Cardiff and Caerphilly 2006

The city I live in, and an important neighbouring town.

Cardiff is the Capital City of Wales (or in the Welsh language; Cymru - pronounced Coomree). Wales/Cymru is one of the four countries that makes up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The others are England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Be warned that although the name "England" is often mis-used to mean all four contries, that is not correct, and is considered insulting by the inhabitants of Wales/Cymru, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. (It would be equivalent to telling New Yorkers that they all live in Missouri, or perhaps more accurately, telling Polish people that they live in Russia.)

In case you were wondering, Great Britain or Britain refers to the largest island in the British Isles, and includes Wales, Scotland and England. Ireland is another island which consists of two countries; the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland is not. The British Isles is a name for the collection of islands, including the main islands of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as many other nearby islands such as the Isle of White, Isle of Sky, and many thousand other islands in the area. The Isle of Man (as well as Jersey and Guernsey near coast of France) is not a part of the United Kingdom, but is a Crown Dependency, meaning that it is a posession of the British Crown.

Wales is often referred to as the Land of Song, and that is a well earned title. Several well known bands and singers emerged from Wales. Perhaps the most famous is Tom Jones, but there are several others; The Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Catatonia, Shirley Bassey, and Charlotte Church. However, the male voice choir - a very strong tradition dating back to the mining town communities - is what really sets Wales apart. Some of you may have heard of Bryn Terfel, but his self infatuated style fails to do any justice to the combined voice of traditional male voice choirs - try a more traditional choir if you want the true experience. There are far fewer well known actors though, with Anthony Hopkins being the prime example (though he sounds far more English than Welsh). Of course, there is also Timothy Dalton, Ioan Gruffudd or Catherine Zeta Jones, but as far as I am concerned, you are welcome to keep them; I am not interested.

