To all of you lovely people out there, we’d like to wish you a Very Merry Festive-Mas!
The WAC crew comprises of people with varying beliefs / spiritualities, but we all love us this time of year for the chance it gives to hang out with people we love, eat loads of lush food and have a couple of lie-ins.
This is one of our favourite photos of Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland, by Instagrammer xeno.v (check the feed, beautiful photography!)
Before you rip open those gifts, remember that the amount of wrapping paper we throw away every year at Christmas could stretch around the equator nine times, or up to the moon if every sheet of paper was laid end-to-end (thanks for the tip-off Recycle for Wales). SERIOUS.
So the very least you can do is recycle that bad boy.
With the exception of the shiny metallic and glitter varieties, ALL paper, including wrapping paper, is recyclable. To find out if paper is recyclable try the ‘scrunch test’ shown here. Paper that is recyclable stays in a ball when it is scrunched in the hand.
And if you think that’s bad, somewhere around 13,350 tonnes of glass is thrown out in the UK over Christmas. If this was recycled, it could save around 4,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of taking 1,300 cars off the road for an entire year. Recycling one Prosecco bottle saves enough energy to power a home stereo for 24 HOURS – just think of all that dancing!
TIPS FOR REDUCING WASTE THIS CHRISTMAS!
– Definitely recycle your used wrapping paper – OR, save it for re-use in a multitude of ways! Shred it to use as colourful tissue packing for future gifts, or use it like newspaper to clean windows and mirrors. It also has potential in future crafting projects – origami for kids, or use the blank side for drawing or colouring.
– If your Christmas cards have nice designs on the front, cut them out and use as gift tags for next year.
– Got yourself some festive leftovers? Our very own Lia’s Kitchen has plenty of suggestions for how to use up whatever’s left to reduce waste! Whatever IS leftover and done for, make sure you put those bits in your food caddy.
– If you don’t have a living Christmas tree, there are plenty of ways you can use it before you get rid of it. Pine needles are great for pot pourri, or add them into the compost heap to balance out any alkaline.
– METALS! You can recycle kitchen foil, drinks cans, freezing trays, cigarette and tobacco foil, screw top lids from wine or alcohol bottles, and traditional milk bottle tops. Make sure all that stuff goes in your green bags!
– Christmas decorations! If they’re still in good order, they can be donated to Re-Create, so don’t trash them just because the holiday is done!
The challenge: 32 people to buy Christmas gifts for on a £300 budget! Can it be done? Cardiff Indoor Market enthusiast Jade Tambini tells us that yes, it can!
This blog is all about my experience challenging myself to do a full Christmas shop at Cardiff Market with just £300 to spend.
The first thing that struck me about my decision to do my full Christmas shop at Cardiff Market this year, was the absence of stress and overwhelming panic that usually consumes me in the lead up. I’ve always been one to plan our day out in order to do the full shop in one day (much to my husband Paul’s terror). So the thought of getting it all done in one go at the market felt just wonderful!
I’ve spent a lot more time at the market recently buying lunch, fresh produce and more and have been won over by the variety of stalls there, fallen in love with the atmosphere and I’ve gotten to know loads of the amazing traders during my visits too. If you’ve not been to the market before, it’s hard to put into words how it feels to spend an afternoon browsing, bantering and buying, all I can say to describe it is that it’s a little bit like being transported to another time and place, sheltered from the world outside, like a safe haven almost to give you space to think, be and enjoy shopping.
In preparation for the shopping trip, I pled with my Facebook friends to let me borrow a ‘grannie trolley’ to make the day a more comfortable experience. Since we’ve got 32 loved ones on our huge Italian/ Irish direct family list, I couldn’t think of any other way. Amidst the mocking of my apparently ‘uncool’ idea, I managed to get hold of a shopping bag on wheels ready for a knockout day of shopping!
Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of some of the gifts I picked up during my four-hour shopping session, to get Christmas all wrapped up for under £300. I was joined by my mum and our family friend’s daughter, Heidi 12, who was super cute running around talking to all the traders, we were also later joined by Paul, my hubby!
Mum and Heidi at Lovely Crockery
Note; if you are in my family please stop reading since you will likely find out what we’ve bought you for Christmas! That includes you, Paul!
