Cardiff

 

(kär'dĭf) , Welsh Caerdydd, city and county (1998 est. pop. 320,900), S Wales, on the Taff River near its mouth on the Bristol Channel. Cardiff is the capital of Wales and an important port. Until the early 20th cent. it was one of the greatest coal-shipping ports in the world. Modern industries include retailing, services, engineering, oil and gasoline distribution, and food processing. Studios of the British Broadcasting Corp. are located in Cardiff, which is also the center of the Welsh-language broadcasting industry. The construction of docks by the 5th marquess of Bute in 1839 stimulated the city's growth. The port includes the docks at Penarth and Barry. There is also a canal to Merthyr Tydfil (opened 1794), with a branch to Aberdare.

Cardiff Castle, the residence of the marquess of Bute until 1947, was first built in 1090 on the site of a Roman fort. Robert, duke of Normandy, was imprisoned (1126–34) in the castle. Owen Glendower partly destroyed it in 1404. In Cathays Park the group of public buildings includes the National Museum of Wales, the law courts, and the city hall. The Univ. of Wales, a federal university, has a constituent institution as well as its medical campus and the Univ. of Wales Institute in Cardiff. The former docklands of Cardiff Bay are now the site of the new Senedd (National Assembly) building and a multipurpose cultural center. The city also has a botanic garden. Llandaff, which has a notable medieval cathedral, has been incorporated in Cardiff since 1922. The parish church of St. John dates partly from the 13th and 15th cent., and the Museum of Welsh Life, on the city's outskirts, groups buildings from throughout Wales.

It has been suggested that 029 be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

City of Cardiff
Dinas Caerdydd

Administration
Constituent country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CARDIFF
Postal districts	CF3, CF5, CF10, CF11, CF14, CF23, CF24, CF99
Dialling code	029
Vehicle codes	CA-CO
Police Force	South Wales Police
Fire Service	South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Ambulance Service	Welsh Ambulance Service
Demographics
Population	City: 323,500 (2006) Urban: 349,706 (2001)
Population density (City)	2268 per km² (2006)
Ethnicity	91.57% White 1.99% Mixed 3.96% S. Asian 1.28% Black 1.20% Chinese or other.
Welsh language - Any skills	Ranked 18th 16.3%
Flag
Politics
Cardiff Council http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/
Control	NOC (Liberal Democrat administration)
Welsh Assembly and UK Parliament Constituencies	Cardiff West Cardiff South and Penarth Cardiff North Cardiff Central
European Parliament	Wales

Cardiff (English:  Cardiff?, Welsh: Caerdydd (info)) is the capital and largest city of Wales. Located on the south coast of the country it is administered as a unitary authority. It is in the historic county of Glamorgan and is recognised as one of the more appealing cities in the UK^[1].

It was a small town until the early nineteenth century and came to prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region. It eventually grew to become the largest city in Wales and serves as a major centre of culture, sport and history in the United Kingdom. Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955.

Geography

Cardiff is bordered to the west by the rural district known as the Vale of Glamorgan, to the east by the city of Newport, to the north by the South Wales Valleys and to the south by the Severn estuary and Bristol Channel. The River Taff winds through the centre of the city and together with the River Ely flows into the freshwater lake of Cardiff Bay. A third river, the Rhymney flows through the east of the city entering directly into the Severn estuary. A fourth river, the Lleucu has been culverted^[2].

Cardiff is built on reclaimed marshland on a bed of Triassic stones; this reclaimed marshland stretches from Chepstow to the Ely estuary, which is the natural boundary of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Triassic landscapes are usually shallow and low-lying which accounts and explains Cardiff's flatness. The classic Triassic marl, sand and conglomerate rocks are used predominantly throughout Cardiff as building materials. Many of these Triassic rocks have a purple complexion, especially the coastal marl found near Penarth. One of the Triassic rocks used in Cardiff is "Radyr Stone", a free-stone which as it name suggests is quarried in the Radyr district. Cardiff has also imported some materials for buildings: Devonian sandstones (the Old Red Sandstone) from the Brecon Beacons has been used. Most famously, the superbly elegant buildings of Cathays Park, arguably Britain's finest civic centre buildings are built of Portland stone which was imported from Dorset. A widely used building stone in Cardiff is the surreal yellow-grey Lias limestone rock of the Vale of Glamorgan, including the very rare "Sutton Stone", a conglomerate of lias limestone and carboniferous limestone that is, apart from Radyr Stone, the only free-stone in south-east Wales (freestones can be cut to a perfectly smooth surface). The yellowish complexion of the lias limestone used mainly in the city centre gives Cardiff an unusually sunny, light and breezy complexion for a city in Britain.

