"Capital of Wales" a Cardiff Travel Page by uglyscot

In about 75 AD The Romans built a fort at Cardiff . The Normans later used the same site to build Cardiff Castle in the 12th century.

Cardiff was a relatively small town until the building of the Glamorgan Canal in 1794, . The canal linked the ironworks and coalmines of the Merthyr Tydfil district with Cardiff on the coast. Cardiff had a population of 3,579 by 1821, which made it the 27th largest town in Wales.

The first dock ,which was built in 1839, increased the amount of trade . Merthyr Tydfil was the largest iron producing area in the world at this time. Two of the owners of these ironworks joined forces to form the Taff Vale Railway Company. Isambard Brunel, a talented engineer from Bristol, was recruited to build the railway which was completed in 1841. It was then possible to transport goods from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff in less than an hour. Later, branches were built to link the mining valleys with Welsh ports and England's growing industrial towns and cities. The railway network reduced transport costs so much that it was profitable to export Welsh coal to distant countries .

By 1861 the population had reached 33,000, making Cardiff the most important town in Wales.

The skyline represents Cardiff - the spire of St John's, The Millenium Stadium and other buildings: ie. The old, the new, and in between.

The centre of Cardiff is one big paved pedestrian shopping centre with numerous arcades. The ones we saw were Capitol, St Davids, Queen's Arcade, and Oxford arcade , Cardiff Market and Working Street, but there is much more.
A man dressed in old fashioned red jacket and with a black tricorne hat and brass horn instrument was trying to encourage customers.
Another day a man completely white was acting like a robot.

Until I started VT I never really noticed buildings . Now anything unusual catches my eye- hence the skyline shot.
And we can't overlook the Castle.

Circumstances have led to me having to live for a while with my daughter in Riwbina [pronounced Roob-eye-na by English announcers on train; or Roo-bayna by the Welsh announcer; but others jokingly say Ribena!] a suburb of Cardiff.
Ther is not much to be seen in this former village but the district is quiet and friendly.There is a church {Beulah Church] and across the road its community centre where many activities take place: ballet classes for girls, amateur dramatics,and other musical activities , coffee mornings where I managed to replenish my reading material for next to nothing.