Bath bombs, soaps and candle sets from Luvely Bubbly
Julie is the loveliest lady you’ll meet, she has so much knowledge on the different products available at the stall and will talk to you about the person you’re buying for, suggesting recommended products to suit their personality and what they like.
For my brothers’ girlfriends I picked out raspberry swirl bath bombs and fruity glitter hand soaps. For my sister-in-law and my dad’s girlfriend the bath bomb, candle and soap boxes were perfect and at just £10 and £12.50 depending on which one you choose, were great value for a lovely gift! The candle and mini soap bag pictured is just £5!
I also picked up some soaps for my mother in law. The stall has so many different types of soap whether it’s funky jelly baby flavour, parma violets, rhubarb and custard (they all literally smell like the sweets!) or natural more earthy organic smells that suited my mother-in-law’s taste really well.
Asian delights from Lovely Crockery
I spent just over £60 in Lovely Crockery but I can’t begin to tell you how incredible Su’s products are and I got so much for my money. First, I bought these adorable bunny feet egg cups for my two nieces, they were only £3 each, can you believe?
This bunny feet egg cup was just £3
I also picked out this gorgeous Japanese rice pattern tea pot for my mum which was only £13 and a pack of traditional teas.
I bought my nana these super cute compact mirrors and lipstick holders, she’s always loved things like this so I thought they were perfect.
I also bought her this lovely ‘cwtch’ mug! Since my family are all up north in Leeds and Pontefract I thought it was a nice choice to remind her of me in Wales.
I also picked out bits and pieces for various little additional gifts for my my sister, mum, mother-in-law and sister-in-law which varied from under £1 to a few quid.
What I love most about JC Morgan’s card stall is the variety. I’ve always loved sending cards that match my family set. It’s hard to find cards like ‘Nana and Grandad’ and ‘to mum and her boyfriend’ and I always enjoyed receiving very specific cards like ‘to my granddaughter and her boyfriend’ before me and Paul got married, it just feels so much more personal. You just can’t get these old classics with the stunning verses inside in many place anymore either, and the prices are incredible here! Lots of people don’t like cards but my mum and nana especially always revel in reading the verses so it’s nice to pick some special ones!
Most of the cards I picked up were less than £1.50, the price they should be. I do love Marks & Spencer cards too, I’ll be honest, but they carry a big price tag for a card and supporting a local independent feels really nice. They are so helpful there, I couldn’t find a card I wanted and the guys there were going through all the drawers and finding me everything I needed. I also picked up wrapping paper, cellotape and gift tags.
Half way through the trip my lovely husband popped in and took trolley responsibility – as you can imagine, he was delighted to be dragged around for the last hour of shopping!
Festive boxes from Cheese Pantry
My favourite thing about the new Cheese Pantry stall that’s opened at the market, aside from Melissa and Jo the lovely gals working there, oh and the daisy bell, is the delicious cheese samples always available to try on the counter! My husband picked out three festive cheese boxes for our aunty and uncle and a couple of his closest cousins.
With delicious cheeses, hot Christmas chutney’s made locally by Penylan Pantry, and some crackers to compliment, we’re sure our relatives will be really pleased with their gifts!
On Melissa’s advice, we popped the cheeses in a tupperware to go in the fridge and have kept the boxes aside ready to prepare with some lovely ribbon we were given to gift wrap them! The gang there are so helpful, really worth a visit either for gifts or for a Christmas day cheese board!
Healing stones from Rocks and Clocks
My dad’s mum Grandma Angela is the sweetest, kindest lady you’ll ever meet. She’s very spiritual and has always prayed every night for everyone in our family, 30 direct cousins strong, as well as lighting candles in church for people when they need extra support. She’s had a difficult year with her mobility and some setbacks in her health and while she’s back on top form I wanted to pick out some healing crystals for her from Rocks and Clocks.
I also picked up an incense set and a stress busting crystal for my friend who has a very busy job! The lady who works there consults on the different healing crystals and it’s really interesting to look at them and see which one’s you’re drawn to. She even cleanses them of other energy so they are brand new for you, in a special bowl before you take them away.
Lucky for us we have Christmas dinner all cooked and prepared for us, since my mother-in-law is the best you can get! If I wasn’t I’d have certainly been back this week to the butchers, fruit and veg stalls and fishmongers for my meats, vegetables and smoked salmon! Bakestones are selling gorgeous freshly baked Christmas cakes too which smell make the market smell like Christmas day even now!