Cardiff is situated near to the Glamorgan Heritage Coast, stretching westward from Penarth and Barry (which are commuter towns of Cardiff), with its striped yellow-blue Jurassic "lias" limestone cliffs that thrust outwards towards the Bristol Channel. The Glamorgan coast is the only part of the Celtic Sea that has exposed Jurassic (blue lias) geology. This west facing stretch of coast, which takes the brunt of brutal Atlantic westerlies and has reefs, sandbanks and serrated cliffs aplenty (like Cornwall) was a ship graveyard during the age of sail; ships sailing up to Cardiff during the industrial era often never made it as far as Cardiff as most were wrecked around this hostile coastline during brutal west/south-westerly gales. Consequently, just like its Celtic cousin in Cornwall, smuggling, deliberate shipwrecking and attacks on ships became a way of life for many people living in the small coastal villages of the Vale.

Cardiff is linked to the West Somerset/North Devon seaside resorts (such as Minehead, Ilfracombe and Lundy Island) via the Paddle Steamer Waverley and MV Balmoral, which sail from Penarth pier, as they have done for over 150 years. Sailing across the Bristol Channel to North Devon is a much a part of Cardiffian life as a pint of Brains and watching rugby. In fact, Devon's tourist trade began in the 19th century when the paddle steamers spent weekends cruising the Bristol Channel taking the expanding population of Cardiff to places such as Lynmouth, Ilfracombe, Bideford and Clovelly.

Cardiff is a relatively flat city and its geographic features were influential in its development as one of the world's largest coal ports. Most notably this included its proximity and easy access to the coal fields of the south Wales valleys. Cardiff has a relatively dry climate compared to most of Wales,^[3] with an average rainfall of 1,065 millimetres (41.9 in). It is also a relatively mild city,^[4] with an average January temperature of 4.5 °C and an average July temperature of 16 °C^[5]

Destinations from CARDIFF
Llantrisant	Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly	Newport, Cwmbran
Cowbridge, Bridgend	N W E S	Bristol Channel
Llantwit Major, Cardiff International Airport, Barry	Penarth, Dinas Powys	Bristol Channel

Districts

There have been seven (7) major expansions to Cardiff's boundaries between the years 1875-1996. Before 1875 Cardiff was comprised of the two parishes of St John and St Mary and totalled an area of 7.86 square kilometres (3.03 sq mi), however this had increased to 139.53 square kilometres (53.87 sq mi) by 1996.^[6] The first expansion, of 1875 included the areas of and around Canton and Roath. The expansion of 1922 took in the areas between Ely, Cardiff and Llanishen. The next expansion in 1938 incorporated Rumney in Monmouthshire into the city. Further expansion in 1974 included an arc from St Fagans in the west, through Lisvane in the north and St Mellons in the east. The most recent expansion of 1996 has brought the areas of and around Creigiau and Pentyrch into the city's boundaries.

Roughly speaking, "Inner Cardiff" can be considered to consist of the following wards: Penylan, Plasnewydd, Gabalfa, Roath, Cathays, Adamsdown and Splott ward on the north and east of the city centre, and Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside and Canton to the south and west. The inner-city areas to the south of the A4161 road known as the "Southern Arc" are, with the exception of affluent and trendy Cardiff Bay, some of the poorest districts of Wales with low levels of economic activity and high ethnic minority populations. The proximity of these areas to Cardiff Bay have led some critics of the project to argue that the regeneration scheme has failed as it has done little to improve the economic prospects of local people, and may have worsened problems of exclusion and alienation. On the other hand Gabalfa, Plasnewydd and Cathays have very large student populations, and Pontcanna in Riverside is a favourite for young professionals. Penylan which lies to the north east side of Roath Park is an affluent area popular with those with older children and the retired.

