Why is Cardiff so unloved by us Welsh?
Sir Ninian Comper's Welsh National War Memorial is just one of Cardiff's architectural splendours. So why don't the rest of us enjoy the place more?
WHY is Cardiff so unloved? Not that such ambivalence to capital cities is uncommon. For years Dublin was seen as English by many republicans and it was not until the 1970s that the city’s magnificent Georgian architecture received a level of protection. Other, more contrived, capitals have struggled for acceptance: Abuja, Brasilia, Canberra and even, for a while, Washington DC. These cities did not capture the essence of their respective nations. And this seems to be the trouble with Cardiff.
Although it has an impressive Roman and Medieval heritage, Cardiff as we know it is a creation of the industrial revolution. Instead of celebrating its modernity, we often see it as foreign and imposed. Cardiff was created by the carbon of English capital, not the camaraderie of Welsh culture. Or so it appears to a lot of us. There is just not enough Caerdydd in Cardiff. And of the capitals of the Home Nations, it is the most marginal in the popular imagination.
The charge sheet is old and long. Too English, too Tory, too aloof and always taking the main chance at the expense of the rest of Wales. And it seems we must now add the strange phenomenon of the Cardiff ‘bubble’ which has cocooned the National Assembly and compromised the success of devolution.
These accusations are mostly unfair. It is a wild exaggeration to claim that Cardiff actively hoards resources that should be spread around Wales. But there is a germ of truth in the criticism that Cardiff is not yet fully the champion of Wales.
This sells the nation short and we all need to do something about it. But those of us who live or work in Cardiff have the prime responsibility to promote the full potential of the city. For too long we have buried a great treasure.
Cardiff has to belong to the whole of Wales, particularly when it comes to economic development. Many nations and regions around Europe have been regenerated using the city-region model. Here the principal city in a nation or region is seen as having general responsibilities for the nation’s prosperity. Perhaps the most striking example is Barcelona and its mission to provide the hub for Catalonian regeneration. Unless this approach is pursued there is a danger that a capital city becomes an island of prosperity pulling in talent and resources from its national hinterland.
Cardiff is far from dilatory in grasping this challenge. But there is a need to do more to develop cultural, business and education networks across Wales and to use them as a resource to attract investment to Wales. For example, Cardiff University is now one of the leading universities in the World. It is probably the only HE institution in Wales that can hope to sustain such status. However, it must surely retain a wider responsibility for HE networks of excellence across Wales.
It is in the marketing of Cardiff that performance has to be most radically improved. Cardiff is one of Europe’s finest smaller capitals. It amazes me that when people visit Cardiff from England or further afield they frequently say how utterly surprised they are to discover such a stunning city. Cardiff is the most popular venue in the Six Nations championship; it hosted six FA cup finals with alacrity; and last summer’s Ashes test match could not have gone better. In fairness, Wales plc did get its marketing act together for the test match. But this was a rare triumph. We need to make such best practice common practice.
Where to begin? Well my opening blast is a little eccentric but please bear with me. More statues! And some of the statues we’ve got need to be relocated. I am not suggesting some post-Soviet purge where every statue is suddenly shunted off to a suburban park. But statues tell you a lot about a city’s priorities and self-image. Can anyone tell me why the Hayes is presided over by John Batchelor? Have you ever heard of him? What did he do of national significance? By the way, he is the man often seen with a traffic cone on his head.
Now that the splendid St David’s 2 development is complete, why not replace this obscure Victorian with St David? Our national saint can boast amongst his many achievements the fact that he actually existed – unlike, to take an example at random, St George. What better way to adorn Cardiff’s most prominent square?
We must learn to think well beyond city limits and focus on the nation. So let’s shift David Lloyd George who is presently hidden away in shrubbery, his back to the city, near the National Museum. I would put the greatest politician that Wales has produced – the last PM that was a leader of the western world – in the Hayes to keep St David company.
Before statues become a complete obsession, let me commend the recently unveiled statue of Ivor Novello outside the Millennium Centre. Why not make the Oval Basin an alfresco pantheon to great Welsh artists? My nomination for the next statue to join Novello is Iolo Morganwg. It says it all that this colossus of Welsh cultural life is unrecognised in the capital – and Iolo a local boy to boot. It is little wonder so few outside Britain have the first idea about Wales and its exhilarating history.
More vital still is the need to recognise Cardiff for what it is: Britain’s greatest Victorian-Edwardian city. Cardiff is to Victorian architecture what Dublin is to Georgian. But why don’t we say so? While Cardiff rates as one of Britain’s better visited medium sized cities, our aspirations must be set much higher. The market we need to attract is top end tourism.
So let’s shout about Cardiff Castle and its world class pre-Raphaelite interior design. Why be modest about Cardiff’s ethereal and beautifully spacious arcades? Am I the only one enchanted by Bute Park at the very heart of our city? It is even more prominent than Central Park in New York. Cardiff’s carefully planned civic centre can stand comparison to those of grander scale in Washington DC and New Delhi. And the city is home to some of Britain’s finest Victorian pubs.