All in all, a fantastic and stress free experience. My trolley was packed full when I got home ready to wrap and pop under the tree! I was on budget too with change for a Welsh Cake from Bakestones!
As I left, I had been so in my own world that I hadn’t realised it had been pouring it down ALL day, so I even picked up a brolly for my walk back to the train!
Last week, I took part in my first ever food tour of Cardiff – a food safari, no less, taking in some sights, history, and a lot of tastes of the fair capital. Having lived here for as long as I have, I sort of presumed I had explored all of the culinary boltholes in the centre of it. How wrong I was!
We met Sian (who was leading the tour) along with fellow tour-attendees, Doug and Val in the cafe at the castle. Doug and Val had lived here between 1985 to 1990, then moved away. You can imagine how different the city is today to when they’d been here originally.
Although we didn’t eat anything at the castle, Sian gave us a potted history of the castle through the ages. One of my favourite anecdotes was about how it used to be the Royal College of Music and Drama (as the council initially didn’t know what to do with it when it was handed over by the Butes) – Sian had music lessons there as a child. Imagine having music lessons in a castle!
Anyway, this was our first stop: bara brith and tea at Pettigrew Tea Rooms.
Pettigrew Tea Rooms
Andrew Pettigrew was Head Gardner for the Third Marquis of Bute , and the tea room is named in his honour. I am ashamed to say we ate the bara brith so quickly I didn’t manage to get a photo … (that’s the sign of some good cake!). It was really good too – super moist!
We then wandered through Castle Arcade. Although I must have walked through here hundreds of times, it was the first time I ever noticed the stag in the mirror (above the exit that goes out onto High Street – see below!)
Castle ArcadeCastle Arcade
It was then into Cardiff Indoor Market, taking a leisurely look around the stalls (I spotted some very tasty faggots and peas in a tupperware box that took my fancy!), but we stopped outside Ashton’s. You’ll know it as the fishmonger that’s at the entrance to the market from the Hayes side. Ashton’s is also the oldest limited company in Cardiff (fact!), and you can buy laverbread and cockles from them to eat there. Sian had baked some oatcakes and brought them with her, to make us small ‘tapas’ style morsels. They were absolutely delicious!
Ashton’s at the marketSian preparing our tastersFish faces
We then went on to try some cawl and Welsh ciders! This was a definite high point. (My favourite cider was the Gwynt Y Ddraig medium dry, in case you ever want to take me out for a drink).
Cawl at Yr Hen Llyfrgell
From there, we went down to the bay. Doug and Val were most excited about this part of the tour, as the bay had been in its very early re-development when they left. No Millennium Centre, no Senedd, no barrage.
To give you some perspective, this is what it would have looked like when they left …
This is what it looks like now (!)
(obviously the locations are slightly different, but you get the idea)
We wandered around the bay a bit, and Sian imparted more historical knowledge. I live in Butetown but rarely spend time just wandering around, chewing the fat. In this case, chewing on the amazing Welsh cakes from Fabulous …
Our final course was in Ffresh. They’ve recently refurbished the inside with a load of copper coloured trees – beautiful!
Also the food. OMG the food. We stuck to deserts – I had a very nice and light iced pear, followed by this amazing shared cheese board. Per las … my downfall …
Iced pearFood tourists!
After dessert, I was so full I pretty much rolled down towards the water and into the Princess Katherine, one of the water taxis that runs between town and the bay. There’s actually an onboard audio guide that gives you information about the places you’re going past as you chug past them.
SailorsAboard the Princess Katherine
“We have many spectacular mountains, a stunning coastline and a little rain – that all helps to create an ideal environment for growing produce which results in award-winning food and drink!” says Sian, who’s been running food tours for a few years now (she also reads the news and used to present the weather, so gets recognised occasionally while you’re walking around with her!). She’s also fluent in French, Italian, Spanish and German as well as English and Welsh (feel like you messed around too much in school?? Me too!).
It was wonderful having Sian to guide us – she is incredibly knowledgeable about Cardiff and so passionate about food – she told us about everything from Welsh vineyards to the history of Italian food in Cardiff. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our food safari – and ended up discovering some proper hidden Cardiff food gems. Cockles in the market will be on the itinerary for every trip we ever make to town, forever!
