A Walk Around Rhiwbina Garden Village Diary
Written on August 12th 2010
Written by Duncan Hockridge, 71 year old retired from Rhiwbina, Cardiff.
There are so many flower displays around the village I thought I should just spend an hour walking around and taking some photographs of these and any other interesting features. So here goes. There is now a new Farmers Market which is held every fortnight in the rear car park of one of the local public houses (Ye Old Butchers Arms). To help with the advertising I have made some sandwich boards on which I have displayed A3 size adverts about the market. I have put these board around the village. The first photograph shows one on these boards.
The second photograph is of the Rhiwbina Civic Society's new Community Notice Board which I made and erected on the pine end of our local SPAR supermarket in Heol Llanishen Fach. Both the owner of the shop and the tenant gave the Society permission to have the board placed on their premises. I have made two other boards and the Society is waiting to provide funds to apply for the relevent planning permission for the opther two locations. At present it costs £330 to apply for each permission. On the board at present one of the notices is advertising an Indian musical and food evening which is to take place this Saturday in the Rhiwbina Memorial Hall. Our local churches also provide very nice floral displays.
This next photograph is of the flower bed alongside the entrance to Bethany Baptist Church, in Heol Llanishen Fach.
The next photogrpah is the floral display around a street name board which has been provided by the residents of the street. Two years ago this street won an award in the Cardiff In Bloom competition. The next photograph shows the floral displays on the railings around the main traffic junction in the centre of the village. These displays are provided by the local Cardiff Council but the displays are watered and maintained throughout the 3 month period they are there by a number of local residents on a weekly rota. basis.
The next photograth is of the floral display provided by the shop owner which does make her premises more inviting to the residents and must help her business.
The next photograph is again one of the displays provided by a number of the owners in the Heol Y Deri parade of shops. Each shop owner looks after the flowers in front of his/her shop. The first shop in the photograph is the Juboraj Indian restaurant which has won many awards for its food. The owner of the Juboraj is a good supporter of all the village events taking place particularly during the July Rhiwbina Festival which takes place each year.
The next photograph is of the floral displays outside the local cold food Indian takeway, The Indian Gate, with the owner standing proudly outside. He told me he spends more time on the flowers than making his popadoms! At the rear of Canolfan Beulah (that is the meeting rooms of Beulah Church) in Pantbach Road there is a secret garden where the public can enter and enjoy the peace and garden surroundings. This photograph shows the garden tribute.
The next photogaph whilst not of flowers shows the new public waiting shelter on our local Rhiwbina Railway station. One can see that it is waiting for some floral displays to brighten it up and make it more welcoming for travellers. We shall have to work on that I suspect. The other two photographs shows the view from the platform looking towards the west (Whitchurch) and then to the east (towards Cardiff). Although overgrown I think that the greenery each side of the railway is quite attractive. You will note that the track is only single. The guage of the line is the standard Brunel one of 4 foot, eight and a half inches. The line was opened in 1912 and was then known as The Cardiff Railway. Even our local public houses enter into the spirit of providing floral displays and this next photograph is in the front of the Butchers Arms in Heol Y Felin (Mill Road). Many years ago this pub was also owned by the owner of a local Corn Mill which has now been demolished and a modern housing estate has been built on the land.
The next photgraph is of the only un-made up road in the village named Gernant. The houses surronding the green central area all look after the road area to make it attractive.
The next photograph is of one of the very nice bugalows alongside that road. Again note the lovely floral displays along the front of the property.
The next photoraph is of the front garden of a property in Lon Isa within the Garden Village area. The next three photogaphs have been taken in Clos Cromwell where I live. The first is of one of the floral displays some of the residents provide and maintain around the trees on the road verge areas. The others are in the front and rear gardens of my house together with the flowers along the drive. I do hope that this brief diary will give you some idea of the attractiveness of our village and hope that one day some of you readers will come and visit the area when next in the South Wales area. You will be made very welcome.