But just put yourself in the position of, say, an American tourist visiting the city. If you have prepared well you would have read about Cardiff’s many wonders in books like the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. Just as well, because if you relied on Welsh marketing you would be struggling. The city has no museum dedicated to its history. There is no regular tour of Cardiff’s stunning architecture (a truly astonishing omission). You could spend all day walking up and down what is probably the greatest Victorian street in Britain, Cathedral Road, without coming across a scrap of tourist information far less a house or two restored to high Victorian or Edwardian style. It really is hopeless.
Great cities attract tourists, investors, big events and worldwide attention. With a bit of strategic thinking capital cities can lead national economic regeneration. But Cardiff in microcosm still suffers from the now waning Welsh inferiority complex. So what if we are not Edinburgh or London? Cardiff has its own wonders. It is a capital city forged by modern forces and not those lost in the mists of time. People can relate to that and more readily access the city’s attractions.
When Cardiff takes itself seriously and stops being embarrassed by its riches, it will play a blinder for Wales.
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What a fascinating article, David, and so very well thought through. The idea of modern statues really caught my imagination especially: “Why not make the Oval Basin an alfresco pantheon to great Welsh artists? My nomination for the next statue to join Novello is Iolo Morganwg.”
I couldn’t agree more. Why not mark every year of this decade with a statue in the alfresco pantheon. Something new in the Bay to continue to draw visitors. And I’d support Iolo Morgannwg, but two others leap out to me out. If it’s Roald Dahl plasse, where’s the statue of the writer?
And what about Shirley Bassey, the most valuable export from Cardiff Docks since coal was king? Imagine if she could be persuaded to unveil it herself – and how good it would be to see a statue of a woman being erected for a change.
“So let’s shout about Cardiff Castle and its world class pre-Raphaelite interior design. Why be modest about Cardiff’s ethereal and beautifully spacious arcades? Am I the only one enchanted by Bute Park at the very heart of our city? It is even more prominent than Central Park in New York! Cardiff’s carefully planned civic centre can stand comparison to those of grander scale in Washington DC and New Delhi. And the city is home to some of Britain’s finest Victorian pubs.”
What a paragraph! If we ever get an elected mayor, David, I hope you will consider standing for the post.
David.
This a tour de force which every civic representative in Cardiff should have to carry around with them in their jacket pockets or handbags for future reference.
I agree with most of what you say but, as a former graduate of Cardiff University, it remains my biggest disappointment that the institution has abrogated its responsibility to the Welsh nation. Cardiff should be the Trinity College Dublin of Wales and it simply isn’t.
As someone who fell in love with Cardiff the first time I came here to university in 1984 (and they say your first love lasts forever), I count myself honoured to finally be living in this great city which is a worthy capital city for our great nation.
In your Cook’s tour of the city, you forget one aspect which it is easy to miss.
When I used to come to Cardiff for rugby internationals during the 1980s, we used to queue outside the Royal Hotel at 1030am to ensure we got into the bar. Those were, of course, the pre-Walkabout days when the only people who came to Cardiff for a match were the ones who actually had a ticket as the pubs used to shut for the duration of the match!
However, one game (I believe it was the classic Wales vs Scotland when Paul Thorburn kicked a massive 70 yard penalty from his own half), I looked up from my vantage point in the queue at the buildings opposite and was literally bowled over.
What I saw was one of the great hidden treasures of Cardiff, namely the superb individual style of each and every building in St Mary Street.
Unfortunately, the modern shopfront design so out of keeping with the Victorian splendour of the buildings means that each is perceived by your commuter, shopper and nightclubber as being the same. Yet if you bother to take the time to raise your eyes above the ground floor, there is a wonder of different architectural styles that, no doubt, were far more prominent a century ago. Have a look next time and you will see exactly what I mean.
Perhaps, if the council intends to pedestrianise St Mary’s Street, then it could also look to restore these buildings to their former glory and recreate another wonder for the city of Cardiff.
Foirgive me for straying across from yesterday…
Tourists want to see art. Barcelona has Picassso and Milo galleries. People go to the city to visit them.
Cardiff has the UK’s best and largest collection of Impressionist Paintings including The Blue Parisien Girl, three lily ponds…and MORE!
Visit it soon.
Agree with all of the above – wholeheartedly. David doesn’t quite say it, but there is a civic cowardice at the heart of Cardiff, too often encouraged by disappointing administrators who would rather indulge in social engineering activities, such as bullying us out of our cars, rather than taking a strategic view of the city.
If I could take on Dylan’s point, I find it incredibly disheartening that our waterfront is abutted by unimaginative and soulless developments such as Mermaid Quay while, only a short distance behind it, some of the city’s finest buildings languish empty and unloved. For example, the ground floor of the colonnaded 111 Bute Street, an old bank, contains these incredible plaster frescos, yet the place is unused and goes unvisited from one week to the next.