Fancy visiting Cardiff’s first ever ethical night market?
Picture the scene – in the build-up to the festive season the magic and excitement of Christmas quickly disappearing as you navigate through crowded department stores with terrible Christmas music played over tinny shop speakers and the worry that the products you’re lovingly picking out have been made in less-than-ethical conditions.
What Christmas shopping really needs is a stress-free cosy atmosphere, ethical local brands (and maybe a glass or two of mulled wine).
This December will see Cardiff’s first ever Ethical Cardiff Night Market, and it’s going to be a Christmas special!
This alternative market – organised by environmentally friendly letting agent Green Valley Moves – will be popping up in Cardiff Speaker Hire on Dumballs Road on Saturday 10th December. It will include stalls filled with eco-friendly products, delicious veggie and vegan food and lovingly handmade crafts.
All of the vendors have a passion for sustainability and are providing products that are good for people and the planet. The stallholders include independent coffee and vinyl venture Outpost, natural male grooming product makers Old Faithful and vegan-friendly coffee and juice experts The Moos.
There is more than just stalls, however, as the night will also include a bar, live music (championing local female musicians) and a pottery workshop by Cardiff Pottery Workshops.
The event was created by Green Valley Moves founder, Cat Woods, to provide people with a more relaxed shopping experience.
“I’m prone to anxiety” Cat explains, “and Christmas shopping, with all the crowds, is something that puts a strain on me. So when I decided to organise the Ethical Cardiff Night Market I had mental health in the front of my mind.”
Cat Woods of Green Valley Moves
Cat reached out to other people who find Christmas shopping nerve-wracking to see what she could do to help. The whole event has been designed with these suggestions, meaning the market will have calming acoustic music and staggered entry so that it doesn’t get overcrowded.
There will still be a strong sense of festive magic, however, as Cat continues: “We have lots of things planned – including a snow machine!”.
Green Valley Moves is an ethical Landlord/Letting Agent, based in Cardiff, with a passion for sustainability and the environment. They provide sustainable lettings services for landlords and help tenants save money by giving them the knowledge and inspiration to live healthier, greener lives.
Founded by Cat Woods, Green Valley Move’s profits create and support local community eco projects.
The Ethical Cardiff Night Market was created to champion ethical and eco-friendly producers in Cardiff and South Wales, as well as provide a low-stress shopping alternative for those who find Christmas shopping anxiety inducing.
Who said there’s no such thing as a free lunch?? Roath-based good food institution Milgi are opening a new branch in Cardiff Indoor Market, and to celebrate they are giving away 50 free lunches on Thursday 1st December from 11am – first come, first served!
The MILGI MARKET menu will consist of seasonally inspired – wholefood bowls, one pots, sushi wraps, hot and cold elixirs and conscientious sweet treats – you’ll even be able to add extra superfoods.
You will also be able to pick up everyday essentials, dry store goods and Christmas stocking fillers to kickstart your plant based living at home. Bespoke small batch food and lifestyle products will be coming in the new year.
Gabrielle Kelly Milgi Market owner says: “Our ambition is to become the go-to option for anyone looking for a quick bite in the city centre. We’ll be serving a range of delicious seasonal and natural fast food all lovingly made at the kiosk. We’re all about making everyday delicious, wholesome food that makes you feel great inside and out.”
So we’re a bit late with this, but the awesome PROJECT SHOEBOX is BACK! Too much stuff in your bathroom cabinet? Project Shoebox is collecting shoeboxes filled with unwanted toiletries to make gift boxes for women in refuges in Cardiff and the South Wales area.
This is a community project, co-ordinated by the awesome Mali Taylor-Powell. The idea is women organising themselves to help women on their own doorsteps. Of course boys can join in too 🙂 It’s an attempt to help the women who arrive at Women’s Refuges this Christmas. Many will arrive bruised, battered and with nothing more than the clothes they are standing in.
The first donations are in! Here’s Mali with the first donations!
Project Shoebox collects together unwanted toiletries like shampoo, body lotion, toothpaste and brushes into shoeboxes, and makes them into a gift to get these women started and remind them that people can and do care.
WHAT CAN YOU SEND?
