Cardiff

[Kyng]

(Source: Graham Well; View licence terms)

It's been a couple of weeks since I started one of these threads. Part of this has been lack of time/energy, and part of it is because I simply wasn't sure which city to do next . However, I finally managed to make a decision.

Cardiff (known as Caerdydd in Welsh) is the capital city of Wales. It's also the largest city in the country: as of 2017, an estimated 362,000 people live in the city itself, while the population of the wider metro area is just short of 1.1 million (so, around one-third of the population of Wales lives either in Cardiff or in the surrounding area). 

Like many cities in England and Wales, Cardiff can trace its origins all the way back to the Romans, who built a fort on the site of the city in AD 75. Not a lot is known about this early settlement (it's even possible that it was abandoned after the Romans left); however, the site of the Roman fort was eventually re-used by William the Conqueror, who began construction of Cardiff Castle there in 1081. Once the castle was completed, the town of Cardiff began to grow nearby - and, by the year 1300, it was the largest town in Wales (though it still only had a modest population of a little over 2,000). It didn't grow too much after that until the early 19th century, at which point coal mining took hold all over south Wales, and Cardiff proved to be the ideal place to build docks to export this coal. By the 1950s, this trade had declined; however, the city had already grown to a population of over 250,000 - and so, on 20th December 1955, it was declared the capital city of Wales. Its influence grew further in 1999, when it became home to the newly-created National Assembly for Wales. Further, with the successful redevelopment of the former docks area, and the ongoing redevelopment of the city centre (including the construction of its first high-rise buildings), it shows no signs of slowing down!

Cardiff has been home to a number of artistic and literary figures, including Roald Dahl, born there to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1916. However, it's more notable for the sports stars it's produced, such as footballers Gareth Bale and Ryan Giggs, and Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson. But, for all the success that those three have enjoyed in their careers, Cardiff's main sporting achievements have been in rugby: it's produced an assortment of top players in both Rugby League and Rugby Union. The Millennium Stadium (officially known as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is home to the Welsh national rugby union team, which swept the Six Nations series in 2019. Beyond sport, Cardiff has become home to a number of TV studios: it's where Doctor Who has been produced since its revival in 2005, and also where Only Connect (one of my favourite quiz shows) has been filmed for the entire duration of its run . I should also comment on the Welsh language: while it's only spoken by a minority of Cardiff residents, the proportion of Welsh-speakers in the city has been increasing steadily: it's gone up from 6.6% in 1991 to 11.1% in 2011. So, while Welsh is no longer the dominant language in Cardiff, they're certainly doing what they can to keep it alive . 

So, has anyone been to this city - or, if not, would you like to go?

[Moonshroom]

Please never stop posting these, CJ. They are informative as all heck

I had not heard of Cardiff before the Emiliano Sala thing, but sounds nice.

[Kyng]

Please never stop posting these, CJ. They are informative as all heck

I had not heard of Cardiff before the Emiliano Sala thing, but sounds nice.

Don't worry: there are still plenty of cities I haven't posted about, and I plan to continue until I run out of cities !

I've only been to Cardiff once, a few years ago, but I quite liked it back then. Still haven't seen the castle, though - so, I'll be sure to check that oud if I do go back .

[Moonshroom]

Is the castle really a selling point? Every single city seems to have those

[Kyng]

Is the castle really a selling point? Every single city seems to have those

Well, people who have been there seem to think it is. I've had it recommended to me several times, by people who did go there.

(Of course, the reason why I didn't visit the castle when I had the chance was because I've seen plenty of castles before - so, I can certainly see your point !)

[Pyrite]

Finally one of these I can properly comment on!

I spent three months living in Cardiff during my MSc year (summer 2017), during which I had chance to go see some of the sights. My favourite spots were Bute Park and Cardiff Castle, though the whole place is just really lovely! I had the fortune to be around when the weather was wonderful, which probably helped!  

The whole city has a really friendly, old-fashioned vibe to it. I always felt safe walking around there, even at night. The castle is really honestly so good - sure it's not too dissimilar to other castles, but then, castles are quite an amazing sight anyway! The keep they have there is really cool and you get to climb all the way up to the top. Also, inside the walls, you can go see the fortifications they made there during the Second World War, and it felt like stepping through a time machine.

I'll dig out my photos from Cardiff and post them here later on. Highly recommend it to anyone - it's not to large and not tiny - so my kind of city!

[Detective Osprey]

What a beautiful looking city. Hope to go there.

[Kyng]

Nice - I'd like to see these pics when you get a chance !

Has all the redevelopment that's going on done anything to ruin this friendly, old-fashioned vibe, or is that all still fine?

[Pyrite]

Seemed fine when I was there, but I haven't been for a year or so, so I can't say for sure. But all the old buildings are still there, and it's not overpopulated or anything like that.