Penarth to Bath

Saturday 13 August

The hotel provided views of the Cardiff docks area.

Before we left Wales we drove to Penarth for some family history exploring. First we went for a walk along the cliffs

then drove along Wordsworth Avenue taking some atmospheric photos

before trying to locate the location of the toll gate near the river. Unfortunately there is no apparent indication of the location of where the toll gate once stood.

We then drove to Bath and after checking into the hotel went for a walk around the city following the City Trail brochure. Sites included Royal Crescent,

King's Circus,

Assembly Rooms, St Swithin's Church,

Building of Bath Collection, Guildhall,

Great Pultenay Street, Pultenay Bridge, North Parade Bridge,

Bath Abbey,

Roman Baths and Pump Room and Theatre Royal .

The walk helped us better to understand the layout of Bath as well as provide an introduction to the city.

Dinner was at Jamie's Italian restaurant and was delicious.

Cardiff and Penarth

Thursday 11 August
Drove to Monmouth in Wales to spend part of the day with Marilyn, discuss family history etc. We then continued to Cardiff.

Friday 12 August
Another grey overcast day with occasional drizzle but fine at first so decided to explore Bute Street while the weather held.

Census records show that members of Robin's family lived in Bute Street and Bute Street West and also in James Street so we set out to explore this area and parts of the docks where some of the men were employed.

We then visited the Bute Street History and Arts Centre and spoke to Mari, a PhD student at Cardiff University writing a thesis on Bute Street and the wharves. She located information about The Ship Inn once owned by one family member.

Mari recommended that we visit the Pierhead Building  for an exhibition on the area including an excellent short film on the history of the wharf area. When we were in Cardiff the building was being renovated and covered with scaffolding. The Pierhead Building  has been a significant building in the Cardiff Bay docks area since 1897. The guide recommended a walk around the dock area and when we said that we planned to visit Penarth she told us how to walk there via the barrages - an interesting walk.

Once at Penarth we walked up the hill

 

and then down to the Penarth Pier where we ate a chip butty before returning to Cardiff.

Cardiff flourished during the nineteenth century largely due to the exportation of coal. It was an extremely busy port. Information boards on the barrages provide an account of the activities.