Anything from your bathroom cabinet that’s new or unused. Think basics like toothbrushes, shower gel, shampoo – but also anything nice like cosmetics or face cream is very welcome. This year we will only be accepting unused or new items. There’s a big list of ideas for inspiration further down!
HOW DO YOU GET YOUR DONATION TO PROJECT SHOEBOX?
We will be manning a donation station at the Cardiff University Students’ Union on Park Place, on the 4th floor Room 4E, from the 25th November – Saturday 3rd December.
Opening hours are: 5pm-7.30pm, Monday-Friday and also from 10am-4pm Saturday & Sunday
Please note: This is a voluntary project and I’m afraid there will be nobody to receive your donation outside of these hours**
The address is:
4th floor Room 4E, Cardiff University Students’ Union, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3QN – again, please please come to donate within the above hours! 🙂
LAST DAY FOR DONATIONS?
Saturday 3rd December so we can sort, box and deliver in time for Christmas.
IDEAS!
You can choose to donate individual items or make your very own shoebox gift. Feel free to get creative but here are some ideas:
*New toothbrushes
*Toothpaste
*Shower Gel
*Flannels/sponges
*Facial wipes
*Deodorants
*Hairbrushes/combs/bobbles/clips & grips
*Sanitary products (sealed)
*Sample packets
*Moisturisers
*Perfumes
*Body Creams/Face creams
*Body scrub
*Make up/ Make up bags
*Nail polishes / Nail polish remover/ Files & Clippers
*Cotton wool
*Hairspray
You can also choose to make, or donate things for, a baby box with things such as nappies, baby wipes, cotton buds, baby wash, small soft toys, etc.
Also – if you wrap the shoeboxes (fab!) please wrap the lid and base separately so that the box can be opened easily.
Happy shoebox making!
Big thanks to you from the Project Shoebox Crew and us here at We Are Cardiff
x
Get your Christmas cabaret on! A collective of international circus and cabaret artists famous for their thrilling, immersive performances is coming to the DEPOT warehouse at the end of this month.
On the 29 / 30 November and 1 December, guests are invited to dress in their craziest Christmas clobber and head to the DEPOT for an evening of wintery cabaret, circus tricks and ‘dodgy Santa comedy’ – courtesy of Mary Bijou Cabaret and Social Club’s ‘Fairy Tale Christmas’!
Having previously performed sell out shows at the Wales Millennium Centre, Edinburgh festival and around the country, The Mary Bijou Cabaret & Social Club are critically acclaimed for their immersive and intimate performances which are driven by playfulness and good fun.
Tickets for the Mary Bijou Fairy Tale Christmas are priced at £15 and available from depot.eventcube.io/events. Fancy dress is warmly encouraged!
For more info see DEPOT’s social media pages, or search @themarybijou
Holy cheeseboard Batman … Penylan Pantry – the award-winning Cardiff delicatessen will be opening a sister location in Cardiff Indoor Market this Saturday. The Cheese Pantry is an exciting new specialist cheese stall in Cardiff Central Market, and I can’t wait to eat my entire daily calorie allowance from it.
The Cheese Pantry will offer the largest selection of exceptional British cheeses in South Wales, a bench for lunchtime cheese board customers and a selection of chutneys, crackers and gifts for sale – this will surely become Cardiff’s go-to spot for lovers of all things cheese.
Melissa Boothman, who along with business partner Jolene runs Cardiff deli/cafe Penylan Pantry, is delighted to be setting up shop in the market.
“We are so proud to be here inside such a beautiful historic building that has been at the heart of the city’s food trade for over 120 years and with such a strong sense of community.”
Penylan Pantry was opened in December 2013 by Mel and Jo, wanting to create a place to showcase all the fantastic produce from Wales and the rest of Britain. Their ethos is all about sustainability: low food miles, supporting local producers and therefore the local economy and aiming to maintain a 95 per cent level of recyclable waste.
Penylan Pantry in Penylan, Cardiff
As a result of their hard work since opening, Penylan Pantry has won a Cardiff Life award for Best Cafe, and been Runner-Up three years in a row in the Observer Food Awards in Wales for Best Ethical Retailer, Best Cheap Eats and Best Independent Retailer.
When asked why she wanted to open a specialist cheese stall in Cardiff, Mel said:
“We are nuts about cheese! The smells, flavours, textures, characteristics, the rich history and varied stories that lie behind each one… did you know there are over 700 cheeses made in Britain?! Each one has its own tale to tell and we’d like to share some of those with you and showcase the absolute best of British cheese.”
