Cardiff Bay, May 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is walking distance from my office, a short bus ride from home. Absolutely glorious. It’s weird now to remember what it used to look like, less than 20 years ago, before the barrage was built across the mouth of the bay to create this freshwater lake. Before that the bay was open to the Bristol Channel, which has the second greatest tidal range in the world - when the tide was out, all this was just mud flats, ringed with derelict docks and warehouses. Once upon a time, my forebears worked down here as sailors and labourers and engineers. They wouldn’t recognise it now. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay has been an amazing success, blending the new with the relics of the industrial past on which this city was built. I love it.

Cardiff Bay - April 2015

What a difference a few weeks makes!

This is the view across Cardiff Bay from the Penarth end of the Barrage, on a glorious Easter bank holiday

Cardiff Bay - February 2015

On Valentine's Day this year, I went for a nice gentle walk with my other half around Cardiff Bay - the full circular route, starting at Techniquest and proceeding clockwise, across the Barrage and up through Penarth Marina, crossing the rivers Ely and Taff before arriving back where we started. It was a lovely day, perfect for a relaxing stroll together.

Here's a rather lovely view across toward the Norwegian Church from the main boardwalk. The sun was just breaking through after a last, rather feeble rain shower, and the light was gorgeous.

 

Cormorants, sunning themselves on the old wooden dolphins, a relict of Cardiff's industrial past.

Penarth Marina

Views up and down the River Ely from the footbridge.