"Suburban Cardiff" can be broken down into three distinct areas. To the west lie Ely, Caerau and Fairwater which contain some of the largest housing estates in the United Kingdom. With the exception of some of the outlying privately built estates at Michaelston Super Ely and 1930s developments near Waun-Gron Road, this is an economically disadvantaged area with high numbers of unemployed households. Culverhouse Cross is a more affluent western area of the city. Radyr, Llandaff, Llandaff North, Whitchurch & Tongwynlais, Rhiwbina, Heath, Llanishen, Lisvane, and Cyncoed which lie in an arc from the north west to the north east of the centre can be considered the main middle class suburbs of the city. In particular, Cyncoed, Radyr and Lisvane contain some of the most expensive housing in Wales, and the last of these is likely to see considerable expansion in coming years with the council planning 4,000 houses in the area. Further to the east lie the wards of Pontprennau & Old St Mellons, Rumney, Pentwyn, Llanrumney and Trowbridge. The latter 3 are again largely of public housing stock, although new private housing is being built in Trowbridge in considerable number. Pontprennau is the newest 'suburb' of Cardiff, whilst Old St Mellons has a history going back to the Norman Conquest.

To the North West of the city lies a region that may be called "Rural Cardiff" containing the villages of St. Fagans, Creigiau and Pentyrch. The latter two are primarily "planned" communities developed from the mid 20th century and are popular with families looking for green space close to the city. St. Fagans, home to the Museum of Welsh Life, is protected from further development.

History

The name Cardiff may be an Anglicisation of the Welsh name "Caerdydd". There is uncertainty concerning the origin of "Caerdydd" — "Caer" means "fort" or "castle," but although "Dydd" means "Day" in modern Welsh, it is unclear what was meant in this context. Some believe that "Dydd" or "Diff" was a corruption of "Taff", the river on which Cardiff castle stands, in which case "Cardiff" would mean "the fort on the river Taff" (in Welsh the T mutates to D).

Others favour a link with Aulus Didius Gallus, as it is known that the Romans established a fort in Cardiff when he was governor of the nearby province, in which case Cardiff might mean "the Fort of Didius". A Norman castle still exists, within the site of the earlier Roman fort, but was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, and the architect William Burges. Original Roman work can, however, still be distinguished in the wall facings.

There is a second castle north of the city, called Castell Coch (Welsh: "Red Castle"). The current castle is an elaborately decorated Victorian folly designed by Burges for the Marquess and built in the 1870s. However, the Victorian castle stands on the footings of a much older medieval castle possibly built by Ifor Bach, a regional baron with links to Cardiff Castle also. The exterior has become a popular location for film and television productions.

Situated on the narrowest part of the south Wales coastal plain, Cardiff had a crucial strategic importance in the wars between the Normans (who had occupied lowland Wales) and the Welsh who maintained their hold on the Uplands. As a result Cardiff claims to have the largest concentration of castles of any city in the world. As well as Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch the remains of Castell Morgraig, Bishop's Castle, Y Twmpath, Ruperra Castle and Saint Fagans Castle are still in existence while Whitchurch Castle and King's Castle have disappeared under later developments.

Language

Cardiff has a chequered linguistic history with Welsh, English, Latin and Norse dominating at different times. Although it was the Romans who established the "castle on the Taff" it was the Vikings who first began developing the maritime trade from which the town (later to become a city) was to derive its prosperity. The Vikings – who controlled the Bristol Channel – used Cardiff as a raiding base, a port and a trading post. Many street-names in Cardiff are of Viking origin including Dumballs Road and the oldest street in the city, Womanby Street. Womanby Street is a corruption of the original Norse name Humandaby Street. It is most probable that Welsh was the majority language from the thirteenth century until the city's explosive growth in Victorian times. As late as 1850 five of the twelve Anglican churches within the current city boundaries conducted their services exclusively in Welsh, while only two worshipped exclusively in English.