• The remains of the old bell tower in Llandaf, about 800 years old.
• Llandaf Cathedral (mis-spelled as Llandaff in English). As is traditional in Britain, any town that has a cathedral is automatically given city status (which is the reason why Saint David's manages to be a city even with a population of only 1'600, where most cities need a population of well over 100'000, or a special royal decree). Llandaf was a city long before Cardiff engulfed it, meaning that Llandaf is a city within a city. This cathedral is also part of the reason that Cardiff originally received city status, so despite being only a large church, it has a lot of significance.
• Some detailing on the Llandaff Cathedral spire.
• The remains of Llandaff Castle, assumed to be about 700 years old.
• Nazareth house in Cathays. This large manor house currently serves as home to a convent.
• Chimneys on Nazareth house.
• Park Place. Virtually all of the buildings on this road belong to Cardiff University. This particular one also happens to be where I used to work, and is a fairly typical example of the stone-built terraces in the area. This is part of the Cathays campus of the university, which extends for nearly a mile aross the city, joining the Queen's campus to the South, but not quite connecting with the Heath campus to the North.
• A little further down the road is a gentlemens' club. Not that I particularly care about the club, but I like the building.
• Across the road is the first of the grand buildings around Cathays Park; the National Museum.
• The inside of the dome in the museum. In general, photography is not allowed inside the museum, so after obtaining special permission, my models and I went to point the camera at some of the more impressive exhibits. Forgive me if I indulge myself.
• Dinosaurs of course! The smaller coelophysis were featured in the BBC series "Walking With Dinosaurs".
• The largest complete skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur in the museum.
• And the largest complete herbivore. The large single bone (just in front of the child, and twice its size) is the thigh bone from an Apatosaurus - a relative of the Diplodocus, and one of the largest of all dinosaurs.
• A Tyranosaurus skull, mounted at the height that it would have been, if the rest of the animal had been attached.
• An aquatic dinosaur, featured in Ice Age 2.
• Cryptoclidus, also featured in "Walking With Dinosaurs".
• Two model mammoth.
• And the associated skeleton.
• A giant deer - about as close to a moose as we will get.
• A life-sized model basking shark.
• A humpback whale skeleton.
• A leatherback turtle - with real skin; yummy.
• The magnificent City Hall (a far better building than they deserve, in my opinion).
• And the picture perfect view - worthy of a postcard if I ever saw one.
• The evening glow lighting the City Hall.
• Silhouetted against the sunset.
• The dragon sculpture on the top of the City Hall dome.
• The City Hall clock tower as seen at night.
• The Red Dragon is the emblem for Wales, and symbolises the Welsh in their fight against the invading Saxons. These examples are a little odd as they have a beak, instead of the usual jaw.
• Next in line is Cardiff Crown Court.
• The entrance to the Crown Court, annoyingly facing away from the Sun.
• Cardiff University owns many of the buildings around Cathays Park. This is the Glamorgan building, and was once the house of the Glamorgan County council. Unfortunately, most of the buildings on this side of the Alexandra Gardens face away from the Sun.
• The Corinthian capitals of the Glamorgan building columns (where would we be without Wikipedia?).
• One of the sculptures outside the Glamorgan building.
• Next is the Bute building, previously owned by the Marquis of Bute (responsible for many of the buildings in Cardiff, as well as the coal industry that thrived there).
• The Red Dragon, on the roof of Bute building.
• The war memorial in Alexandra gardens.
• On the other side of the gardens is the Cardiff University Main building.
• The courtyard of the Cardiff University Main building (as seen from Park Place).
• Damer.
• The grand outer wall of Cardiff Castle. The tower on the left part of the castle that was used as a home by the Bute family. The main wall as seen here is built on the foundations of a Roman fort, parts of which are still visible. The parapets can be easily seen (they are one of the defining characteristics of a castle, according to the British use of the word).
• Looking across the castle courtyard to the far wall. The door would be one of the main entrances, with the drawbridge lowered across the moat outside. The outer wall was never used for defensive purposes, and was built for the Bute family as a grand home.
• The Norman Keep, situated on top of a motte (mound) inside the courtyard. This is the original castle, and is by design much smaller than many other true castles in Wales (such as Caerphilly and Pembroke).
• The Bute family had the living area extended and decorated in many different themes. This shows the gothic tower, and the needlessly oversized chimneys, that were often used as a status symbol.
• A now-dry part of the moat outside the castle, in Bute Park. There are parts of the moat that contain water, but these are purely decorative, and were not used for defence.
• The wall on Castle Street is decorated with many animal sculptures (in this case, what looks like a small bear).
• Monkeys...
• Hyenas...
• Vultures...
• And a panther.
• It ends at the Bute Park gate-keeper's cottage, in itself looking like a small castle.
• Across the road is the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, built on the site of the old Arms Park. I find it very disappointing that despite all the other sights in Cardiff, almost all brochures concentrate on this monstrosity. Just because it is big, that does not make it good. An eye-sore that serves to cause traffic problems in an area that cannot cater to it, and where it certainly does not fit in. It looks more like a warehouse or gas storage container.
• In Oslo they rent bikes. Here, we get chauffeured for free.
• Saint John the Baptist Church. The need for city space is so high that the graveyard has been intersected by a path, and the graves marked only by small numbers embedded in the pavement.
• The main bell tower.
• The evening lighting makes the tower glow.
• "The Exhibition" in the Hayes.
• The facade of the Queen's campus buildings. This is all that remains of the old buildings, with everything behind it replaced by newer constructions. This is where I spent 3 years of my education.
• Nestled amongst the buildings is this small church, interesting for the point that the stone used on the tower and doorways is deliberately allowed to rot, giving it a distinctive striped appearence. Also a little funny is the two seaparate signs, one saying that the building is available for rent, and another saying that it has been sold. I guess estate agents don't know how to talk to each other...