Of course, plenty of businesses have moved into Mount Stuart Square (much of the city’s creative industry is found there – or was, before the recession), and they have shown that it is possible to conserve (and curate) Cardiff’s remarkable past with the modern world. The obvious exception is, of course, the Coal Exchange, whose history over the past two years should be a city-wide scandal.
This is the building that was home to Britain’s first £1m deal, where cases of the world’s finest wine were exchanged for coal passage, an institution as important to the throb of the British empire as any in London. Now, bushes grow from among its third floor, finely-carved exterior detail. First it closed, to be turned into flats. Now that’s on hold, so it opened again as a music venue (and a poor one at that, despite what sentimental crusties might claim), and now it looks like it will be developed again. What a way to treat this place, what a complete planning faff, and what a source of complete embarrassment for the whole city.
I’d like to take issue with David’s contention that the city has no museum dedicated to its history. It does – Butetown History and Arts Centre (www.bhac.org), on Bute Street opposite 111, staffed by Tiger Bay locals who are every bit as informed and opinionated as a history professor. It doesn’t cover the whole of Cardiff, as you might guess, but it is well worth a visit. Better still, why doesn’t Cardiff County Council buy up the Exchange and hand it over to BHAC to create a city-wide museum? And don’t give me any rubbish about parking – you’ll sound just like someone in charge.
PS Len is right. Converting the Exchange would also allow the National Gallery of Wales to expand. It is currently only able to exhibit a fraction of its art. We’re supposed to be a country of culture – come on!
What a great article, I have on occasion given impromptu tours of the city to visiting friends, unfortunately for them I slip into tour guide mode very easily…. What has amazed me is how hard it is to show people our treasures, for example the old Glamorgan County Hall with its fantastic moulded plaster ceilings representing the wealth of the land and the sea – seen only because a security guard gave us quick access. City Hall with its Hall of Heroes of Wales is frequently inaccessible and the Temple of Peace nearly always shut – a city that truly keeps its treasures under wrap.
A good point is made about looking above street level, some 20 years or so ago I remember the South Wales Echo running a competition where people were invited to name where the pictured feature could be found… the head of Athena on top of the Old Library was one of the ones practically no one could name… yet it is massive.
Agreed on the statues, we need more of them to represent people and not just that as fantastic works of art. I love the one in Mermaid Quay with the two people and the dog, interesting how the dog has a shiny nose as everyone seems to rub it for luck!
I don’t think I have seen a publication that just gives you a guided walk through Cardiff – surely Cardiff marketing is missing something here?
David this is epic, it should be re-published in all Wales based newsprint
I have always respected you as a politician and writer , but you would be great in lobbying
I guess the the reason this resonates is your love of Cardiff and Welsh culture really jumps out of the page.
You are right we do need to make more of the City.When I take the Danes down there they love it and see much more than I do.We take so much for granted.
This is true however for most of our small but perfectly formed country
The history and culture ,art etc. we just do not market., Cyfarthfa Castle has amazing art and an extensive collection of Egyptology
So where do we take this ,may be a serious attempt at being positive about our capital city and not knocking it , especially for those of us living north of Caerphilly
I would just like to say that this is a wonderful article and I agree with everything (and the comments). Especially about the statues. I Iove statues; more please! Can I also suggest a statue of Ifor Bach? Perhaps by the castle opposite Dempsey’s.
Dear David,
It is, of course, loved by many of us and beats other places (e.g. Helsinki which is often placed as one of the best places to visit and locate in Europe) .
Cardiff is also the best place for inward investment in the UK. Nothing touches Cardiff when companies locate here.
We are sometimes busy fools running around without focus.
We need to promote Cardiff in a focused way.
Roy
Roy J Thomas
Cardiff Business Partnership
“I have always respected you as a politician and writer , but you would be great in lobbying” says Angela.
David, please don’t enter the world of professional lobbying – you’d take all my clients!
In the 5 years I lived in Cardiff I watched good old buildings, of which we had many (Preswylfa House near where we lived on Clive Rd comes to mind, mysteriously set on fire when planning permission was rejected for new houses, then suddenly granted because there a fire had damaged the building…) bulldozed and replaced by dismal houses or office blocks Pete Seeger woudl have described as ‘little boxes’.
The great thing for me about Cardiff isn’t the world architectural gems (there aren’t many) but the huge amounts of really high quality ‘ordinary’ buildings there are or used to be: Victorian tact and functionality spread over whole streets and areas, giving one , in a sense, more of a feeling of cultural architecture than the odd great building here and there. It was as far as possible a democratic aesthetic feel, because the beauty and pleasure one got from it could be had on residential streets, school buildings , old chapels , and other essentially pragmatic architecture that didn’t sacrifice the basic need for people to live in places they can enjoy seeing.
This architecture also understood commercial needs and their aesthetic dimension: the arcades for instance – not Paris by any means, but among the best in Britain, and unique. And the market …
It’s exactly this sort of architecture (there’s a word for it in architectural terms, is it ‘vernacular’?), which creates a general feel rather than flashes of impression, which defined Cardiff and which has been gradually eroded in recent years. Other comparable cities, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, etc – stopped destroying their version of it in the 80s and began to build it all back into regeneration programmes, but Cardiff has gone on doing it.
