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Has the city centre lost its charm?
I'm on a three day course in Newport but decided to stay overnight in Cardiff city centre. After today's session in Nyoops I got back to the hotel an hour before the shops closed and walked my colleague around the arcades, the market and St Mary Street to give her a feel of the place.
I still like to old market but everywhere else seems to dominated by gentrified shops and cafés (in the case of the arcades) and national restaurant/bar chains elsewhere.
Call me an old out-of-touch curmudgeon but I feel that the place has lost a lot of charm and character.
Yours,
TBG
Wearing a tin foil hat and eating powdered egg.
P. S. Discovering the stuffed bear in the tobacconist's (that I remember from my childhood) was a treat!
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
It’s turned into just another city.
I don’t think it ever really had ‘charm’ though.
It’s quite a good place for a shop, some food and some entertainment
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
And the pubs have reasonable prices, you can still get a pint for £2 in town, that’s very rare in many other UK cities.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
Must be the only city with a stadium, castle and a fecking prison in its centre.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
very true
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
ToTaL ITK
very true
Well, st Mary Street hasn’t really changed and neither have the arcades, the Hayes is nicer as is mill lane. In fact most streets have improved I think, park place, cathedral rd, we got the castle grounds and of course the bay. What more does one need in a city of 400,000.....
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
splott parker
And the pubs have reasonable prices, you can still get a pint for £2 in town, that’s very rare in many other UK cities.
How charming.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
:hehe: thats what i was thinking when i read the OP.
Cast your mind back to what The Hayes looked like not even ten years ago, it was a right shithole.
Same with Wood Street.
What I don't like though is the fact that much of town has gone through another major redevelopment, the last one being only a few (well 3 or 4) decades ago.
These new buildings will be around a fraction of the time that the older ones have, the majority of which I'm glad to say have been preserved.
Still plenty of charm but depressing seeing all the homeless lining the streets mind.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Taunton Blue Genie
How charming.
C’mon now TBG it’s common knowledge that the price of a pint is the international yardstick for any red blooded male 🍺🍺🍺🤪🤪🤪
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
goats
Well, st Mary Street hasn’t really changed and neither have the arcades, the Hayes is nicer as is mill lane. In fact most streets have improved I think, park place, cathedral rd, we got the castle grounds and of course the bay. What more does one need in a city of 400,000.....
yes! i'm agreeing with NYC and with you too :D
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
splott parker
C’mon now TBG it’s common knowledge that the price of a pint is the international yardstick for any red blooded male
I'm off for a couple of sweet sherries now...
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Taunton Blue Genie
I'm off for a couple of sweet sherries now...
Pints of I trust👍 Might be a touch more than £2 though.🤪🤪
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Should've taken her for a brekkie at The Hollybush!
:wink:
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
Sydney opera house....herds of wildebeest etc
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Not so much lost it's charm as sold it to high rises billed as student flats but really cheap builds, poorly regulated and ultimately empty. That Zenith building in behind the station is extremely ugly but the one behind the chapel restaurant/pub is also bad.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
I must agree with TBG, to a certain extent.
Yes there are a few pubs, but they’re soulless, no personalities (can’t spell characters :hehe:)
Town has become a concrete jungle, unlike YORK, which has charm in abundance.
Bring back the Taff Vale, The Griffin, The Prince Albert , The Glendower, The White House, oh we can’t, they’ve shut um all down
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
light up the darkness
Sydney opera house....herds of wildebeest etc
That's exactly what I was thinking when I when I was typing that.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Taunton Blue Genie
I'm on a three day course in Newport but decided to stay overnight in Cardiff city centre. After today's session in Nyoops I got back to the hotel an hour before the shops closed and walked my colleague around the arcades, the market and St Mary Street to give her a feel of the place.
I still like to old market but everywhere else seems to dominated by gentrified shops and cafés (in the case of the arcades) and national restaurant/bar chains elsewhere.
