Cardiff Bay

It's the name of a Martyn Joseph song, and it's also seen often in Torchwood and Dr Who! Cardiff Bay is pretty impressive even in the monsoon rains we experienced while we were there for the Ballad Conference!!

In this picture we have the remains of the coal industry, the new Welsh assembly, the old dock buildings, and sneaking out of the rear is the dome of the Millenium Centre. The wooden structures in the water were part of the equipment for taking coal off trucks and into ships for export.

The dock building looks like a red palace!

This stunning brick and terracotta building facing the Cardiff Docks was opened in 1897 as the headquarters of the Cardiff Railway Company (formerly the Bute Docks Company). The 2nd and 3rd Marquesses of Bute were the men who made Cardiff. The 2nd Marquis was of Scots descent and born there in 1793. His father, Lord Mountstuart, moved to Wales after acquiring massive estates there through his marriage to Charlotte Windsor. He commissioned the building of the docks on the Bay and his son was the man who rebuilt Cardiff Castle in the 19th century.

The Millenium Centre opened in 2004, designed to be a landmark for cultural and artistic events. Its stunning design which has a bit of a nod to Glasgow's 'Armadillo' is often seen on telly now because of Russell T Davies' influence on Dr Who and Torchwood.

The spooky thing about the front of the building is no matter where I took photos from, the english motto In these stones, horizons sing shines out at you!! The Welsh is a grander expression of the same sentiment. I think it's lovely.

Here are the words to Martyn Joseph's song:

Took my son and his tear stained face out of Sunday School
As Chapel Hymns began to fade away
Left his mother with the other as we drove across our town
Going to the place where the seagulls and the cranes play
On a Sunday over Cardiff Bay

This is one day of our lives
And on a Sunday over Cardiff Bay
Know that I love youAll of my life
And the old man in the side street he made you smile
Waved at us both so we both waved back
Down on through Bute Street to the mud of the low tide
They tear the old things down my son, but some things stay the same
On a Sunday over Cardiff Bay

This is one day of our lives
And on a Sunday over Cardiff Bay
Know that I love you
All of my life

Saw Captain Scott on the Terranova
Setting sail for open sea
And maybe one day when you're older
You'll come down this way and think of me
It'll be a Sunday over Cardiff Bay

Just one day of your life
And on that Sunday over Cardiff Bay
Know that I loved you.
On a Sunday over Cardiff Bay
This is one day of our lives
And on a Sunday over Cardiff Bay
Know that I love you
I hope that's alright…
All of my life…

Lovely...