David Melding’s fine article is basically a plea to look at what Cardiff does and is, and make the most of it, and not to pretend to be somewhere it isn’t. He’s right. Others have been saying that for years: John Lovering, Peter Finch in the Real Cardiff books, etc. but presumably because they were academics or writers no-one listened.
A lot of good stuff has gone, and the city centre’s remodelling (like the St David’s 2 building) has been a disaster (and I won’t talk about the Vulcan pub).
Cardiff university is also moot point – I’m pretty sure that if the name ‘University of the West of England’ wasn’t already taken by the ex-Poly in Bristol, Cardiff’ university’s high management would have taken it for their own.
In fact, am I right in thinking that Preswylfa house as was was once the family home of one of the great Cardiff philanthopists and collectors? Can anyone tell me?
The Cardiff I lived in gave free rein to rotten developments, bulldozer-friendly identikit builders, and turned swathes of the place into Swindon-on-Taff.
In the end the best thing about Cardiff is that it’s survived some of the dumbest redevelopment in the the UK and still remains a great city.
Inspiring article. Cardiff has come a long way and increasingly feels like a capital city. I am currently based in Swansea and when I come from here to Cardiff I am struck by the difference in wealth and vibrancy. That said, Swansea is a wonderful place too with so much potential and maybe WalesHome could have an aritcle on that at some point?
Many valleys politicians of a certain stamp seem to enjoy having a swipe at Cardiff for hogging the investment and jobs: Kim Howells, to take a most recent example, in an otherwise engaging interview on the BBC after he announced his intention to step down (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8421277.stm). State investment being concentrated in London for some reason never seems to be a problem.
One major and familiar break on the development of Cardiff you and many others of us would like to see is, of course, that transport links are so poor within Wales. Out of the M4 corridor it’s a nightmare to get around the country. We need road and rail improvements/building from Aberystwyth, the rest of mid Wales and from north Wales down to Cardiff (and Swansea), and for that matter rail to the south West beyond Swansea on a scale not hitherto envisaged. The reaction of many politicians to Ieuan Wyn Jones’ attempts to improve north-south transport show how far off the agenda this is.
More bright to create a “European capital” feel (aside from a proper parliament): I assume an underground is way beyond our aspirations and abilities in this corner of Britain in the 2010s but trams, trams, tram – get them back on the agenda; get a grip on retail opening and planning so that independent cafes and shops are given a boost; train all our craftsmen and builders in Germany and build things to last more than 20 yrs before they are pulled down and the next cheap rubbish goes up to replace them……
@ RoyJThomas – I agree Cardiff could outstrip Helsinki but I’m not sure it does now. Any particular weakesses/lessons from Helsinki?
I agree with Efrogwr that transport links need to be improved drastically, both within Wales (you can get from Cardiff to Paris faster than to Aberystwyth – and that includes the full check in time at the airport!); within the UK (e.g. links to the north of England need to be improved) and further afield (more international destinations from Cardiff airport and better links between the airport and the city centre).
To be fair public transport links within the city itself are pretty good but British standards, but we do need to build on the Valley lines network – ideally electrification – if we are going to build a coherent city-region.
I agree with David Melding that Cardiff is a great city with a great potential (as long as you avoid St Mary Street on a Saturday night!) and wish that the city leaders would show a bit more leadership in protecting and promoting its best points.
In my opinion there have been some serious mistakes – closing the maratime museum, and selling off a collection of rare C16th books are examples. I’m also not keen on the hundreds of apartments in ‘designer tower blocks’ in the bay – unsuitable for family homes, mostly owned by property speculators, and often empty as far as I can see. Conversely there is a lack of affordable quality homes, suitable for young families within the city – I believe we should be doing more to encourage Cardiff university’s graduates to make their home here.
I’m not sure about, “If you have prepared well you would have read about Cardiff’s many wonders in books like the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. Just as well, because if you relied on Welsh marketing you would be struggling” as a visiting Australian mentioned to me recently that the Lonely Planet really undersells Cardiff – he came here for a long weekend and stayed 7 months! This emphasises the need for a better marketting strategy
At the risk of my comment being longer than the original post, I would be interested in you’re thoughts on divisions within Cardiff itself – as you point out there may be a perception eslwhere that Cardiff is some sort of ‘foreign’ imposition on Wales, do you also think there may be a perception among some ‘native Cardiffians’ for want of a better phrase that the changes in the last few decades – and the influx of new residents – has meant an imposition of a different city on the one they knew. I haven’t phrased that well, but I suppose it boils down to ‘are there 2 Cardiff’s'?
I just found out that Cardiff does in fact have a city museum
http://www.cardiffmuseum.com/
Perhaps I am just not observant, but maybe the fact that I didn’t know about it says a lot about the need to market the city’s attractions better!
