dead right, Tom, what would be the point in attempting to bribe the Scots electorate with a nice fat contract, if they'd already ditched your party and the union?
I still can't fathom why people use Satnavs.
Agree with you about the development of Cardiff, but as it is the home of the Welsh Assembly, it was bound to fund the place to the hilt. Forget the rest of Wales the further north you go!
Take hospital care - th WA wants Welsh patients cared for in Welsh hospitals - sounds fine and dandy, eh? Try having elective Neurological surgery - you could have gone to the world renowned Walton Centre in Liverpool - great roads/train links (for the most part) and about an hour away for most patients and the visitors/family to support them.
Now, thanks to the WA you have no choice but to go to South Wales - at least 4 hours by road, about 3 by rail, let alone travel to the hospital from a station - huge expense for the patient. let alone the visitor - how can we afford daily travel or hotels as well??? I don't see any AMs or local MPs rushing to offer a free bed in their taxpayer subsidised 2nd homes.
This is a scandal and shows the arrogance of the decision making process at the WA - everything in the South and stuff the North.
The neurology issue is disgraceful - and it is the thin edge of the wedge - you can bet your bottom dollar some Assembly windbag will say what a success it all is (for whom, exactly?) and that outpatients services will follow suit. The whole thing stinks, and all the drs at Walton think it is ridiculous as well - try having a brain tumour removed, and wanting your family by your side - unless you have deep pockets than don't live in beautiful North Wales. My friend's brother had this happen - he lives 60 miles from Liverpool but HAD to go to Swansea for an op to remove his tumour - no choice. The local MS Society also think OP will soon be forced into long, tortuous and expensive journeys. How are frail people supposed to cope with long travelling times to these places? Pity we can't all be on the sort of expenses AMs etc are on!
So, yes, Cardiff is fantastic, and I don't begrudge it a penny - it is the Welsh Assembly which is failing to understand the needs of ALL of Wales. Either build a North Wales version of Walton somewhere near the A55 or reverse the insane plan.
"I am sure that Labour has done much in the last ten years to make Cardiff a better place, but the real spadework was done under the Conservatives, and Welsh Conservatives should be proud of that."
Really? I thought it was due to Dr Who and the brave gays of Torchwood.
My mistake.
Anonymous is lying about the neurology issue - no-one from N Wales is forced to go to Cardiff or Swansea (although it was mooted by Edwina Hart at one stage).
Walton is good but it's not that accessible - an hour if you live in Deeside or Wrexham, 2 if you live on Anglesey and more if you're in deepest Pen Llyn.
N Wales needs to recognise that 2/3rds of the population lives in S Wales and will get more than half the cake. N Wales is also badly represented by Wminster govt but I don't hear anybody bleating for its abolition...
As others have said it's great to hear something good being said about Cardiff
Cardiff’s veneer of prosperity is derived from all the public spending on the Assembly, the huge dollops of lottery money spent on the Millennium Stadium, and Opera House, and all the public sector salaries including those paid by the BBC. It is a mirage Iain.
Newcastle displays similar prosperity for the same reasons.
Jezza Jacobs: "I still can't fathom why people use Satnavs"
It's all to do with getting around, Jezza - for example, when travelling to an address in an unfamiliar area of urban sprawl it's a real boon having an automated navigator to tell you where and when to turn (and re-route you around any obstructions) - it's a big improvement on relying solely on planning your route in advance, - which often necessitates possibly inconvenient stops to check your map and/or directions.
Satnavs aren't, of course, to be relied upon 100%, but in the absence of a competent navigator in the passenger seat, they're a great tool when used wisely.
The other great feature is POIs - Points of Interest - need fuel, food, lodging, shopping, landmarks, historic sites etc. etc.? Just look 'em up and you get a list of nearest matching facilities, push a button and your handy electronic navigator takes you right there. Marvellous.
You have, I see, managed to master yon new fangled photography contrafabulations to get yourself a really cheesy dark-suit & inane grin "I do so want to be an MP" style mugshot - so why not give a satnav a go to help you find a constituency too... :-)
I live in Cardiff. It's good to hear at least one of the visitors to our city wasn't one of the 'weekend warriors' you see staggering around St. Mary Street (the street now closed to traffic) on a Friday or Saturday night.
Glad you had a good time. Did you have chance to meet any Cardiff Conservatives?
" Nicolas Edwards (now Lord Crickhowell) was Welsh Secretary in the Thatcher government. I am sure that Labour has done much in the last ten years to make Cardiff a better place, but the real spadework was done under the Conservatives, and Welsh Conservatives should be proud of that. "
Not forgetting David Hunt who was also Conservative Welsh Sec. to 1993, who put in much sterling work .
Hafod - I am NOT LYING - my friend's brother was FORCED to do to Swansea.
Get YOUR facts right!
If you could have read the stories in the local papers when this crap idea was rolled out, then you would understand. I dread the day I have to drive/use the train to help my husband to the back end of beyond because some t**t in the WA got uppity about cross-border issues.
Yes, there are more folk in the south, but we are spread out up here, and the A55 towards Liverpool is a lifeline.
Try seeing outside the box called South Wales. Everthing was fine till the WA meddled.
The idea that the Conservatives are the ones responsible for the boom in Cardiff, when they were opposed to devolution, and have policies to cut subsidy for the arts in a typically philistine fashion is truly asinine, Iain.
Labour has been strong on the council for years, and helped get Cardiff established as a cultural oasis by building things like St. David's Hall when the Tories were nowhere about. This helped classical music flourish, and they now also have the Wales Millennium Centre as a home for Welsh National Opera.
The Tories would let the market dictate our cultural life, and pander to middle-of-the-road, lowest common denominator $hite like Abba musicals and Andrew Lloyd Webber's cr@p.
So if you want to keep Cardiff the way it is, for fcuk's sake don't get the Tories back in at the next election.
Nice post Iain (or should that be Ieuan?)
However anonymous (6.51am and 6.22pm on the 6th) is quite right. The Welsh Assembly is built on a myth of one nation. In fact you have two utterly disparate coastal strips with a big nothing in between. And I speak as someone who cheered on both recent grand slams.
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