Cheese fans Melissa and Jolene are joined by cheese expert Owen, who has 14 years’ experience in the artisan cheese market as a buyer for the catering industry, sourcing the best British cheeses directly from the makers and farmers. If those credentials weren’t enough, he has also been a judge at The World and British Cheese Awards. Sounds like a cheese lover’s dream! Safe to say, Owen is a man who knows his Cornish Yarg from his Dorstone and he’ll be the head cheese monger at Cheese Pantry, imparting his knowledge and expertise to all staff. Unsurprisingly, Owen is also excited about the stall opening:
“We want to give Cardiff the very best cheese counter and this understanding of the cheese we sell will absolutely set us apart from any of the supermarkets. Working with the girls from Penylan Pantry is a perfect match, combining their passion for exceptional food, supporting British producers and their love of great cheese.”
“Their passion for cheese shines through and their know-how will be shared with you when you buy, showing customers how to cut, care for, wrap and present each cheese, including many cheeses which cannot be found anywhere else in Cardiff. What better time to head down to the market and pick up some fantastic cheese and top tips on creating the perfect festive cheese board.”
See you guys at Cardiff Indoor Market on Saturday 26 November for the opening, yeah??
In this week’s person to person, we sit down for a chat with Meryl Cubley, Cardiff-based journalist and writer.
Cardiff is my home – despite not being born here. I’m originally from a very small village located on the Staffordshire Moorlands (very Heathcliffe) but I spent much of my childhood growing up on the coast of west Wales.
You could say that that particular part of the Welsh coastline is intrinsic to who I am – it certainly makes up a good 70 per cent of my childhood memories. It was a very special time for me and the friends who I grew up alongside in west Wales: mainly Welsh, though two or three of us were English. These were dark political times – significant tension existed between the local Welsh and the English interlopers who had holiday homes – but never used them: basically pricing locals out of their own areas of birth because they could no longer afford the house prices.
It was also a time of miners strikes, huge unemployment and a change in the cultural landscape of Britain that we have never recovered from. Yet despite these difficult times, tucked away in a tiny part of the world seven coves long, we enjoyed a halcyon childhood that many will never experience. I know that I feel incredibly lucky to have such amazing and special memories of that west Wales coast; and whenever I go back now, I immediately feel all the stresses and strains of everyday life disappear as soon as I smell the sea air, or look at the different play of light there, or look up to see a canopy full of stars. It is a very special place – and I simply wouldn’t have those memories if it weren’t for Cymru – the people and the place.
Being a country girl at heart brought up pretty much on horseback; I knew I’d have to move to ‘the big smoke’ if I wanted to live the exciting kind of life I dreamed of and read about in the countless novels and biographies I often had my head stuck in. So I left home at a very young age; and over the years lived in London, Manchester and Bristol among others; and leaned my street smarts the hard way. Each city had its charms, its time ‘on the map’. There’s no question that they have influenced my passion and love of arts and culture, music and society. There were incredible music scenes, new political ideas, a change in style, culture and fashion: we’re talking about in particular the scenes in Manchester and Bristol here – London always seemed like a rat trap to me.
But Cardiff had me hooked from the start. I was living in Australia, pretending to be a surfer chick, on a gap year before they were called a gap year; after a particularly nasty accident left me in a wheelchair for eight months. I got a phone call from my Mum at home in west Wales, to say I’d had an unconditional offer from Cardiff’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies – one of the top rated institutions in the UK for media training. I think it’s significant to note that I was seriously considering studying in Sydney at the time – but I knew immediately that I wanted to study and live in Cardiff.
After three years of hard graft and like many students, I decided to stay and work in Cardiff after I had graduated. I’ve worked for all of the Welsh media institutions at one time and another – and learned a lot – and had a lot of fun doing so.
When I did leave in 2003, to edit a graffiti publication in Bristol; I honestly didn’t think I’d be back – but lo and behold – nine years ago I did come back to live and work in Cardiff once more. It seems I just can’t stay away!
Since coming back I love the range of things on offer here. If I had friends visiting for the weekend, this would be our weekend itinerary:
Friday night – local drinks – which ranges from the Albany pub to Milgi to all the choices on Wellfield Road.