David – John Batchelor was an anti-slavery campaigner. He was also famous for his long running and bitter feud with prominent Welsh Tories – is your call to move his statue a continuation of this?!!
I find myself half agreeing with this article and half thinking ‘eh’*. It seems to be missing a whole section of what is actually happening and planned to happen in Cardiff.
Cardiff should of course be ambitious for itself but also as an entry point into the rest of Wales. That’s why calls for things such as the electrification of he train line (including Swansea and Newport) are so important. Multiplying (in the economic sense) the effects of that around Wales will be important. Although I don’t think I need to tell anyone the geographical challenges involved in that.
It would strike me as somewhat inaccurate to say Cardiff isn’t bidding for big events or doing big projects to promote it as a tourist destination – something more than my own party has been committed too. See last summer’s Ashes or the bid for the Commonwealth Games as prime examples. I think it would be hard to claim either of those aren’t global events.
Moreover there are plans afoot to celebrate Cardiff’s history with the Cardiff Museum telling Cardiff’s story http://www.cardiffmuseum.com/content.asp?nav=178&parent_directory_id=2. As Duncan points out some parts of the city, including those less wealthy areas such as Butetown, are already celebrating their history.
I think it’s a little harsh for David to suggest that just because his own party has leadership in an area people wouldn’t visit it. I’ve hardly seen hordes of people staying away form London since it elected Boris or Bath since it got a Tory leader. Additionally, of course, the Tories don’t and haven’t formed any part of the leadership of Cardiff Council for 20 years. So I think we can safely exclude that reason.
*for the avoidance of doubt I’m commenting in a personal capacity. I’m no longer a member of the Lib Dem Council Group in Cardiff and haven’t been for a couple of years.
An excellent post David, Cardiff needs to grow and be allowed by the rest of Wales to do so, without too much resentment for all our sakes.
And a lot of the changes you propose wouldn’t cost a lot of money either, but a lot of this has been said before and fallen on deaf ears, so until those who run Cardiff start thinking about Cardiff’s competitors as London, Edinburgh and Belfast instead of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds then our Capital City will not fulfill it’s potential.
As well as the local politicians we also our national politicians, those who don’t represent Cardiff, to not be afraid to champion the City. There seems to be an rule that only politicians who represent Cardiff can lobby on its behalf and say nice things about it which is daft.
One way for Cardiff to reach out to the rest of Wales would be to carry out some research into how all parts of Wales benefits from Cardiff growth in business, culture etc.
I understand where you are coming from, and indeed the aesthetic appeal of our capital city is important. However, in a time when there is huge unemployment and disaffection in the Valleys and rural areas, I would suggest that we should have other financial priorities than paying for more statues in an already rich city.
Not sure it is unloved by the rest of Wales. Apart from the Jacks, oh and the Valleys and, er, the North. What do Kerdiff people think of the Bay – that would be worthy of a debate. Let’s get away from the twitterings in the bubble and have someone from Splott on this blog!
This is an inspiring and fascinating article! Thank you for highlighting the aesthetic value that Welsh national statuary, monuments, museums, and public spaces play in emphasizing and promoting a distinctive Welsh national identity. What is more, in many cases these important Welsh public figures, such as anti-slavery campaigner John Batchelor and David Lloyd George, Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, had an international aspect, which should be celebrated and promoted. Cultural statues and monuments would lend much towards establishing Cardiff as a first rate capital city. There should be monuments celebrating the four principle regions of Wales, as well as Welsh contributions world wide in terms of both immigration, exploration, and Welsh contributions in promoting peaceful cooperation among nations.
Access to Cardiff from rural Wales and the valleys is of signifcant importance.
On a personal note, I would like to see a Prince Llywelyn I the Great statue in a prominent place celebrating the de jure first Prince of Wales according to historian John Davies, perhaps near the Assembly building. Also, Prince Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth and his wife Princess Gwenllain ferch Gruffydd, a pair of “Robin Hoods of Wales” according to one historian, should be commissioned and celebrated.
However, I also agree with Ali Goldsworthy and Barry in terms of the current practicality of the projects suggested
Enjoyable prose, an interesting take on Cardiff and its relationship with the wider world, just two small points:
First: “… the now waning Welsh inferiority complex. ”
I have never felt this emotion, never felt inferior, can you justify this statement.
Second… “…the Cardiff ‘bubble’ … compromised the success of devolution.”
It is not “the Cardiff ‘bubble’” that compromises devolution, it is the absence of any real opposition in Cardiff Bay, when did you ever say “No” loud enough so that the public might hear you.
A post script: why are our children receiving funding £500 less than schoolchildren in England?
Thanks to contributors for making this such an interesting thread, and especially to Ali for telling me about a Museum of Cardiff project that had completely passed me by – and others too, quite clearly. Really pleased this is going ahead.
On the matter of statues, such erections should be entirely popularly or privately funded. Certainly not a penny of Welsh Assembly Government spending should reach the projects. Let the people decide whom they wish to celebrate in stone. And I’m pretty sure sure there would be more appetite to celebrate Shirley Bassey than some ancient monarchs from over half a millennium ago who would be better off left in obscurity.
