Walking to Work, May 2015

On sunny days when I'm organised enough to leave the house early, I like nothing more than walking to work instead of travelling by bus.

I still catch the bus on those days, but only for the first part of the journey, jumping off at the gates of Thompson's Park in Canton.

This is one of the oldest parks in the city. It was opened to the public in 1891 by the landowner, Mr Charles Thompson, who gave it to the Cardiff Council in 1912 and continued to develop it as a public park at his own expense. Here we see the southern end with the pond, fountain and the bronze sculpture 'Joyance' by Goscombe John - or, rather, a replica thereof, as the original was removed to St Fagans a few years ago after being stolen multiple times.

I walk through the park, which takes me up the hill and across the top field, passing this Paulownia tree.

I exit the park onto the main road and cross to enter Llandaff Fields...

...cross the field, past the children's play area, and through into Pontcanna Fields

From here I can either pick up the Taff Trail on the western bank of the river and follow the path into town, or cross the Taff at Blackweir to pick up the trail on the eastern bank. I usually cross at Blackweir.

Here, there are about three or four different paths I can take into town - there's the towpath along the Mill Stream, the main paths around into Bute Park and Cooper's Field, or my personal favourite: the nature trail along the river bank. Early in the morning with only the occasional runner or dog walker to disturb the peace, I always love this quiet, beautiful walk - it's so soothing to the soul.

Along the way, I pass the Secret Garden Cafe and the Summerhouse Cafe, the other footbridge and various waterfowl

And further along I again have a choice: continue along the riverside, through the formal gardens of Bute Park, or drift across into the arboretum and Cooper's Field. This latter route takes me past the remains of the old Blackfriar's Abbey

Blackfriars Friary is the site of a former Dominican friary established in 1256 and occupied for 288 years until it was dissolved and handed over to the crown in 1538 during the rule of Henry the VIII.
In 1404 the site was sacked and burnt by Owain Glyndwr during his campaign against English rule, but damaged parts of the building were re-built. Following its closure as a friary, much of the building’s fabric was lost and the extent of the site was not revealed until it was excavated in 1887 on request of the third Marquess of Bute. The architect William Frame was then tasked with interpreting the site as an ornamental garden feature. At this time the site lay within the private grounds of Cardiff Castle - since donated by the Bute family to the city of Cardiff. The Victorian scheme was partially restored in 2013 using reclaimed bricks to match the originals.

From here I continue past the gorsedd stones and Cardiff Castle, on into town and to work. The entire journey takes around an hour, all told.

The Physic Garden, Cowbridge - September 2014

Back in September, I spent a day shopping in the pretty little market town of Cowbridge with my mother. We particularly enjoyed spending time in the newly restored Physic Garden.

Originally part of the Old Hall Gardens, dating back to the 18th century, the garden is an oasis of calm and tranquillity in the heart of the town, full of bees and butterflies. The volunteers who restored the garden in recent years have done a wonderful job, turning a neglected wasteland into a glorious array of medicinal plants and herbs, typical of physic gardens from centuries past - a fascinating variety of species that would traditionally have been used for healing, cooking and dying fabrics - all neatly organised and laid out as formal gardens.

And there was also this:

An Ode to Laudanum!