Cardiff

 Cardiff - Capital of Wales.

I last went through Cardiff on my LSL trip many years ago. It has a Roman excavation site, Carleon, and I was fortunate to be able to stay the night with close friends of Wendy Brooke - my ex-Head of Latin.

This time I'm here to see the Castles, and waterfalls, with the first stop being Cardiff Castle.

I'm staying near the centre of town, so everything has been within walking distance. The main centre is  pedestrian only and it seems to be lined with places to eat and drink.

Cardiff Castle is at the top end of this strip, and next to it is a magnificent park which was once the Castle's grounds. The displays in the Castle were not quite as fancy as Warwick Castle, but the rooms that were on display were stunning. 

 The Castle was originally a Roman fort, then a Norman stronghold, then was subjected to several attacks and changes of hands, with damage and subsequent repair.


Inside the Visitor's Centre is the remains of one of the Roman walls, and there is an amazing sculptural wall representing the Romans attacking and overpowering the original Welsh people.









This was one of my favourite parts of the castle - a little nook where I could imagine some medieval woman sitting quietly doing some needlework, while the sun streamed in through the window







The big changes came in the late 1700s when it passed through marriage into the hands of the 1st Marquess of Bute. He engaged Capability Brown to clear the grounds of any remaining Medieval structures and create magnificent grounds, which are now known as Bute Gardens and publicly owned.

The 3rd Marquess made significant changes in the middle 1800s, employing William Burges, who was a Gothic Revival architect, and much of what is now shown stems from this period. Bute made his money from coal, and at the time was apparently the wealthiest man in the British Empire, so no expenses were spared. He also repaired much of Caerphilly Castle, and a smaller folly Castell Coch (which I won't get to see)

 The first room is called the Arab Room - used as a sitting room. It is totally over the top!




The Library has little images around the walls with Authors names: apparently that was the cataloguing system.When the 5th Marquess 'gave' the Castle and grounds to the State (in exchange for Death duty taxes)  being waived) he took all the priceless books, but the library has received many donations to refill the shelves.

Aristotle and many other Greek and Roman writers

Shakespeare, Dryden, Scott etc



Also around the walls were a series of 'Coats of Arms'  starting with the Romans


And Brutus and the famous Red Dragon


and, of course Arthur

Outside the castle is the famous 'Animal wall'
It was actually moved and rebuilt, and the choice of animals is explained here: https://www.cardiffcastle.com/animal-wall/

Then I had a lovely stroll around the gardens.

It has a modern stone circle, lots of fitness activities and things for kids, vast expanses of lawn, and some beautiful flower beds. I encountered a Uni Biology student doing a quadrant on which insects are attracted to red or purple flowers. It reminded me of PLC Biology field trip.


The river flows alongside the park, so here is the obligatory river view.






Comments

  1. Sandra11 May 2026 at 02:55

    Your pictures are amazing Bronny, and such great commentary,,,, loving the trip👍🏻😘

    ReplyDelete

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