What a Difference a Bay Makes
Take someone back to Cardiff who has not been there for perhaps 20 years and they would not recognise the place, nor believe what has happened. On 4 November 1999 the Cardiff Barrage was completed turning a grimy old tidal bay and mud flats into one of Britain”s largest freshwater lakes, certainly the biggest on the coastline. The docklands with its tenement buildings have now gone and the Tiger Bay slums disappeared. The result is simply amazing, 500 hectares of water, eight miles of rejuvenated waterfront including major leisure attractions, offices and housing developments blending in with historic landmarks such as the magnificent Pierhead building, the Norwegian Church arts centre and the Roald Dahl Plass, a superb leisure setting and open air concert arena. Even the excellent tourist information centre is different and is called The Tube, an apt description for a weird corrugated building. The Bay is the home for many water activities. There is a five star hotel too, the Rocco Forte St David”s.
Dominating the whole scene is the massive Wales Millennium Centre, the new home for the Welsh National Opera, with a 2,000 seat auditorium and due to open in late November. It will be compared with the Sydney Opera House and whilst it is early days yet the vibes are good.
Back around the beginning of the 20th century Cardiff was the greatest coal exporting port in the world and in 1913 saw a throughput of 13.5m tonnes. It was a boom town. The era of dominance could not last and with the gradual decline (and eventual closure) of the pits the economic draft was felt. The idea of Cardiff Bay was conceived. Today it is Britain”s fastest growing leisure, tourism and business destination with annual visitors currently more than 2m. Still a couple of years away is the Cardiff International Sports Village, a ”700m project to create one of Europe”s finest sports and leisure complexes complete with 50 metre Olympic standard swimming pool, ice hockey stadium and white water facilities. All along the waterside there are developments proceeding, commercial and leisure. There will be building going on for many years yet. The whole area is vibrant and a sense of community has returned. People do like living by the water, especially if there is no tide to uncover what should not be seen.
One of the focal points around the new man made bay is the Mermaid Quay (left), which looks and feels like a combination of Covent Garden and the rejuvenated London docklands. Plenty of the old structures have remained blending in nicely with very modern architecture, 20 restaurants, cafes and bars and the Geeclub comedy venue. It”s a vibrant noisy place at the weekends, and pretty busy weekdays too. The eating choice is excellent with Turkish and Japanese cuisine amongst the varieties on offer. Techniquest, essentially for children, is a science discovery centre with more than 160 interactive exhibits and a small theatre. It is housed within the iron framework of a 19th century docks engineering works. City Hall, Cardiff Council is but a short walk away whilst the yet to be completed Welsh Assembly complex adjoins the site. There are open top buses to take you to the city centre, about a mile away, regular public transport, and a water bus service on the River Taff to the Millennium Stadium.
As one would expect in the prosperous capital of Wales there is plenty to do in Cardiff, whether it be a visit to the extensive, mostly pedestrian, shopping centre, the one hundred year old New Theatre with Danny La Rue as the fairy godmother for the Christmas pantomime, and the St David”s Hall 1,500 seat performances venue hosting everything from classical music to rock/pop, children's events and comedy. The Millennium Stadium, very close to the city centre, offers hourly tours but if you suffer from fear of heights don”t climb to the top seating positions. The magnificent view is a long way from the pitch.
The five star St Davids”s hotel dominates the Mermaid Quay area, was the first of Sir Rocco Forte”s ever expanding luxury hotel group, and is setting a standard that any future arrivals will find difficult to compete with. There are 132 large guest rooms, all of which have private balconies and views across the bay. The St David”s has what must be the finest Spa swimming pool and workout complex in the country. There is even a private elevator for hotel residents. The unit has two floors with most of the entrance level area taken up by a 15-metre pool, a huge whirlpool/ therapeutic bath plus a walkway with underwater jets spraying all sorts of good things. Very invigorating. The conference and banqueting suites are self-contained on two levels with their own entrance way and offering no inconvenience to hotel guests.
Just to understand life in Cardiff to hire a hotel hall for 200 people in London begin negotiating at ”5,000 for the day. Here the charges start from ”600. As an alternative Cardiff itself has some fine hotel accommodation in the city area but your selection in ”The Bay” is virtually limited to the St David”s or a fine Express by Holiday Inn on the old East Dock. Nothing wrong with that.
There are literality hundreds of interesting places to view within 30 minutes drive of Cardiff Bay. ABTN visited two castles, each totally different although within a few miles of each other. Castell Coch looks the part and is magnificently set in lovely woodlands on a hillside in the Taff valley. The castle was conceived and built in the latter part of the 19th century by the second Marques of Bute, the owner of the Cardiff docks, and said to be the richest man in the world at the time. His father had constructed the equally false Cardiff Castle once again justifying the structure by building on ancient remains. Good for them. In any event Castell Coch (left) may look like a Bavarian medieval citadel on the outside but once within its massive walls it is pure Victorian fantasy, a sort of Welsh version of William Randolf Hearst”s San Simeon (Orson Wells Xanadu). Just down the road Caerphilly Castle, moated, is the largest fortress in Wales and dates from the 13th century. Its massive structure covers 30 acres and is awe-inspiring. Rather like Windsor it totally dominates the town. Totally different is the Rhondda Heritage Park, a live memorial to the lost world of Welsh coal mining. Here you can ride the cage to the pit bottom and explore the underground workings. A real education particularly for younger people unaware of the Welsh valleys and their industrial history. South East & Wales About is a fine publication you can obtain at a local tourist information centre but sadly appears to have no contact phone number or website.
One word of warning. Wales has a sort of arrival tax, at least if you are coming from the Bristol direction on the M4. The Severn Toll Bridge costs ”4.75 for a car, which compares with the one pound charged for entering Kent on its QE2 equivalent. Both suspension bridges. Mind you with the QE2 you pay in either direction which only makes the Welsh entry point twice as expensive. Parking in central Cardiff is cheap and easy if you can discover a five hour ”1 space. As a visitor finding somewhere to buy a display token can be more difficult than hitting upon a space. The alternative is NCP who charge an astonishing 50p per 15 minutes. Taxis in Cardiff are on par with London. Costly!
http://www.roccofortehotels.com
http://www.cardiffbay.co.uk
http://www.south-wales.org.uk