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Cardiff

The capital city of Wales boasts a lively city centre that was recently voted the 6th best shopping destination in the UK and, in Cardiff Bay, one of Europe’s most stylish waterfronts. A £220 million barrage across the mouth of the River Taff and a kilometre long, has transformed tidal mudflats into a 200 hectare freshwater lake, and elsewhere in the city a £2 billion programme of regeneration is under way.

The area once known as Tiger Bay is one of the country’s most exciting and imaginative regeneration developments. Now called Cardiff Bay, this revived waterfront is home to the new National Assembly (known as Y-Senedd in Welsh), the impressive Pierhead Building, which was built in 1896 for the Bute Docks Company, and the Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre (known locally as The Tube). At this award-winning tubular building, visitors can see a futuristic exhibition that lays out the full vision of the complete development, which, among other aims, is re-uniting the city with its dockland. The Wales Millennium Centre is an arts and cultural centre of world importance. It is also home to the world class Welsh National Opera. Of particular interest to children at Cardiff Bay is Techniquest, the country’s leading science discovery centre, where visitors can explore many aspects of science and technology through a range of interactive exhibits. On certain days, Wallace and Grommit Invention Sessions take place.

The former church for Norwegian sailors, which is where the author Roald Dahl was baptised, is now the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, which maintains the links that have grown up over the years between the two nations.

Cardiff was given city status in 1905, but was not declared to be the official capital of Wales (Caernarfon was the other contender) until 50 years later. It now has a population of about 320,000. The city is very much a product of the Industrial Revolution and its story is intertwined with that of John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848), who began developing the town. The family controlled the docklands and, as the town began to thrive as a coal-exporting port, they made a vast fortune. Cardiff became the biggest coal-exporting port in the world, and at its peak in 1913, more than 13 million tons of coal were exported from the docks.

Some of this wealth was poured back into the rebuilding of Cardiff Castle. A no-expense-spared project initiated by the 3rd Marquess (who was reputed to be the richest man in the world) resulted in an extravagant and opulent Victorian version of a castle of the Middle Ages, designed by the eccentric architect William Burges. With his flamboyant imagination allowed to run riot, Burges created magnificent rooms rich in murals, stained glass and marble, which have to be seen to be believed. However, while the building is very much a flight of wealthy Victorian fancy, outside in the grounds there is the well-preserved medieval castle keep and stonework dating from Roman times. The Welsh Regiment Museum is housed within the Black and Barbican Towers, and visitors can gaze out over Cardiff from the top of the Norman keep.

As might be expected in a capital city, Cardiff is home to many of the national treasures of Wales. At the superb National Museum there is a vast collection of archaeology, natural history (including 55,000 live leaf-cutter ants!) and ceramics, as well as permanent exhibitions on the Evolution of Wales and Man and the Environment. The art gallery is home to a fine collection that includes the largest body of Impressionist paintings outside Paris and the best Welsh art. It has an important collection of 20th century art, featuring work by Augustus and Gwen John, Stanley Spencer, Eric Gill and Barbara Hepworth. The museum and gallery, along with the City Hall, are located in Cathays Park, where there are other civic buildings and various departments of the University of Wales. The city is proud of its parks and claims to have more green space per person than any other UK city core with vast green swathes reaching into the heart of the city.

Although Cardiff’s famous Arms Park, the home of rugby football for so many years, has gone, its replacement, the Millennium Stadium is becoming an equally revered shrine to the Welsh national game. The stadium was christened by hosting the last great sporting event of the 20th century, the Rugby World Cup Final in November 1999, Visitors to the stadium can see the hallowed turf and learn how the pitch was laid, find out how the 8000-ton roof opens and closes, and walk from the Welsh players’ dressing room, through the tunnel and on to the pitch.

Cardiff has achieved new fame as the place where the BBC television series Dr Who is made and filmed, and at the Red Dragon Centre on Hemingway Road is the Dr Who Exhibition. It has props and costumes from the latest series, as well as from previous ones. It’s the place to hang out with Daleks and Cybermen.

A mile or so from the city centre stands Llandaff Cathedral, a beautiful building set in a grassy hollow beside the River Taff. The cathedral suffered severe bomb damage during World War II, and part of its restoration programme included a controversial Epstein sculpture, Christ in Majesty, which dominates the interior. Inside, visitors will also find some delightful medieval masonry, a marvellous modern timber roof, and some works of art by members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. In Charles Street in the city is Cardiff’s ‘other cathedral’ - the Metropolitan Cathedral of St David. It was built as a Roman Catholic church in 1887, and became a cathedral in 1916. Two miles north of the city centre, Roath Park is a 19th-century urban park with handsome trees, formal flower beds, a wild area and a memorial to Scott of the Antarctic.

A great way to explore the city centre is to follow the Cardiff Centenary Walk, which takes in most of the sites and historic landmarks. It’s about 2¼ miles long, and has numbered waymarkers on the pavements. A free guidebook and map are available. The Cardiff Bay Church Tour is a guided walk round the many churches around Cardiff Bay. It takes in the Norwegian Church, a Mosque and a Greek Orthodox church. The city’s long history is also on show at the recently opened The Cardiff Story, housed in the former old library in the city centre.

Many famous people were born in, or lived in, Cardiff. The actor and composer of musical comedies, Ivor Novello, was born at 95 Cowbridge Road in 1893. A blue plaque on the house and a 7ft bronze statue near the Millennium Centre commemorate his life and work. Perhaps the most famous is the singer Shirley Bassey. She was born in the former Tiger Bay area, which has now been completely redeveloped. Shakin’ Stevens, the rock star was born Michael Barrett in 1948 in the Ely district. The children’s writer Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born within the large Norwegian community that flourished in the city, and was baptised in the Norwegian Church. He stayed in the Llandaff area and attended the cathedral school.