Call me an old out-of-touch curmudgeon but I feel that the place has lost a lot of charm and character.
Yours,
TBG
Wearing a tin foil hat and eating powdered egg.
P. S. Discovering the stuffed bear in the tobacconist's (that I remember from my childhood) was a treat!
Whilst I understand where you are coming from I am afraid that the national brands are probably the only ones who can afford the rents and the cheap student mini tower blocks the only growth industry.
I am, sadly, old enough to remember Cardiff city centre in the 70’s where there was still car parking on rough ground where the St David’s centre now is and the Lious represented fine dining and Pillars was considered exciting.
Whilst the modern city may have changed it retains the Castle, old University buildings and the arcades and the modern stuff may be identikit building but in the main it is an improvement on the centre of my youth.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
And Barry on its doorstep. What more do you want?
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Pity the Wynford wasn't bang in the city centre.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Eric the Half a Bee
Pity the Wynford wasn't bang in the city centre.
It’s closed down :frown:
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
For me the city centre lost its charm when The Albert, and its piano, on St Mary Street became something else, another characterless, poncy monstrosity just as The Duke of Wellington on one end of Chippy Lane did years before. The long gone Glendower and Custom House were full of great local eccentrics with backgrounds from all over the globe.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quite simply a wonderful city, as previous posters have mentioned a world class stadium a castle, a beautiful civic centre, loads of pubs and restaurants, arcades all within minutes walk of each other. 10 minutes to cardiff bay with all it's charms.
What more can you want?
Just ask anybody coming to cardiff for the first time for a match concert etc.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
simonp_ccfc
And Barry on its doorstep. What more do you want?
:thumbup:
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
For a City of only 400k its remarkable for its amenities.
Arcades are lovely.
The new shopping centres are manufacture type nice I guess ?
The two main streets have suffered, as most have from the decline of high street retail ,(that's all if our fault)
Met an Aussue at the Ashes , he just couldn't get the number of stadiums and arenas we have .
We got a castle and gargoyles.
We got wonderful parks that stretch for miles .
We have a bay .
Tram system would nail it (I'd congestion charge cars to pay for it.)
Pubs have lost thier identify, though .
Music venues not great
Think we have sold out to the corporate chains (pity we hadn't copied the Bristol independence model )
However , I would struggle to live anywhere else.
I love my City.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
splott parker
And the pubs have reasonable prices, you can still get a pint for £2 in town, that’s very rare in many other UK cities.
Can't get a pint for £2 in Porthcawl. :angry:
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
Have to agree with this. Mrs Monk (a Londoner) loves shopping in Cardiff becasue everything is right where you need it. She also regularly praises the shop staff who are very polite and helpful, compared with the shop staff in London who seem to be affronted that a customer should actually want them to help.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
life on mars
We got a castle and gargoyles.
Bit of pedantry here, sorry.
We have a castle, but no gargoyles that I know of.
The animals on the castle walls are called "grotesques".
They're only gargoyles if they're part of the roof drainage, and spout water when it's raining.
And we all know that it never rains in Cardiff.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Organ Morgan.
For me the city centre lost its charm when The Albert, and its piano, on St Mary Street became something else, another characterless, poncy monstrosity just as The Duke of Wellington on one end of Chippy Lane did years before. The long gone Glendower and Custom House were full of great local eccentrics with backgrounds from all over the globe.
You ruined the whole post with two words😢😢😢🤪🤪
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
life on mars
For a City of only 400k its remarkable for its amenities.
Arcades are lovely.
The new shopping centres are manufacture type nice I guess ?
The two main streets have suffered, as most have from the decline of high street retail ,(that's all if our fault)
Met an Aussue at the Ashes , he just couldn't get the number of stadiums and arenas we have .
We got a castle and gargoyles.
We got wonderful parks that stretch for miles .
We have a bay .
Tram system would nail it (I'd congestion charge cars to pay for it.)
