Day 5: Rumney to Penarth

July 31, 2020

Miles: (god knows, got lost, around 9? RT: 50)

Falafels: 0 :(

Smelly start today near Lamby Way Recycling Centre. Opened in the 1970s when the Rumney River was diverted to create the Lamby Way industrial site, the landfill was "capped" (meaning no more landfill, everything to be recycled or used to make fuel) in 2018 but with the sun blazing today there is a definite niff in the air.

There are a few pockets of loveliness even here though with Lamby Way Fishing lake.

Everything else though is looking a bit muddy and here is where it goes horrible wrong for me.

Somewhere between a missing Coastal Path Sign, admiring this street art and shovelling pasta into my face, I end up off the coastal path and lost amongst the steel works and water treatment plant at Rover Way. It feels pretty bleak a the post apocalyptic industrial wasteland scenery doesn't help...

Although a rude looking buddleja does cheer my right up.

It was hard going and I almost have up and called someone to come and get me but I stuck at it and found my way back to the path eventually. I doubt that this will be the last detour, I'm not going to let it stress me out though.

Cardiff's sort of famous Magic Roundabout. Over 25 years old now and there doesn't seem to be any particular meaning or reason for it, it just is what it is for it's own sake. We should all be more like the Magic Roundabout.

Another Splott Landmark at the site of an electrical substation. It was recently under threat as Western Power wanted to remove part of to make some improvements but the sparks are still flying as they should be so after locals raised concerns an alternative must have been found.

And I know I'm in Cardiff Bay when I see some posh seafront flats. Cardiff Bay has a rich and diverse history with built on wealth generated through the docks by the hands of an immigrant and working class workforce who brought culture, cuisine and community with them. Unfortunately many of these communities feel marginalised by the regeneration of the bay which many Cardiff residents and visitors enjoy on a sunny day. You can read more about that here: https://nation.cymru/news/they-look-at-us-like-were-foreigners-the-stories-of-gentrification-in-cardiff/

The Senedd: the seat of the Welsh Assembly who under devolution have legislative powers over certain policy areas such as education. There are calls by some Welsh groups for Wales to be fully independent from Westminster. I've attended a few demonstrations here, including most recently a protest against job just at the Wales Millennium Centre (the armadillo shaped building in the first picture which is an important Welsh arts venue).

This is the Fallen Merchant Seafman's memorial. It takes the form of a sleeping face formed out of a ship's hull. Around 200 seafarers still die every year. A poignant thought at a time when as a society we are realising which workers keep face danger and hardship to bring us what we need and want.

The iconic red Pierhead Building, the seat of the headquarters of the Bute Dock's Company. At it's peak the docks are Cardiff were one of the biggest in the world. A few got very wealthy off the work of the many, that's for sure.

Man made nest boxes for Swifts displaced by the development of the barrage. Mating calls are played to attract Swifts to nest in its many nooks and crannies.

The barrage, developed to create a permanent high tide and lake effect in Cardiff Bay and make the area more aesthetically appealing. Personally, with its endless franchise restaurants and trendy bars, The Bay is not my favourite place.