Posted in Cardiff, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Llandaff Fields, Nature on January 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This knitted snowman was possibly part of a winter trail for the youngsters in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff
A couple of weeks ago I visited Llandaff Fields for a walk for the first time in several years – since the Covid-19 lockdown, I guess. Here are my photos… (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Uncategorized, Wales, tagged Cardiff on December 21, 2022| 1 Comment »
New building above the proposed bus station in Wood Street, Cardiff, and a corner of the BBC Wales HQ
Although I live just a couple of miles from Cardiff’s city centre, I have been there only a handful of times since the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
I would usually visit the Queen Street shopping area but last week my bus dropped me in Wood Street, at the Central Railway Station end of town. The city has been without a main bus station since 2015 but a new one may open next year.
I knew the street was being redeveloped but I must have looked like a tourist as I turned around in amazement to point my phone camera in all directions… (more…)
Posted in Garden visits, Gardening, Uncategorized, tagged Bute, Cardiff, Gardening on August 30, 2021| 2 Comments »
The Rudbeckias are among the stars of the herbaceous borders in Bute Park at the moment
I had not visited the usually wonderful herbaceous borders at the city end of Bute Park in Cardiff since well before the Covid-19 lockdown. I was working far away down in Cardiff Bay for a couple of years and then when I was forced to base myself at home the park seemed too far to walk. I have become lazy and until recently buses seemed too much of an infection risk. (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Garden visits, Gardening, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Nature, Spring, thompson's park, Trees on March 4, 2021| 5 Comments »
Daffodils in Thompson’s Park
Monday was St David’s Day – the national day of Wales – and it is not complete without daffodils so I went to Thompson’s Park to see what I could find. Here are my pictures from a half-hour afternoon walk in early spring sunshine… (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Garden visits, Gardening, Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Gardening, Trees, Victoria Park on February 27, 2021| 2 Comments »
Edwardian drinking fountain in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
As I visit my favourite Lombardy poplar in Victoria Park every month for a tree following blog post, I am taking snapshots of everything else in the park on these trips as well. In these Covid times I don’t get out much. Here are my February snaps… (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Garden visits, Gardening, Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Gardening, Trees, Victoria Park on July 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Billy the Seal, a Cardiff character who lived in the pond in Victoria Park’s zoo from 1914 until 1939, when he died and it was discovered he was a she…
Somehow I have been so very busy during my four months working from home that I have had trouble keeping up with my blogging. I have also totally abandoned my initial idea of visiting a different Cardiff park every week. Here I am eventually sharing my pictures from Victoria Park, although I took them in late June.
I managed to clock up 5,500 “steps” walking to the park and back, so hopefully that will give you an idea of how close to home it is. For all that, I have only ever visited it twice before, and then only passing through without a camera. (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Nature, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Nature, Spring, Trees on May 24, 2020| 6 Comments »
Llandaff Fields – one of Cardiff’s great green spaces – pictured are two of my favourite trees – sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) on the left and lime (Tilia cordata) on the right
I’m not getting far in my attempts to visit all the local parks and fields for exercise during the Covid-19 lockdown. So far in nine weeks I have visited only two! I feel so fat and unfit, spending all day working at my desk. Anyway, this is the second excursion, to Llandaff Fields on May 6 – doesn’t time fly?
I started my circuit at the corner where Pen-hill meets Cardiff Road and heads on up to Llandaff. That way I first skirted the hedgerows along the edge of the rugby pitches, walking on grass with no proper path. (more…)
Posted in Garden shows, Gardening, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Gardening on April 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Appealing green bears on the Easigrass (artificial grass) stand at the Cardiff RHS Show
We usually go to the Cardiff RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Show but this year I had to go alone as the husband can’t walk very far at the moment. I went on the morning of Sunday, April 14, and the weather was bright but slightly cold – perfect for wandering around and taking a few pictures… (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, oak, Pontcanna, Trees on August 5, 2018| 7 Comments »
The Pontcanna Fields wall, on the right, is accompanied by maybe a hundred holm oaks
This is a blog post I have been mulling over for years but finally I have drawn together all my snaps of what I like to call the Great Wall of Pontcanna, which runs around Pontcanna Fields in Cardiff. Also fascinating for me is the fact that for its entire length it is accompanied by a row of evergreen holm oaks (Quercus ilex), which must be a century old.
Please indulge me, as many of you will not find this at all interesting and there are lots of pictures! But I have considered it a sort of journey of exploration, like the search for the source of the Nile… (more…)
Posted in Cardiff, Garden shows, Gardening, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiff, Gardening on April 25, 2018| 4 Comments »
I think this beauty is a Scilla peruviana – on the Harts Nursery stand at Cardiff Show – they specialise in all sorts of lily bulbs (www.hartsnursery.co.uk)
We usually go to the annual Cardiff RHS Flower Show and this year it was from April 13 to April 15 in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. I thoroughly enjoyed it – especially as I had felt so low last year after being made redundant that I couldn’t even be bothered to take pictures.
This time I took my camera again and here are some of my favourite things… (more…)
The Squirrelbasket 