• The Cardiff Royal infirmary. Once a very impressive manor house, now a hospital.
• Cardiff Bay. This was once a major shipping dockland, a World leader in coal export. This was also one of the places where the Iron produced by the South Wales valleys was sent off to the rest of the world. This historic area of Wales literally fuelled the industrial revolution, and is directly responsible for the advances made during that time. There are still many places in the South Wales valleys and Brecon Beacons National Park where remnants of iron works, quarries, and tram lines can be seen. The Valleys themselves have their entire existence and culture derived from coal mining, and associated hardships.
• Once the World stopped craving Welsh iron and coal, the Valleys shut down, and still suffer from financial difficulties. The Cardiff docks stopped being used, and the area became the Red Light District. In an attempt to revive the area, the council demolished most of the buildings, and began a project to rebuild and convert it into a fashionable shopping centre. The result is a very artificial precinct with overpriced resteraunts and houses, and plastic visitors.
• One of the old administration buildings dating back to when the area was a thriving port.
• The Millenium Centre and Oval Basin. Simply hearing the word "Millenium" is enough to make me feel nausious; no sense of longevity, and clearly just jumping on a bandwaggon without any real sense of purpose.
• The Pierhead Building, one of the most photographed buildings in Cardiff Bay - for good reason. Apart from the striking red colour, it is also one of the few traditional buildings that still remains.
• Gargoyles on the Pierhead Building.
• And once again, the oversized chimneys.
• In Wales, we have a National Assembly. That is similar to the Scotish Parliament, only without any real power (so in other words, a load of time-and-money wasters who like to talk about things without actually achieving anything). Not satisfied with wasting our tax money on their paycheques, they also farted around for a few years and wasted an inexcusable amount of money on this debating chamber. The idea is that everyone can see the debate, so that the political process appears to be completely open (yeah, right). So in other words; a window. A window! A £67 million window. $115 million US. €96 million. 763 million NOK. Whatever. It's a window, and my money was wasted to pay for it.
• It's not what it looks like, but I like the way it looks anyway.
• Seeing double.
• The Norwegian Church. Apparently it was "originally built in 1868 for the Norwegian sailors visiting Cardiff", though I find the idea very funny - like the Norwegians would not be able to visit a church if it was made using traditional British architecture, or something.
• A retired lightship that now serves as a resteraunt.
• A wind vane - a little more extravagant than normal wind vanes.
• Ok, so not very much to do with Cardiff, but I still like it.
• A thatched cottage at the Museum of Welsh Life. These are rarely used now, but what do you expect from a museum?
• The Whitchurch Hospital tower, rising above the trees. If you care (I don't, but hey), Carlotte Church is from this area of Cardiff. I am not sure where Cerys Matthews (Catatonia), Shirley Bassey and Ioan Gruffudd are from, but they are all from somewhere in Cardiff.
• The Whitchurch Hospital (mental hospital) building looks in some places more like a manor house, and in others, more like a factory. It is 100 years old this year, with its first major use being during the first world war, as a regular hospital. It is in a very poor state of disrepair, with large parts of it closed off, and probably due to be condemned.
• Just behind the hospital is the Taff River (which should really be called Taf [pronounced 'Tahv']). This is a rare view of the river - rare because it actually looks nice. The river suffers from a high level of pollution, and many parts of its course are artifical.
• To the North of Cardiff is Castell Coch, sat above the small town of Tongwynlais. The castle is used in the TV series 'The Worst Witch'. It stands guard over a narrow part of the Taff valley. Stereophonics are from a small village about 20 km up the valley from here.
• The castle is about 150 years old, built for the Bute family on top 800 year old foundations. The original castle was built for defence against the invading Northern Welsh.
• Nestled amongst the beech woods. Exactly how such a small castle could be used defensively in such an odd location is a mystery to me, but I guess it made sense at the time.
• The largest tower at Castell Coch.
• One of the three main towers from the inside. The castle is made to faithfully replicate how it should have appeared when first built.
• Looking across the courtyard at the multiple roofs. The little red fence is actually a gate opening into space - presumably for winching, not for a quick way to kill yourself.
• View from the cellar.
• The gearing for raising the portcullis.
• Well pump.
• The drawing room.
• M'lady's chamber.
• M'lady's crystal ball.
• A tiny outdoor suspended chapel, placed indoors.
• On the ridge behind Tongwynlais is Caerphilly Common, with views over Ystrad Mynach and Blackwood - where the Manic Street Preachers are from.
• Caerphilly is famous for one major attraction; Caerphilly Castle. This is the second largest castle in Britain, and is the largest Norman castle in Europe.
• Originally built about 800 years ago to fend off the invading North/mid Welsh. Led by Llewelyn, they did attempt to attack the castle, but failed even after a siege that lasted several months, while the castle was still unfinished. At the time, the castle was successful, and was not taken over. However, since Wales was separated from England in the 1950s and is now recognised as its own nation, the castle now flies the Welsh flag - the original owner would no doubt be disappointed.
• Looking across the inner moat to the defenses of the outer wall.
• The view of the central castle from the outer gate tower.
• Invading Welsh attempting to storm the castle.
• The outer wall showing both the outer moat, and inner lake defenses.
• The leaning, broken tower inside the main castle. The 10 degree lean is more than the leaning tower of Piza and supposedly is also caused by subsidence (since they almost certainly wish to keep it, it is a little surprising that they have still not worked out exactly what the cause is).
• The inner courtyard of the main castle, looking towards one of the gate houses.
• Sitting in the Great Hall of Caerphilly Castle - the only part to be modified since the original building of the castle.
• Fairly common in british castles; a Medieval reenactment - even babies must dress up. No arguments.
• Always the most popular is the demonstration of weaponry.
• The Welsh flag, silhouetted against the sun.
• Working siege engines (also referred to as a catapult or sling-shot by mere mortals), firing a shot over the inner moat.
• And the resulting splash.

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