Our son has just moved out into an apartment at Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff and visiting him to take a few bits this morning, we took the opportunity to have a walk around. It was an eye opening experience, as it's not a part of Cardiff that we know very well, although we've driven past thousands of times. It's not quite the Bay and it's not quite "town".
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East Bute Dock
This is (more or less) the view from his apartment window.
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He's got a one bedroomed apartment in the left hand block in the photo below. From here he can walk straight out onto the path around the dock.
As you turn around the top end of the dock you walk past County Hall, Cardiff Council's offices.
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| County Hall |
As you continue to walk along the left side of the Dock (walking towards town), there's some construction going on adding to the flats and apartments already there. You might also pass a fisherman or two. Apparently there are some big carp (and no doubt other fish) in the dock, and there are some serious anglers about - we passed one kitted out with three rods, and enough gear that he looked like he was on a week long exhibition. About half way down the dock, you come to a feeder canal. Crossing over a small bridge and following the path of this canal takes you to a part of Cardiff I've never seen before.
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| The feed canal entrance to the dock |
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| The canal |
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| Plenty of wildlife |
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| A pleasant canalised walk |
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| Towards Tyndall St and town |
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Junction of the canal and bearing right back towards
Atlantic Wharf and the dock
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It's a lovely little walk alongside the canal, although sadly and possibly inevitably strewn with litter. As an aside, why can't people take their little home with them. Or those dog owners that take the trouble to clear up after their dogs and then leave the poo bags hanging on railings, or thrown into the bushes?
Anyway, following the canal round back to the wharf, you go past the impressive Spillers Bakers building erected in 1893 and now presumably converted to flats.
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| Spillers Bakers building |
Passing the town end of the dock, you turn back up the other side of the basin adjacent to, but largely hidden from the A4234. Trees line one side of the path with the basin on other, fishing platforms regularly spaced along its side.
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Fishing platform
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About half way along, there's a disused but preserved crane, which is an impressive piece of machinery.
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| The crane |
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| The path alongside the basin |
I have to say, it was a pleasant walk. The circular walk we did was only about 1.3 miles, but has shown me a part of Cardiff I knew very little about. I'm quite jealous that my son has this on his doorstep. In the summer, and hopefully once the Covid restrictions have been lifted this will be a lovely place to wander and maybe stop off for a drink at one of the local cafes or dare I say it, hostelries. And less than 10 minutes walk in the other direction, he has Cardiff Bay with all its eateries and watering holes.
1 comment:
I think the dock feeder canal continues from Spillers and runs up into the city centre under Churchill Way. There are ambitious plans to open it back up again as part of a revamp of Churchill Way to create a canal quarter. My first paid job as a 16 year old after O levels was at Cardiff Galvanisers which stood next to the old HMS Cambria Royal Naval Reserve base on the site of what’s now County Hall.
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