Cardiff
What to see
You’ll find accounts of Cardiff’s tourist attractions in Towns of Two Halves (and of 91 other places: order the book now for £8 from info@townsof2halves.co.uk). For additional information plus shopping, eating out etc try Visit Cardiff or Visit Wales.
Links to Cardiff attractions include:
● Brewery Quarter
● Cardiff Bay Barrage
● Cardiff Castle
● Cardiff Story
● Castle Quarter Arcades
● Central Market
● Centenary Walk
● City of Arcades
● National Museum
● Norwegian Church Arts Centre
● St Fagan’s National History Museum
Towns of Two Halves extracts:
● “Cardiff calls itself a young city [and] promotes itself as a ‘cool, cosmopolitan capital’, an image at odds with the stuffier aspects of the heritage business. But when it declares, to emphasise its youth, that it was either a ‘small market town’ or ‘a fishing village’ in the 1300s, it is disingenuous. First, most places were either small market towns or villages in the 14th century. Second, Cardiff was a small market town (and a fishing village) with a substantial Norman castle attached.”
● “A statue of Aneurin Bevan… in a disconcerting pose that suggests the founder of the NHS might jump off his plinth at any moment to berate those who neglect his creation.”
● “Beneath the stand, leading up to the match, the club organised activities for kids. Roaming through the family groups was an unusual mascot in a spherical blue suit with prongs; it looked as if it might represent the flu bacteria sweeping the country. Youngsters were invited to hit it with an inflatable hammer, although a hypodermic loaded with vaccine would surely have been more effective.”
These are taken from the Cardiff chapter of Towns of Two Halves, published in 2018. To order a copy, email info@townsof2halves.co.uk.