A substantial Irish population settled in Cardiff during the 19th century. They were drawn to Cardiff by the work available on major building and engineering projects in the docks and the city itself. The intermingling of the Irish, together with migrants from the West Country, the Midlands and rural Wales is credited with having formed the distinctive flat-vowelled "Cardiff accent" (Roots to Cardiff exhibition, 2007). By 1891 the percentage of Welsh speakers had dropped to 27.9% and only Lisvane, Llanedyrn and Creigiau remained as majority Welsh-speaking communities. The Welsh language became grouped around a small cluster of Chapels and Churches, the most notable of which is Tabernacl in the city centre, one of four UK churches chosen to hold official services to commemorate the new millennium. Following the establishment of the city's first Welsh School (Ysgol Gymraeg Bryntaf) in the 1950s, Welsh has slowly regained some ground.

Aided by Welsh-medium education and migration from other parts of Wales, the number of Welsh speakers in Cardiff rose by 14,451 between 1991 and 2001; Welsh is now spoken by 11% of Cardiffians. The highest percentage of Welsh speakers is in Creigiau, where over 20% of the population speak the language.

Capital city status

King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status on 28 October 1905. It was then proclaimed capital city of Wales on 20 December 1955, by a Written Reply by the Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George. Caernarfon had also vied for this title.^[7] Cardiff therefore celebrated two important anniversaries in 2005.

The city is county town of Glamorgan, although this role has diminished since council reorganisation in 1974 paired Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan together as the new county of South Glamorgan. Further local government restructuring in 1996 resulted in Cardiff City's district council becoming a unitary authority.

On 1 March 2004, Cardiff was granted Fairtrade City status.

Demographics

Cardiff's population is a growing one, with a likely population of roughly 317,500 in 2006 representing an increase of over 10,000 since the 2001 Census figure of 305,353, which makes it by far the largest city in Wales, and a bit above the population of Swansea City the largest City in Wales (Geographical). The Council has also predicted growth of 16,000 in the decade following 2011, which, extrapolating current growth rates until that date would give a population of the city of 349,000 in 2021.

The ethnic make-up of Cardiff's population, at the time of the 2001 census was: 91.6% white, 2% mixed race, 4% South Asian, 1.3% Black, 1.2% Other ethnic origin.

Official estimates derived from the census are controversial. The city council has published two articles that argue the 2001 census seriously under reports the population of Cardiff and, in particular, the ethnic minority population of some inner city areas. If this work is given credence, a current official population of approximately 340,000 with up to 11% ethnic minority would be preferred.[10] [11]

Year	Population	Year	Population	Year	Population
1801	6,342	1941	257,112	1981	274,500
1851	26,630	1951	267,356	1991	272,557
1901	172,629	1961	278,552	2001	305,353
1921	227,753	1971	290,227	2007	331,500*[8]
* = estimate

Religion

Since 1922 Cardiff has included the suburban cathedral 'village' of Llandaff, whose bishop is currently Archbishop of Wales. There is also a Catholic Cardiff Cathedral Since 1916 Cardiff has been the seat of a Catholic archbishop, but there appears to have been a fall in the estimated Catholic and Jewish population of the city (two synagogues (one in Cyncoed and one on Moira Terrace), as opposed to at least three in the mid-twentieth century). There are a significant number of Nonconformist chapels, an early twentieth century Greek Orthodox church and about ten mosques.

In the 2001 census 66.9% of the city's population described themselves as Christian, below the Welsh and UK average, while 3.7% described themselves as Muslim, significantly above the Welsh average but in line with the UK average. The proportion of people declaring themselves to be Hindu, Sikh and Jewish were all considerably higher than the Welsh averages, but less than the UK figures. 18.8% stated they had no religion, while 8.6% did not state a religion. Paganism is also enjoying a rebirth in Wales, though followers remain minute in number.

Economy

As the Capital City of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy and conveys economic, social and cultural benefits across the wider region. The economy of Cardiff and adjacent areas makes up nearly 20% of Welsh GDP and 40% of the City’s workforce are daily in-commuters from the surrounding South Wales area.

Cardiff is increasingly benefiting from a raised international profile and has enjoyed significant growth over the last decade or more, spearheaded by the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay. Widely regarded as one of the United Kingdom’s most successful regeneration projects, the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay has involved the revitalisation of 1,100 hectares of decaying and derelict land in the City’s former dockland area with residential, retail, commercial and leisure developments. A major feature of the regeneration project has been the £220 million Cardiff Bay Barrage, which has created Europe’s largest City Centre waterfront.