And Terry Nation is another Cardiffian who deserves proper celebration in this city. Now that would be a boost to the tourist trade.., I feel a plan coming on.
For a truly first-rate national capital in the manner you suggest, there would need to be a degree of national commitment to the projects; of course prioritized appropriately in relation to other budgetary considerations such as transportation and education. Rarely can purely private contributions deliver on the scale necessary for such capital projects. Perhaps a public-privaten venture would be in order.
I believe that the Welsh have the hungry appetite to rediscover that their country has a longer history then a few mere generations suggest, and that history does indeed stretch “over half millennium” and longer. Given the exploits of these “ancient monarchs”, and others, I doubt that the Welsh people would wish them to remain in “obscurity”, an “obscurity” at least from the perspective of those who do not know of them. Clearly there is a place for Dame Shirley, but so too is there a place for Llywelyn the Great.
An excellent piece from Geraint Talfan Davies over on the IWA blog today, which takes as its theme the John Batchelor statue and provides a rather engaging and pertinent analysis of the man in question and the controversy which the statue caused:
http://www.iwa.org.uk/blog/2010/01/praising-famous-men-in-bronze.html
I like Cardiff. It’s just a pity that it’s so far away when you’re dependent on public transport. But there’s more to it than transport links.Cardiff doesn’t sell itself to the rest of Wales. I can count the members of my family who have been to Cardiff on one hand and still have fingers left over, and that’s out of 30+ working class North Walians who don’t follow rugby, opera, politics or frequent Eisteddfods.
But in that respect Cardiff is like anywhere else in Wales: we seem to be unable to sell Wales to the Welsh, and when I say “we” and “unable” I mean “the media” and “unwilling”.
Turn on BBC Wales (1 or 2) on any week day morning/early afternoon and we’re plagued by middle-class English programmes about buying houses, renovating houses, selling houses, raiding houses for antiques etc etc etc. How about something aimed at a Welsh audience about where they can go and what they can do with their money in Wales?
Just a thought.
And the debate on statues makes its way to the South Wales Echo too, where Russell Goodway decides to take issue with David Melding and statues:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2010/01/18/friend-of-freedom-facing-capture-91466-25622923/
Feel free to continue the debate, people of Cardiff and beyond
I disagree with David on the points about statues. Firstly, having a statue of John Batchelor is just as important as having a statue of international figures like Lloyd George or Ivor Novello. (Love the Novello statue by the way)
David describes Cardiff as a great Victorian city. Batchelor’s statue stands in honour of some of the qualities that made Victorian cities great – industrialism, philanthropy, civic engagement and a desire to create attractive cities decorated with public art. Recognising local figures such as Batchelor is as important as promoting the big-hitters. People like Batchelor up and down the country made their cities unique and honouring them publicly (and visibly) helps to continue that tradition of individuality in cities.
Nowadays we would never build a statue to recognise a local industrialist (and I doubt many councils would get away with building a statue of their leader or mayor) which makes me think that these things should be cherished all the more. Statues like that are a thing of the past, a historical curiosity – and I would say that the fact it is there at all is just as important as the person it represents.
So I think Batchelor should stay where he is. Moving Lloyd George to a more prominent position is not a bad idea though. However, St David is more than adequetely covered – in street names, buildings, pubs – and now two of Cardiff’s shopping centres. A statue of St David is a terrible idea!
However, I know that there was once a plan to get a statue of Jim Callaghan built and put up in Callaghan Square. Anyone know what, if anything, came of this plan?
So that’s it then: Cardiff is to be a tourist destination and to fulfil that remit needs statues.
Nice idea, clear message, adds value, brings in visitors and makes money. Great sense.
But what else is Cardiff, because it’s only by knowing what it “is” or what we want it to be can we make plans to give it the tools for the job. In the case of the tourism role the tools include statues/guides and museums.
If we want it to be a financial capital then we will need a Bourse.
To be an international business hub we may need tax regimes to appeal to entrepreneurs.
To be a regional (European) transport hub will require an accessible airport that has destinations as opposed to being a destination in its own right.
But at the moment we only seem to have the requirement to be an occasional sports venue, a regular boozing centre and a shoppers haven.
This it a city that really could, should and must do better.
Where is the vision for what this place ought to be? Where is the Leadership, the thought leadership and please the Mayoral role in all this?
I’m amazed that people can become so excited by the thought of more statues in the streets of Cardiff. Why worry about unemployment ,poverty and ill health when you can have the statue of a monk from the Dark Ages on a street corner. I suppose the more statues we have the more chance for various objects to be placed on the famous person cast in stone of bronze for posterity. I’m sure that Nye Bevan would have found it amusing to see his finger adorned with a condom or coat hanger. He also looks very fetching with a traffic cone on his head. As for Lloyd George his out stretched hand often looks far more impressive with a bucket on the end. Good old John Batchelor can often be seen with a bottle of beer in his hands.
