Capital Cardiff

After visiting Worcester on the Monday, the very next day (12/11/24) we caught the train to Cardiff for another away day. Mary said she hadn't been to Cardiff before until I reminded her we had visited the Ikea store there; this would have been 15 or so years ago when we were setting up a couple of letting rooms for students. I had visited Cardiff a number of times during my BP career because I tutored a couple of PhD students there. On this visit, the main attraction was Cardiff Castle following a recommendation from Mary's sister who had visited last year.

After entering the castle via the South Gate, the central area was a hive of activity getting ready for the Winter Wonderland event due to open in a few days time.

Photo 1: View from Entrance Looking North to the Norman Keep

Photo 2 was taken from the eastern battlements near the entrance to the wartime tunnels. A trebuchet can be seen in the foreground, while along the skyline from left to right are the South Gate (and Black Tower),  the Clock Tower, the Manor House (centre) and the Norman keep (far right).

Photo 2: Inside Cardiff Castle Looking Westward (November 2024)

Entry to the castle costs £15.50 per adult or £12.50 if you are old codgers like us. We paid an extra £4 pp for a guided tour of the House which was well worth the extra.

First port of call was the cafe, located in the same building as the ticket office, for a cup of tea and a toasted teacake. The staff were very friendly as you would expect in Wales. In the basement of this building is a mural called the Roman Chariot Corner ...

Photo 3: Roman Chariot Corner

The mural was designed and made by artist Frank Abraham between 1981-1983, using cement and plaster with a metallic gold paint finish. Photo 3 shows only a small part of the mural albeit the most impressive part. Entrance to the Firing Line, a museum dedicated to Welsh soldiers, can also be found in the basement.

We dashed off for our midday tour of the house and spent an hour looking around this ornate Victorian makeover. The first room we entered was in the Clock Tower (Photo 4) ...

Photo 4: The Clock Tower

... and was the Winter Smoking Room (Photo 5) where the gentlemen retired after dinner for drinks and smoking ...

.

Photo 5: The Winter Smoking Room

... followed by the children's nursery with its painted mural depicting various fairy tales ...

Photo 6: Children's Nursery

The Banqueting Hall was magnificent having originally been 5 bedrooms before its makeover ...

Photo 7: The Banqueting Hall

Photo 8: Minstrels' Gallery, Banqueting Hall

As with lots of artefacts in the house, there are stories to be told. For example, the fireplace (Photo 9) depicts Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, as a knight on horseback (Robertus Consul). An illegitimate son of King Henry I, he was the chief military supporter of his half-sister, Empress Maud, in the civil war (The Anarchy) against Stephen, King of England. Just to the left of Robert, there is a person behind bars - this is Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, who was imprisoned (house arrest) in Cardiff Castle for the last 8 years of his life until he died aged 83.

Photo 9: Fireplace, Banqueting Hall

A rather unusual room, The Roof Garden, is only open to those paying extra for the guided tour. Roman-themed, it sits at the top of the Bute Tower and was open to the outside elements. Unfortunately, the rain for which Wales is famous was damaging the structure and furnishings; it is now protected by a plastic tarpaulin which you can see above the tiled roof.

Photo 10: The Roof Garden

One of the last rooms we visited was The Arab Room, possibly the most ornate of all the rooms. We were told the room itself was valued at £15 million, presumably because of the copious use of gold leaf in the decorative finish.

Photo 11: Ceiling of the Arab Room

Thanks to the immense wealth acquired by the 2nd Marquess of Bute from the development of Cardiff Docks, the 3rd Marquess of Bute had an open chequebook to restyle Cardiff Castle - and his chosen architect, William Burges, spared no expense.

After another visit the the Castle cafe, this time for soup and bread, we headed off to the National Museum Wales but only had time to look around the natural history section before heading for our train back to Hereford.

A tiring but rewarding day. Another visit is planned to cover the bits we didn't see (e.g. Cardiff Bay, Techniquest) and a deeper dive into the National Museum.