Total employment in Cardiff rose from 149,000 in 1991 to 173,200 in 2001 and between 2000 and 2001 employment levels in the City grew by 3% – more than double the rate across Great Britain (1.3%). Following the decline of the City’s heavy industry in the latter part of the 20th century, the economy of Cardiff is now dominated by the service sector (see table of employment by industry below) with just 9% of employees – 15,650 individuals – engaged in manufacturing activities.

Public Administration, education and health is the largest sector in Cardiff, providing employment for 32% of the City’s workforce. Cardiff is the main financial and business services centre in Wales and as such, the sector provides employment for 20% of the City’s workforce.

One in five employees (20.4%) in Cardiff are based in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector, highlighting the growing retail and tourism industries in the City. Cardiff has a thriving retail and shopping centre, and the City was named as the sixth best shopping location in the UK in the 2003 Experian Retail Ranking, falling to 8th place in 2004. However a major £675 million pounds, regeneration programme for Cardiffs St. David's Centre will create the UKs largest city centre shopping centre.

Industry

Cardiff was originally a small town - much smaller than Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil. What changed it was the demand for iron, brought to the sea by packhorse from Merthyr. The Ironmasters, the proprietors of the smelters in Dowlais and Merthyr, wanted to reduce the cost of carrying iron by road to ships berthed in the estuary of the River Taff at Cardiff. They sought permission of Parliament to build a 25-mile long canal from Merthyr (510 feet above sea-level) to the Taff Estuary at Cardiff.

Work on building the Glamorganshire Canal began in 1790, took eight years and involved installing 50 locks. The Cardiff Sea Lock, which enabled barges to unload iron into sea-going ships, was built at Harrowby St (Harrowby - a Viking place-name - had been the original Norse trading post in Cardiff). Eventually the Taff Vale Railway replaced the canal barges and massive marshalling yards sprang up as new docks were developed in Cardiff - all prompted by the soaring world-wide demand for South Wales coal.

Cardiff's port, known as Tiger Bay, became the busiest port in the world and - for some time - the world's most important coal port. Indeed, Cardiff's Coal Exchange was reputedly the first host to a business deal for a million pounds Sterling.

The Tiger Bay area also housed one of the UK's earliest immigrant communities. After a long period of neglect as Cardiff Bay, it is now being regenerated as a popular area for arts, entertainment and night-life. Much of the growth has been thanks to the building of the Cardiff Barrage.

Present day

Today, Cardiff is the principal finance and business services centre in Wales, and as such there is a strong representation of finance and business services in the local economy. In December 2003, 33,850 individuals were employed in the sector - higher than the proportion across both Wales (9.6%) and Great Britain (15.4%).

Cru Investment Management are the only known Investment Management firm to be based in Wales - their head office is based within Cardiff. Legal & General, Admiral Insurance, HBOS, Zurich, ING Direct, The AA, Principality Building Society, 118118, British Gas, Brains, SWALEC Energy and BT (based in BT House all operate large contact centres in the city, many based in the Capital Tower, Cardiff. Other major employers include NHS Wales and the National Assembly for Wales.

Cardiff is home to the Welsh Media. BBC Wales, S4C and ITV Wales have their studios in the city and the UK's largest Film, TV & Multimedia sector outside London. Employment in the sector has grown significantly in recent years, and currently provides employment for 2.1% of the City's workforce - higher than the level across Wales (1.1%) and marginally lower than that across Great Britain as a whole (2.2%).

Retail also plays a strong role in the city's employment, with it being crowned the 8th best place to shop in UK according to recent surveys, and this ranking is likely to rise into the top 5 once the St David's 2 shopping development is completed. The majority of Cardiff's shopping portfolio is in the city centre around Queen St and St Mary's St. There are also numerous suburban retail parks, serving the city.

The city is also host to S A Brain, a brewery with premises in Cardiff since 1882.

