Blog City Cardiff Heart of Wales

Cardiff's wonderful natural harbour made it a natural choice for human habitation, and indeed, people have been living here for at least six millennia. Yet for much of its recent history Cardiff did not stand out from the other Welsh towns and it was by no means clear it would one day rise to become the its cultural, political and economic heart of Wales. The people living here were a tribe called the Silures who left behind few buildings but some ornate burial chambers. When the Romans arrived they set about building up the area into a bustling legionary town. Part of the walls of their fort are still visible today, incorporated into the castle's walls. Yet after the collapse of Roman rule, the same easy access to the sea that made Cardiff such an appealing location also made it dangerous. Saxon and later Viking raiders roamed the coasts, attacking the city and apparently causing it to become depopulated. Finally in 1091, the new Norman Lord of Glamorgan set about building the castle we see today atop the ruins of the Roman fort. Reaching a population of 2,000 by the late Middle Ages, Cardiff was then the largest town in Wales, though small compared to many in England. It would continue on as a sleepy market town and port until the Industrial Revolution, when the discovery of new applications for coal changed everything. The man credited with creating modern Cardiff was John Crichton Stuart, the 2nd Marquess of Bute. He set about building up the docks in Cardiff Bay and linking them by railway to the Welsh hinterlands so rich in coal. These steps caused the city's population to explode and the Marquess of Bute to become very wealthy indeed. New docks at Penarth, as well as the Roath and Queen Alexandra docks led Welsh coal exports to soar to new highs—some 10.7 million tons at their peak in 1913. Following the war the importance of Cardiff's coal exports suddenly began to decline. Ships everywhere were switching to oil while inter-war Germany flooded Europe with cheap coal. Cardiff's fortunes were fading before the Great Depression even hit. Unemployment soared and much of the dock areas began to fall into disrepair. This was only exacerbated by German bombing in the Second World War. Coal export finally ceased altogether in 1964. The lone bright spot was when Cardiff was designated capital of Wales in 1955, beating out Caernarfon. Wales had never had a capital before and Cardiff was chosen partly because it already hosted a number of Welsh institutions and partly because of the electoral politics of the time. As the Encyclopedia of Wales points out, the choice of Cardiff "had more to do with the fact that it contained marginal Conservative constituencies than any reasoned view of what functions a Welsh capital should have." The city's status as capital has had a number of effects, most notably the establishment of the Welsh National Assembly in the modern Senedd building. Cardiff's economy has rebounded spectacularly, aided by a massive docklands regeneration project, and now the people living there have one of the highest standards of living in the United Kingdom. Tourists flock to the city from all over the world while global shows like Doctor Who have set up shop in the city. The Then photos of central Cardiff come from the Cardiffians photography history page, while those of Cardiff Bay come from Ben Salter's Fluidr Page. I took the Now photos in April 2015.

Then and Now Photos