Saturday – brunch at Porro or Cameo – or one of the greasy spoon cafes if it was a really good night! Then follow that by a walk around Roath Park Lake or Bute Park. In the summer it’s great fun hopping on the little boat docked near the Bute Park entrance; and zipping down to Cardiff Bay. A walk across the barrage to Penarth is a must, blows away the night before, feels like a million miles away – and is an awesome spot for collecting marine fossils. Grab the train back to Cardiff, have a brief siesta; then the fun starts all over again! Dinner at Il Pastifico, Potted Pig or Cafe Citta, followed by cocktails at Dead Canary; and dancing over at Gwdihw. Then on to an after party wherever that happens to be …
Sunday involves, bed, cat, papers and ordering in!
***
Meryl Cubley is an Editor, Journalist and Writing Consultant. You can see more of her work at merylcubley.com or follow her @merylcubley. She currently lives in Roath.
Meryl was photographed by Lorna Cabble at Cameo Club on Wellfield Road.
You guys! BFI and Film Hub Wales have collaborated on a season called BLACK STAR. It’s the UK’s biggest ever celebration of black screen actors. In Wales, the focus is on a film called The Proud Valley (1940) which was filmed in Rhondda Valley coalfields and it starred American actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.
The tour celebrates American actor, bass singer and Civil Rights activist Paul Robeson and the film, The Proud Valley, which was filmed on location in the Rhondda Valley coalfields.
The film tells the story of David Goliath, played by Robeson, who has sailed to Cardiff to find work. On discovering his voice, he joins the local male voice choir, finds work with the Blaendy miners and is is adopted by the community. It was extremely rare for a black character to be presented as kind, generous and good natured in the 1930s and 1940s, when cinema audiences were used to seeing Stepin Fetchit playing the fool in American comedies.The film enabled Robeson to express his socialist beliefs and portray the struggles of Wales’ working class.
The screenings launch with newly remastered material at Chapter Cardiff, on Sunday 13 November and will be accompanied by a performance from Treorchy Male Choir. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, exploring Robeson’s impact on Welsh life, politics, and BAME communities.
We’ve already had a couple of you eager and generous beavers messaging us on our We Are Cardiff Facebook page, wanting to know how you can help the less fortunate this Christmas.
Photo by Ben Blyth Photography, from his Behind the Streets project
Well, I haven’t heard anything from Project Shoebox yet, but I did come across this project: South Wales gifts for the homeless, which is putting together gift bags for homeless and vulnerable people. Last year they raised £700 and created 1000 bags, but this year they want to smash their target and raise enough to put together 2000 bags. They’re asking for donations of items to go in gift bags, but also looking for money to buy food vouchers.
List of possible things to donate:
Umbrellas
Water
Toilet paper
Socks
Hand sanitiser
Blankets
Raincoats
Gloves
Sleeping bags
Women’s sanitary products
Wet wipes
Dog food
Tooth brush
Toothpaste
Soap
Shampoo
Conditioner
Dental floss
Scarves
Hats
Shoes
Jumpers
Deodorant
Hair brush
Lip balm
Back packs
Razors
Needles and thread
Pens and paper
Nail cutters
Snacks bars
First aid stuff
Gift cards
Watches
Cinema tickets
Tents
Thick socks
Emergency blankets (the thin silver kind)
Please note: they are not accepting any baby or children’s items.
Currently the group has drop off points in: Bargoed, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Talbot Green, Treorchy and Abertillery.
If anyone is interested in volunteering or co-ordinating a drop-off point, please visit the Homeless gifts Facebook group which has been set up for discussion, and message organiser Katie (she’s going to need all the help she can get sorting out the donations!)
We have a number of charities in and around Cardiff that help homeless and vulnerable people all year round. Learn about their work and how you can help:
Also, just a final word: over the past week I’ve stopped for a chat with two homeless guys on the street. One served in Iraq, the other had been an addict most of his life and kept losing any housing he was assigned to. It was humbling and made me feel like a total piece of crap for all the vulnerable people on the street asking for help I don’t stop to talk to.
I get that modern life is busy and everyone is in a rush to get to where they’re going, but stopping for a chat and buying someone a cup of tea doesn’t take much out of your day. It’s freaking cold out there, guys.
We Are Cardiff 