In 2003 Cardiff combined with the Vale of Glamorgan had a GDP of £8.335 billion GBP. The GDP per head was £18,794, making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 116% of the UK average or 146% of the Welsh Average.^[9]

Trend of regional gross value added of Cardiff and the Vale at current basic prices [12]. Figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	4,797	11	1,121	3,666
2000	6,584	11	1,260	5,313
2003	8,335	11	1,410	6,913

Telecommunications

029 is the telephone dialling code for Cardiff. However it is vastly misconceived (in the city but on a larger scale outside of the city) to be 02920 because initially all numbers began with 20. Currently all newly issued numbers begin with 21.

The code includes the neighbouring towns on Penarth, Dinas Powys and Caerphilly.

The city's dialling code changed on 22 April 2000 from 01222 to 029 in the Big Number Change along with London, Coventry, Portsmouth, Southampton and Northern Ireland in response to the rapid late 90s growth of telecommunications and impending exhaustion of numbers. This measure increased the numbers of digits in the subscriber telephone number from 6 to 8, therefore vastly increasing the possible telephone numbers available. Simply changing from 01222 to 02920 would not have changed anything.

Ofcom have allocated the range of telephone numbers from (029) 2018 0000 to (029) 2018 0999 to be used for drama purposes in television and radio. These numbers will not be allocated to telephone companies in the foreseeable future^[10].

Culture

See List of cultural venues in Cardiff

Cardiff has a strong and varied culture, with sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of town Castell Coch to the more modern Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay which have raised the city's cultural profile considerably as a major tourist destination in the UK. It is also one of the UK's principal tourist destinations after London and Edinburgh, attracting over 11 million tourists in 2005.Cardiff was a finalist in the European Capital of Culture 2008.

Attractions

Cardiff is home to Cardiff Castle, the National Assembly for Wales, St. David's Hall, the National Museum and Gallery, and Cathays Park (including municipal buildings modelled on those in New Delhi), and the Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral. The Welsh National Opera moved into the Wales Millennium Centre in November 2004.

Cardiff Castle is a major tourist attraction in the city and is situated in the heart of the city centre, near to the main shopping streets of Queen St and St Mary's St.

Other major tourist attractions are the Cardiff Bay regeneration sites which include the recently opened Wales Millennium Centre and the National Assembly for Wales and many other cultural and sites of interest including the Cardiff Bay Barrage and the famous Coal Exchange. The New Theatre was founded in 1906 and completely refurbished in the 1980s. Until the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in 2004, it was the premier venue in Wales for touring theatre and dance companies, and is located in the city centre.

Other venues which are popular for gigs and sporting events include Cardiff International Arena and the Millennium Stadium.

Festivals

The Big Weekend Festival, is held annually in late July/August in the city centre and is the place for many theme park events, rides and regularly attracts annually over 200,000 visitors. The annual Cardiff Festival claims to be the UK's largest free outdoor festival and plays host to a range of different festivals including the Children's Festival that takes place in the grounds of Cardiff Castle.

Cardiff hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1883, 1899, 1938, 1960 and 1978, and is set to host it again in 2008. Cardiff is unique in Wales in having two permanent stone circles used by the Gorsedd of Bards during Eisteddfodau. The original circle stands in Gorsedd Gardens in front of the National Museum while its 1978 replacement is situated in Bute Park.

Every other year, Cardiff plays host to the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, a world renowned event on the Opera Calendar.

Cardiff Philatelic Society is the oldest Philatelic Society in Wales. It was formed in 1899.

The city now hosts The Cardiff Design Festival and began showcasing the best of Welsh design during the summer of 2005. Since then the festival has grown into a diverse range of designers exhibiting their wares at the 2006 portable exhibition.

Parks

Cardiff's centre is a particularly green one with Bute Park, formerly the castle grounds, extending northwards from the top of one of Cardiff's main shopping street (Queen Street); when combined with the adjacent Llandaff Fields to the north west it produces a massive open space skirting the river Taff. The popular name of Taffy, for the Welshman abroad has its origins in the name of the river. Other popular parks include Roath Park in the north, donated to the city by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887 and which includes a very popular boating lake; Victoria Park, Cardiff's first official park; and Thompson's Park, formerly home to an aviary removed in the 1970s.

It is possible to cycle from Cardiff to Brecon almost completely off road on the Taff Trail, a cycle route which follows the River Taff and many of the old disused railways of the Glamorganshire valleys.