My nomination for a statue would be Two Ton Tessie O Shea. Who knows Wales could become the world centre for statue production with a Minister for Statues. It could even become a key element in the manufacturing strategy still I understand in draft form at the Assembly.
Very interesting article. Whilst I don’t agree with everything that is said here, Cardiff doesn’t sell it’s cultural offer very well. The (then) Economic Scrutiny Committee did some work on this (2006 Competitiveness of Cardiff report) and although the report was over 3 years ago, I think that much of what it says is still very relevant. Have a particular look at Key Findings 8, 28 and Recommendations 7 and 12 (although 12 may be controversial for some!).
The report can be found at http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ObjView.asp?Object_ID=5753
A terrific piece by David Melding, although it’s a bit tough on poor old John Batchelor, whose statue David would love to displace. Batchelor’s tale is a fascinating one that casts an unexpected light on our libel laws. For the full details visit the IWA blog.
A very stimulating article. I’m sorry to be picky, but it was Scottish more than English money that created Cardiff. Having said that, the Butes were Brits more than anything.
As someone who moved to Cardiff several years ago to find work, I believe the strength of Cardiff to be its constant changing dynamics. Although you mention its roman history, the city has only really been in existence since the early part of the 19th Century and was little more than a village and swamp before then. How it has changed, influenced world events (the coal capital), integrated communities from across the globe and re-invented itself into a modern European capital, are its strengths. I have never heard of anyone coming to a city to see a statue but believe that the soon to open Cardiff museum is long overdue.
It concerns me when people talk about a city but then make little mention of its residents. I would like to see David’s article expanded to talking about the city communities, both from a historical and current perspective. In this area, Cardiff can hold its head high with any European capital. However, the biggest mistake of the city re-development was to destroy the Butetown community-in re-developing the Bay. The cynical manner in which the Bay Corporation segregated them from the new residents will always stick in my throat.
As devolution develops, I believe that Cardiff will become a more popular capital for the people of Wales. It’s simply a great place to live and work.
Why not erect statues to famous Cardiff residents who have left and never came back . Makes absolute sense to me.
Michael,
A fair point, but Cardiff in 2010 gives the option for many who would normally leave Wales, to stay here. I suspect that is a good point for any capital.
Ian, can’t but help agree with you over Butetown, a community first dispersed and demolished in the 60′s removing squares and houses now that people would kill to renovate and preserve and then betrayed by the 90s redevelopment that saw them surrounded by gated communities. I would love to know how many Assembly members have left their offices to speak to the community that still survives in Butetown. I know some have – but how many?
How anyone can believe that Cardiff’s wealth in the 19 th century was due to ‘Scottish’ money is incredible.
The Butes wealth was based on the fact that through marriage they inherited large tracks of land in South Wales which contained coal. Some of the coal they exploited themselves whilst leasing out the rights to mine to others who were often Welsh. They also had a virtual monopoly of the main export port for the coal until David Davies came along. They became mutli millionaires on the backs of those who really did the work in the depths of the mines and in the appalling working conditions of the docks. It had absolutely nothing to do with any entrepreneurial ability on their part. That was often provided by native Welsh men.
Powell Dyffryn wasn’t nicknamed Poverty and Death for nothing. I always laugh at that stylised statue of the miner by the Capital shopping centre. It really portrays what life was like for my ancestors who slaved for peanuts in order to allow others to buy Renoir paintings and build fantasy castles.
Perhaps a far better statue would be my great grandfather being brought home dead on a door after being killed in the local mine in 1904. My grandmother wasn’t even a year old. All this nostalgia for the past hides the reality I’m afraid.
Old Butetown wasn’t just a multi racial community it was also until the early 1960s the base where young women because of poverty were forced to become prositutes. Where the middle classes now pay a week’s wages for a meal the working classes from the valleys particularly on a Saturday night after a Cardiff City game drank before going with ‘a lady of the night.’
My late father often told me of the talk in the pit on a Monday after the night out down the Bute . It might have been chapel on a Sunday but for many it was down the Bute on a Saturday and then catch the Rodney train home to respectabilty.
There should be 5 statues in Cardiff. A Miner, Steelworker, Railwayman and a docker. No Shirley Bassey, No Tom Jones, or Marquess of Bute. And on top of it the mother who kept those families going.
The Butes did not contribute anything to Cardiff in the same way the Chamberlains did to Birmingham.
David Melding’s essay was well meaning but somehow I think it deserved the Ire that it received from Russell Goodway and the ridicule from Jeff Jones.
I grew up in Cardiff and my family came from the west country and Swansea during the 19th Century. My great great grandmother was turfed of her farm in St Mellons by Sir Charles Morgan because her late husband voted Liberal in the 1840s.
Also I have American step children who have visited Cardiff and had no desire to visit statues. Cardiff needs to market itself more to those overseas.
Many posts seemed to come from Cardiffians coming to its defence …. and I think missing the point.
I am a north east Welshman, living in Anglesey who has lived and worked in London and Bristol.