Pubs have lost thier identify, though .
Music venues not great
Think we have sold out to the corporate chains (pity we hadn't copied the Bristol independence model )
However , I would struggle to live anywhere else.
I love my City.
Totally agree. Cardiff is very lucky with its general amenities as you mention, but the Council and to a degree the Assembly are doing their best to ruin the City.
You mentioned Bristol and we are really bad in comparison.
We just have to look at the proposals for the old Gaiety cinema on City Road. A stunning building that is going to be bulldozed, only to be replaced by a soulless, homogenized block of student flats.
In comparison, I went to the Everyman cinema on Whiteladies Road in Bristol and it's one of the best I've visited. It was converted from the old run down Whiteladies cinema.
It's such a stark contrast and Cardiff's lack of foresight means that so much of our past will be lost forever, instead of sensitive and appropriate conversions to create a nicer future.
Cardiff is full of corporates and global companies, like Starbucks and Costa.
I refuse to use them, as wherever possible I use independents.
I would rather help keep them in business and get the personal service from them, than some faceless company that doesn't pay a fair amount of taxes.
It's not a level playing field and Government need to address the tax side of things and Councils need to take responsibility to return to the previous levels of independents, as opposed to having the likes of Tesco extras and starbucks everywhere.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
bobh
Bit of pedantry here, sorry.
We have a castle, but no gargoyles that I know of.
The animals on the castle walls are called "grotesques".
They're only gargoyles if they're part of the roof drainage, and spout water when it's raining.
And we all know that it never rains in Cardiff.
They're not gargoyles but they're not grotesques either.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
barrybloo
Quite simply a wonderful city, as previous posters have mentioned a world class stadium a castle, a beautiful civic centre, loads of pubs and restaurants, arcades all within minutes walk of each other. 10 minutes to cardiff bay with all it's charms.
What more can you want?
Just ask anybody coming to cardiff for the first time for a match concert etc.
Absolutely! :thumbup:
I left Cardiff 16 years ago and visited the city last March, the first time I'd been home in more than 10 years. I wasn't disappointed.. beautiful city, very friendly staff wherever I went ( perhaps I took that for granted when I lived there), a civic centre to match anything in the country, bars galore and THAT stadium..
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Robin Friday's Ghost
They're not gargoyles but they're not grotesques either.
You're right, they're not grotesques. Aren't they just a collection of animals.. bears, monkeys, pelicans, wolves etc?
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Womanby Street is great as well
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
No charm? It's always had the arcades, loads of pubs, a huge rugby stadium, a compact shopping area, the museum and gardens and a giant ****ing castle. All within one square mile. What more do you want?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
light up the darkness
Sydney opera house....herds of wildebeest etc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
splott parker
And the pubs have reasonable prices, you can still get a pint for £2 in town, that’s very rare in many other UK cities.
I need to shop around. Whenever I seem to go into town these days I'm paying 4 quid + for watered down lager.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Trigger
I need to shop around. Whenever I seem to go into town these days I'm paying 4 quid + for watered down lager.
Rummer, Borough, Live Lounge + most of the gay bars, are as cheap as chips (not used the gay bars myself as yet, but others swear by them)
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
NYCBlue
That's exactly what I was thinking when I when I was typing that.
:thumbup: can’t beat a good Basil reference
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
BLUETIT
Rummer, Borough, Live Lounge + most of the gay bars, are as cheap as chips (not used the gay bars myself as yet, but others swear by them)
I'm sure that when I visited the Queen's Vaults, one afternoon in March of this year, I paid just under 2 quid for a pint.
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Re: Has the city centre lost its charm?
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Originally Posted by
Rock_Flock_of_Five
I'm sure that when I visited the Queen's Vaults, one afternoon in March of this year, I paid just under 2 quid for a pint.
Haven’t been in there for about 18 months, unfortunately had 2 terrible meals in there and they didn’t give a toss
Mrs won’t go there again