In 2006 Cardiff won the prestigious Entente Floral award for large cities the beauty of its parks and floral displays.

Music and nightlife

The Cardiff music scene is established and wide-ranging. It is the home to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera. It has produced several leading acts itself and, as a Capital City, has acted as a springboard for numerous Welsh bands to go and become famous both nationally and internationally. These include Charlotte Church, The Automatic, Catatonia, Super Furry Animals, Jem, Funeral for a Friend, Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, Los Campesinos, The Hot Puppies, Pagan Wanderer Lu, Budgie, and Shakin Stevens among others.

Cardiff has a strong nightlife, well established in the UK, let alone Wales, and is home to many bars, pubs and clubs. Most clubs and bars are situated in the city centre, especially St Mary's St, and more recently Cardiff Bay has built up a strong night scene, where there are many modern bars & restaurants The Brewery Quarter on St. Mary's Street is a recently developed venue for bars and restaurant with a central courtyard. Charles' St. is also a popular part of town.

Shopping

Cardiff city centre has three main shopping arcades; St. David's Centre, Queen's Arcade and the Capitol Centre. The current expansion of St Davids Centre as part of the St Davids 2 project is allowing a huge piece of land between The Hayes and Charles St to be demolished and redeveloped, bringing around 200 shops, apartments and a John Lewis department store to the city. As well as these modern shopping arcades, the city is still home to many Victorian shopping centres, such as High St Arcade, Castle Arcade, Wyndham Arcade, Royal Arcade and Morgan Arcade. All run off St Mary St.

There are two main shopping streets in the city centre, Queen St which is home to the main chain stores such as Topshop, Topman, Boots, Gap, Dorothy Perkins, Primark, and Zara to name a few. The second main street, St Mary St is home to Wales oldest and largest department store, Howells. It is also home to smaller independant stores, however in the main is a bar and cafe street.

Several out of town retail parks exist, such as Newport Road, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff Gate and Cardiff Bay.

There have been a number of issues relating to city centre shopping, most recently the cost of parking in the city centre, along with the banning of private cars on St Mary St. Both have been heavily criticised by the public and retailers.

Media

Cardiff is the base for a number of national television broadcasters including BBC Wales, ITV1 Wales, S4C, and Capital TV - Cardiff's own local television service.

The main local newspaper, the South Wales Echo and the national paper the Western Mail are based in the Western Mail and Echo building in the city centre. Capital Times and the Cardiff Post are also based and distributed in the city. There are also a number of magazines based in the city including Jazz UK, Buzz magazine, Primary Times and a monthly Welsh language paper called Y Dinesydd (The Citizen).

Red Dragon FM is the main radio station serving South Wales, it is based in the Red Dragon centre^[11]. A number of other radio stations also serve and are based in Cardiff including Real Radio, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru. Xfm has announced that it will start broadcasting from Cardiff in November 2007.

Cardiff in Sci-fi and Fantasy

Cardiff has been repeatedly mentioned in the revival (2005-) of the BBC TV programme Doctor Who, the series having been chiefly filmed in and around the city (it is made for the BBC network by BBC Wales). The 2006 spin-off show, Torchwood, is also filmed in Cardiff and set in the real-life modern city (as were two episodes of Doctor Who: "Boom Town" and Briefly in "Utopia" ). It has been claimed that 1 out of 5 tourists to Cardiff choose to visit after seeing it on TV (The Sun, Monday 17 April 2006). In these two series, it is claimed there is a rift in time and space.

Cardiff is also the birthplace of Dalek creator Terry Nation and popular children's author Roald Dahl

Cardiff was mentioned in the Tim Burton film Mars Attacks and was the setting for several scenes in the film Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man

Sports

The city has a regional rugby union team, the Cardiff Blues, who play in the Magners League at their Cardiff Arms Park stadium. Cardiff also has several amateur rugby clubs too.

Cardiff has one main professional football club, Cardiff City F.C. who currently play in the English Coca-Cola Championship and are also known locally as the Bluebirds. Their current stadium is Ninian Park located to the south of the city, however a new stadium is currently under construction in nearby Leckwith, which is due to be opened in 2009, and will be shared with the Cardiff Blues. Cardiff has numerous smaller clubs such as Grange Harlequins A.F.C.