Cardiff for me has been:
a) The place where, as young Welsh child, I was taken to stand outside where the Commonwealth Games was happening. I didn’t rate in the same way as the holiday in London as a civic education for a boy from Ffynnongroew. In 1956 it had little meaning as a national capital.
b) an inconvenient place to get to when I had to attend meetings of (WJEC, WDA, S4C, WTB…………) and somewhat resentful of it – and having to rush down St Mary’s to get a seat on that train north (to avoid the change at Crewe)
c) A pleasant place to deliver and collect my daughter from Uni and her early posts in hospitals – a city I would gladly spend more time in.
I have a long history of inter-regional collaboration. It is easier for me to work on knowledge transfer programmes with anywhere else in Europe than it is to collaborate with anyone in Cardiff. I am currently working with Wales European Funding support with Dublin – and I am off to project start meetings in Barcelona and Helsinki next month. There does seem to be a marked lack of incentive to do similar kind of activity with Cardiff.
I think it is a national issue for us to find ways to love Cardiff but moreover for Cardiff to love the rest of us- and living there or having lived there should not be a qualification. Although ArrivaTrains have made things better, transport will remain a big problem.
Broadcast and new media ( cheers Wales Home) can make a significant contribution too- and full marks to the Welsh National Theatre.
It takes time to be a capital city. It needs a great art gallery. The national museum was never designed for picture hanging. It needs a great Library, where is it?
You describe Cardiff ‘ the More vital still is the need to recognise Cardiff for what it is: Britain’s greatest Victorian-Edwardian city. Cardiff is to Victorian architecture what Dublin is to Georgian.’
It has not got the amount of Architecture here to qualify your assertions.
What Cardiff has got is modernity, a lib dem council and improved cycle networks.
You want tourist trade more for Wales…the way your party voted on the badger cull , including you will put off tourists and a perception of Wales as an agrarian land not in tune with modern ways of doing things.
Calm down Jeff, it was a tongue in cheek comment. Cardiff largely exists because of the Marquis of Bute who did indeed inherit land in the coalfield and so Cardiff was built largely on the toil of the valley communities -and we can all relate to that, including myself.
Mind you, if the tunnel under Caerphilly mountain had not been built, maybe Newport would be our capital.
I’d like to preface this with the fact that I don’t live in Wales and was only resident for four years when at uni in Newport (my own fault, the Caerleon campus looked so idyllic in summer when I visited it)… but still…
I haven’t read every single post under this, but I really have to agree that transportation is nightmarish in Wales. How the hell can a person get from Llangollen to Cardiff easily? Is it possible? I may be a dreamer but I think Wales needs a north/south railway that doesn’t have to creep up the west coast or hop over into England to function.
Ach, it’d cost a bomb but if you really want all of Wales to benefit from a stronger Cardiff, then surely they need to be connected. Not just by randomly timed buses coughing their way along curving mountainous roads…
I think a Holyhead-Dublin railway tunnel would be bloody marvellous. Imagine being able to travel from Wales to the Republic by train. Or from Dublin to Paris for that matter…
And a tunnel from Belfast to Glasgow/Edinburgh via Stranraer… But then I love trains.
Course, knowing our transport systems, you’d have to remortgage your house to buy a ticket….
What’s more, I think a Holyhead-Dublin railway tunnel would be bloody marvellous. Imagine being able to travel from Wales to the Republic by train. Or from Dublin to Paris for that matter…
And a tunnel from Belfast to Glasgow/Edinburgh via Stranraer… But then I love trains.
Course, knowing our transport systems, you’d have to remortgage your house to buy a ticket….
Thank you for such an interesting read on this Friday afternoon. I agree with a lot of what you say, especially about the marketing of Cardiff. Personally, I love the ‘Diff. I even have the t-shirt to prove it. Just doing my bit!
This may well be unfair, but I think that Cardiff’s profile which seems to have risen dramatically in line with its progress as a cultural hub and improvements (in line with all UK cities during the boom years) has occurred in spite and not as a result of the tourist board and any marketing campaigns. When speaking to non-Cardiff and non-Welsh friends of friends (in the 28-35 age group) about my hometown most have either been to Cardiff and rate it, or have heard only good things about the place.
In terms of being unloved by the Welsh, I think this is largely untrue except on a petty, superficial level (after all, Cardiff for all its Englishness and ‘foreigners’ is filled with Welsh people from all around Wales). But I agree that Cardiff – which after all only exists because of coal from the valleys – needs to ‘bring Wales along with it’ if it is to be the successful young capital it clearly aspires to be. Whether this will be achieved through actual action or sheer rhetoric is another matter.
As for buildings, Cardiff has some lovely ones, true. I do sometimes just stop and look up when on St Mary Street and admire what we so often ignore or take for granted. But I have to question the claim that Cardiff’s architectural delights – aside from the arcades that are this city’s gems – make it Britain’s greatest Victorian-Edwardian city. We may not need to row about this, however: I perceive that it wouldn’t suit the prevailing mentality of the people marketing Cardiff to promote it as Britain’s anything.