We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Mansion House
“Near the VCS office there is an advert board which says ‘Starbucks now open in Mansion House’. Well, as I have an early meeting in Roath this morning I thought I’d pay them a visit. The Mansion House is the ceremonial home of The Lord Mayor of Cardiff and is where the great and the good are entertained Downton-style (I’ve only ever been invited there twice in seven years, once for an India Day flag raising ceremony, and the other time for a press reception when the Bluebirds won the FA Cup. But then I’m neither great or good!). Anyway, I thought it was a bit odd that Starbucks were opening there – another case of the Council trying to make a buck to offset the cuts perhaps? The answer I found was no. Not a hint of a coffee to be had, the doors firmly closed. Further investigation revealed that the ‘Mansion House’ referred to in Starbucks’ poster is in fact what is now called ‘Shand House Student Mansion’ on Newport Road – which is nowhere near as classy but at least does serve Americano.”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Bute Dock Hotel / Bombay Cafe
“The old Bute Docks Hotel sadly closed a couple of years ago and the building was left empty and forlorn – but recently it reopened as an Indian Cafe called The Bombay. It claims to have been established in 1953, but further investigation reveals that the proprietor is the grandson of the owner of the original Bombay in Bute Street which closed down in the early 80s. They have done a decent job with the decor and serve a damn fine cup of chai which I highly recommend. My only complaint is that the auto-tuned synthopop of Capital FM is pumped out, which didn’t exactly match the ambiance to my way of thinking. I did suggest a couple of alternatives of course, but then perhaps I am biased!”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Bute Street Station
“Another abandoned building today – the railway station in Bute Street. The shuttle train still brings people here, (now renamed ‘Cardiff Bay’) but the old station house and platform are long deserted, which I find baffling. To me it looks like a perfect venue for restaurant, bar or museum. Not even Wetherspoons or Starbucks seem interested, despite what would be an ideal outdoor sheltered patio area and guaranteed footfall. It’s just allowed to stand there, decaying more with each passing season. It’s especially odd as hundreds of staff from both the Welsh Assembly and Cardiff Council use it to get to and from work, it’s not like it’s hidden from those who have influence. What a waste!”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Boats on Cardiff Bay
“Easter Monday turned out to be sunny and bright in contrast to yesterday, so I’ve taken a walk through Hamadryad Park and down to the Boardwalk for this shot of the Bay with Penarth and the Barrage in the distance.“
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Mill Lane
“Named after a steam mill that used do whatever steam mills did, Mill Lane once looked over Glamorganshire Canal, now filled in. These days the street is a row of eateries and is described by Cardiff tourist information as ‘The Cafe Quarter’. I can’t claim to being much of a mathematician but I’m fairly sure we have more quarters in the the city centre than is arithmetically possible but perhaps that’s just me…”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Corys Buildings
“Today’s photo is of a grand but long vacant building in Bute Street. Variously described on its frontage as ‘Corys Buildings’; ‘Merchants Place’ and (most intriguingly) ‘170 Knightsbridge’ the huge building has been up for sale for years and looks very forlorn in the shadow of the gleaming new Wales Millennium Centre across the road. I only ever see it being used when the BBC are using it to stand-in for Victorian London on Doctor Who or some such . It is crying out to be turned into a hotel, and I’m sure would make a mint if some multimillionaire hotellier would only take hold of it and give it a new lease of life. I’d do it myself if I was a multimillionaire. Ah, well… ‘This time, next year’ – as Del Boy used to put it.”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Radio Cardiff – my second home
“This is the view from behind the desk in Studio 1 at Radio Cardiff. It’s a view I’m very familiar with having been sat behind it on a regular basis since 2007, though to be honest there are still many buttons and switches there I’ve not got a clue about. It’s from here that I get to share my passion for soul and blues music every Saturday morning and Wednesday night. Radio Cardiff is a remarkable place. Completely run by volunteers (over 100 I think) it brings together people of all ages who give of their time to provide the city with not only a very distinctive blend of music, but local information, news & features. Radio gets under the skin of some people, and I am one. We are very lucky to have such an open and receptive form of community radio in Cardiff, and it’s something I try not to take for granted. So ‘Big Up’ to all who make it so, and especially to handful of people who started it the first place and who have given so much of their time and energy over the years to keep in going in good times and bad.”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Tiger Bay Couple
“An early meeting in the Bay this morning took me past this wonderfully evocative and much photographed statue which I take to be a reminder of when Cardiff Bay was ‘Tiger Bay’ the thriving multicultural community that grew up around the coal exporting docks. I find the stories of those days fascinating – the history of the area is something that should not be forgotten, thankfully there are a growing number of people who feel the same way and are finding new ways of interpreting it through the arts. This statue is a fine example of that.”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
Cardiff Indoor Market
“Taken from the first floor balcony of the 108 year old indoor market which sells lots of things you can’t easily find anywhere else anymore – like Carbolic soap, aniseed balls and thimbles. It’s served the people of Cardiff since Queen Victoria was on the throne, but now – surrounded by pedestrianised streets and with the gleaming new St David’s Shopping Centre on its doorstep, its future looks uncertain. The Council are currently ‘consulting’ on it so time will tell….”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
St John’s Church
“Today’s picture is of a detail from the arched entrance to the 12th Century St Johns Church in Cardiff. I love this building and as I walk past it most days I imagine this won’t be the last you’ll see of it if you are following these random posts. There is something about this particular carving that makes it so real sometimes I think it’s about to speak…”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
My Butetown street
“I’ve always had an interest in the history of where I’ve lived and I much prefer living in places that have a sense of connection with the past than a new development. The street I now live in was built as homes for seafarers and people who worked in the Docks, my house dates from 1896 and has survived two World Wars and the rampaging bulldozers of Cardiff Corporation in the 60s. But things are fast changing, a chapel dating from 1902 was demolished just a few months ago to make room for new flats at one end, and this week planning permission was granted for yet another one at the other end at the former seaman’s hospital. I know things do have to change, the population is fast growing and people need places to live, but I can’t help thinking we are losing more than just the buildings when the wrecking balls move in, we risk losing part of our identity too.”
We Are Cardiff contributor Jeremy Rees is recording his days in and around Cardiff with 100 photographs of local points of interest. We’ll be publishing some of them here on We Are Cardiff – and make sure you tune in to Jeremy as he presents the Saturday Soulful Breakfast on Radio Cardiff!
The multi-cultural buildings of Wood Street
“If you look closely you can see that these buildings in Wood Street Cardiff are unusual in that the stones used in their construction are a mix of various colours & textures. There are several examples of this in the city, but these are probably the most obvious, I love the story as to why this is. In the heyday of the coal industry millions of tons of the stuff was exported from Cardiff Docks to places all over the world. The ships that carried it needed to be weighed down to make the journey back, and so the same tonnage of stones from the country receiving the coal was dispatched back to the docks – where local builders could buy it very cheaply – hence so many of the old buildings in the City are constructed from a mix of stones from the four corners of the world.”
We Are Cardiff 