Cardiff Bay & Penarth
Sep. 22nd, 2024 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
heleninwalesOn the first full day of our holiday we caught the first water bus of the day from Bute Park to Cardiff Bay. This bear is obviously important. Perhaps (as my husband suggested) he is the Pen Arth (Head Bear)? He is wearing a badge that says "Arth ydw i" which means "I'm a bear".
We've walked round the Bay many times. I even did a video there some years ago. This time we had really lovely weather. This statue commemorates the merchant seamen who lost their lives during WWII.
Looking back from by the Senedd building (Welsh Parliament) to the Pierhead building and the big wheel that now seems obligatory in cities where tourists go.
We saw some dolphins. Not living dolphins, but that's what the wooden structures in the inner bay are called dolphins. (Details here) Back in the day when Cardiff was a busy port, sailing ships would moor against these structures. The tidal range is very high here and thus also goes very low. To stop the boats keeling over in the shallow water at low tide, they could lean against the dolphins.
The tide is now kept out of the bay by the barrage. Previously there would have been a huge expanse of mud at low tide. Now the bay is full of water at all times. The paths round the barrage are very popular with walkers and cyclists.
This statue of an old fashioned radio is new. It wasn't there last time we walked this way. It celebrates Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor who pioneered radio transmission. The "dial" shows the key locations of Lavernack Point, Flatholm, Breen Down and Newfoundland. These were the first successful transmissions of radio across water.
If you walk right round the barrage from Cardiff Bay you reach Penarth marina.
Penarth is on a headland and it's quite a climb up to the top. I'd not seen much of the town before because we'd only climbed to a viewing point and then walked back down the way we came up. This time we carried on right over the top of the headland and down to the sea front on the other side where we had fish and chips while waiting for our daughter. She had had to work in the morning contacting students, but was able to join us in the afternoon.
As you walk along the street in Penarth, you get glimpses of the view back to Cardiff Bay.
St Lawrence's Church, Lavernock. The plaque on the wall commemorates Marconi's experiments with radio that took place in the area.
From here we walked along the coast path to where the radio experiment had taken place. It was also a gun emplacement and defensive position during WWII and the remains of the defences can still be seen.
Then we just had to walk back to Penarth where our daughter had parked her car and she drove us back to the hotel to collect our cases so we could move into the apartment.
We've walked round the Bay many times. I even did a video there some years ago. This time we had really lovely weather. This statue commemorates the merchant seamen who lost their lives during WWII.
Looking back from by the Senedd building (Welsh Parliament) to the Pierhead building and the big wheel that now seems obligatory in cities where tourists go.
We saw some dolphins. Not living dolphins, but that's what the wooden structures in the inner bay are called dolphins. (Details here) Back in the day when Cardiff was a busy port, sailing ships would moor against these structures. The tidal range is very high here and thus also goes very low. To stop the boats keeling over in the shallow water at low tide, they could lean against the dolphins.
The tide is now kept out of the bay by the barrage. Previously there would have been a huge expanse of mud at low tide. Now the bay is full of water at all times. The paths round the barrage are very popular with walkers and cyclists.
This statue of an old fashioned radio is new. It wasn't there last time we walked this way. It celebrates Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor who pioneered radio transmission. The "dial" shows the key locations of Lavernack Point, Flatholm, Breen Down and Newfoundland. These were the first successful transmissions of radio across water.
If you walk right round the barrage from Cardiff Bay you reach Penarth marina.
Penarth is on a headland and it's quite a climb up to the top. I'd not seen much of the town before because we'd only climbed to a viewing point and then walked back down the way we came up. This time we carried on right over the top of the headland and down to the sea front on the other side where we had fish and chips while waiting for our daughter. She had had to work in the morning contacting students, but was able to join us in the afternoon.
As you walk along the street in Penarth, you get glimpses of the view back to Cardiff Bay.
St Lawrence's Church, Lavernock. The plaque on the wall commemorates Marconi's experiments with radio that took place in the area.
From here we walked along the coast path to where the radio experiment had taken place. It was also a gun emplacement and defensive position during WWII and the remains of the defences can still be seen.
Then we just had to walk back to Penarth where our daughter had parked her car and she drove us back to the hotel to collect our cases so we could move into the apartment.
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