Buildings of Bute Street in Cardiff Bay

In The Balance – a bronze by J A Stevenson on the front of the Old NatWest Building in Bute Street, Cardiff Bay

I try to post about subjects other than nature occasionally, but I am finding I have so little spare time these days! However, I have no excuse for ignoring the architecture when I pass so many interesting buildings most days as I walk over to Cardiff Bay for my lunchtime sandwich.

My walk usually takes me along the southern end of Bute Street, now rather run-down but with hopes of regeneration.

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The stone egg of Schooner Way – is it art?

A stone egg is a useful landmark on Schooner Way

I love this very big stone egg in Schooner Way, in Cardiff Bay. A map tells me it is the centrepiece of an attractive apartment development called Henke Court.

It is a great landmark as I can use this cut-through to reach the Wharf (former East Bute Dock) now that a stretch of the walkway around it is sealed off for building work and it is impossible to do a complete circuit.

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Sitting on the dock of the Bay

A general view of Cardiff Bay with the Water Tower fountain feature in front of the Wales Millennium Centre

One of the delights of working in Cardiff Bay is the proximity of so many wonderful sights to enjoy during the lunch-hour. For nearby is Mermaid Quay, at the heart of the “vibrant” development surrounding the 500-acre freshwater lake created by the building of the Cardiff Barrage, opened (or closed) in 1999 to impound the tidal waters of the rivers Taff and Ely.

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The water birds of County Hall

Cormorants at dawn on the former Bute East Dock in Cardiff

I now find myself working as a temporary admin officer for Cardiff Council in the Highways department at County Hall. I have been there a week and love it. I am acting as maternity cover for someone, so I hope it will last for a while.

County Hall is in Cardiff Bay and not far from the main attractions of Mermaid Quay, so I will share my images of that area on another occasion. But what I have discovered in my first week is that many water birds nest on a long rectangular lake alongside the council HQ. It used to be the East Bute Dock when Cardiff was the main port for the export of South Wales coal.

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Four scientists remembered in stone

Pasteur, Lister, Hunter and Jenner feature on the Queen’s Buildings of Cardiff University

I have often passed Cardiff University’s Queen’s Buildings in Newport Road, usually when I am on the bus and stuck in traffic. And the stone faces above the door always intrigued me. So much so that I went there on a day off a while back to take some pictures and find out more. This post explores what I discovered about the building and the scientists over the door…

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Beautiful streets of Sherborne

Traditional architecture in Sherborne, Dorset

I like Sherborne a lot – and hopefully will return there next summer for another visit, to catch up on the parts I missed this time. I have already written about Sherborne Abbey here, but the town itself is also worth a wander. It struck me as very clean and bright and traditional. The Sherborne Town website calls it “without doubt, one of the most beautiful towns in England” and it is probably not wrong.

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Sherborne Abbey, the cathedral of Dorset

Sherborne Abbey, Dorset

We hadn’t planned to visit Sherborne during our time in Dorset back in the summer, but went there on impulse when we found ourselves in the vicinity. So annoyingly I hadn’t researched it in advance and didn’t read the guide book until weeks later. So I find I missed quite a few features I will have to seek out next time.

The first thing I noticed was that it is made of the same golden Hamstone as Minterne House, the place that brought us to the area and which I blogged about here.

The people of Sherborne seemed very friendly and as I was buying a guide book a man was looking heavenward and said, portentously: “The swifts have gone”. It sounded like the ravens leaving the Tower of London, but he explained that the migratory swifts of the abbey always head south to Africa around this time of year, within a day or two. This was August 16 and we had just missed them.

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Minterne House and its people

Minterne House in Dorset

How old do you reckon this building is? Looks a bit Elizabethan, doesn’t it? Well read on and you may be as surprised as I was.

Minterne House (and especially the gardens, which I write about here) was my destination when I stopped off to have a look at the Cerne Abbas Giant during my few days in Dorset recently (see my previous post about the giant).

The house itself is not open to the public, except as a wedding venue, so I had to consult various sources to find out more about it. Most interesting seem to be the stories of a couple of rather scandalous women who lived at Minterne in different eras, although of course it has always been the men who have had all the titles and honours.

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Snapshots of Bridport

Golden sign above the Bull Hotel in Bridport, Dorset

I am always looking for new places to visit in Dorset and I had never even thought of Bridport until I noticed it in the postings of fellow blogger Sarah, who lives near there (see Down by the Sea).

So about a month ago, just after the schools had gone back after summer, we went there for a few hours – and were very impressed. It’s such a friendly place, and the streets are clean and full of quirky little shops – it was also very easy to find somewhere to park.

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The Priory Church of St Mary, Usk

A winter day at the Priory Church of St Mary, Usk

On a day when winter was still cold and dank, we visited Usk in Monmouthshire. We sometimes go there for lunch at the Three Salmons Hotel, but we were early, so wandered more than usual. New to me was this little Priory Church of St Mary. New to me, but it has been there for 900 years.

Maybe it was the shade of the low winter sun, or the dark colour of the stones, but to me it looked a bit creepy, the sort of place

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