Aerial photo of Ferris Row, Mynachdy, Parkfield Place 1930 - for the oldies

Following on from another thread, this photo shows the Mynachdy estate above the railway line and the straight line of North Road. Above that are 'The Colonies'. The canal leading to Llandaff is obscured by trees.

Now, you've got your bearings, you can see the road over the railway leading to Patent Fuel works and a disused soap factory. I believe that Ferris Row of 27 homes is the curve of buildings just to the right of the stack, bottom left of the photo.

Probably best to copy, paste and enlarge image

Attachment 4811

I always thought it was "Commonwealth Corner", not "The Colonies"

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Originally Posted by RichardM

I always thought it was "Commonwealth Corner", not "The Colonies"

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I grew up there until i was about 10 and I don't recall ever hearing either

I emailed someone I know who is very into Cardiff history, and though he came up with a few newspaper cuttings that mentioned the place (and the poor water supply), but he didn't have a photo. He placed the houses somewhere closer to the bridge - roughly where it divides into three, in the bottom right hand corner of the photo.
My thoughts with this photo is that it surely must have been taken in the 60s or 70s - long after the Ferris Row houses were in use. If the only newspaper or court entries date from the 1880s, and nothing since, it's probably fair to assume that they fell out of use, and were abandoned or demolished? It's hard to believe the buildings would still be there, at the time this photo was taken. But you may well be right!
I can upload the items I was sent, if you think it might be of use to you. It does include a few names.

The name Ferris has to come from a landlord, a factory/works owner, or perhaps the name of the farmer who used to own the land (less likely). Some of the cuttings refer to Ferris's Row, rather than just plain Ferris, so it's clear they belonged to someone (or some business). A search of local business or land owners from that time might throw up something interesting.

The photo is definitely dated 1930.
Ferris Row was last mentioned in Wales Newspapers in 1895/96.
The houses were two-roomed. If you copy/paste/enlarge the photo, you can see they are small cottages.
As for the name, Ferris, you may well be right that its after a person. I wondered if it had a connection with iron.
The 1891 census shows the walk of the enumerator in this area. Those cottages are exactly where I would expect them to be.

what's the circular field thing where companies House is now?
was that part of Cathays high?

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Originally Posted by Rjk

what's the circular field thing where companies House is now?
was that part of Cathays high?

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It became the Maindy Stadium fo rthe 1955 Empire games, but before that I don't know what it was called. I can't see Cathays high on that photo. did it exist in 1930?

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Originally Posted by xsnaggle

It became the Maindy Stadium fo rthe 1955 Empire games, but before that I don't know what it was called. I can't see Cathays high on that photo. did it exist in 1930?

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correction 1958 games.

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Originally Posted by xsnaggle

It became the Maindy Stadium fo rthe 1955 Empire games, but before that I don't know what it was called. I can't see Cathays high on that photo. did it exist in 1930?

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I thought the maindy stadium would have been out of shot the other side of Cathays high.

I think you can see a bit of the school, far right middle of the picture

New Zealand Road runs alongside that field, so it wouldn’t be Maindy, more likely to be a running track, judging by the trees it’s summer so maybe for school athletics, or possibly something to do with Maindy Barracks?

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Originally Posted by xsnaggle

It became the Maindy Stadium fo rthe 1955 Empire games, but before that I don't know what it was called. I can't see Cathays high on that photo. did it exist in 1930?

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The following is from Wikipedia re Maindy Stadium "The site on which the Maindy Centre stands was gifted by Lord Bute to the people of Cardiff.[2] In the 1920s, it was a clay pit that had been filled with water and household refuse and used for swimming, with a number of adults and children drowned in it.[3][2] The site was filled in and by May 1951 the new Maindy Stadium was opened."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maindy_Centre

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Originally Posted by RichardM

The following is from Wikipedia re Maindy Stadium "The site on which the Maindy Centre stands was gifted by Lord Bute to the people of Cardiff.[2] In the 1920s, it was a clay pit that had been filled with water and household refuse and used for swimming, with a number of adults and children drowned in it.[3][2] The site was filled in and by May 1951 the new Maindy Stadium was opened."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maindy_Centre

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Yes I read that. My remark about Cathays high existing was meant to ask if the current building existed. The school started as a boys grammar school in about 1900.

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Originally Posted by xsnaggle

Yes I read that. My remark about Cathays high existing was meant to ask if the current building existed. The school started as a boys grammar school in about 1900.

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I don't know if it is the current building but the 1888 to 1913 map shows a school on the site https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side...ight=ESRIWorld

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Originally Posted by Rjk

what's the circular field thing where companies House is now?
was that part of Cathays high?

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It's the Barrack's Field where the Whitchurch Rd end of Companies House now is. The large building near by is the old St Joseph's Primary (now a Welsh School) which was built in 1927. St Joseph's church wasn't built until 1936 so isn't there which tallies with the 1930 date of the photo. When I started school in 1970 we used the Barracks as our sports field and they used to have annual army displays on the field.