Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and

freshwater lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The site of a former tidal

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, it serves as the

river mouth A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river, a lake/reservoir, a bay/gulf, a sea, or an ocean. At the river mouth, sediments are often deposited due to the slowing of the current reducing the carrying ...

of the River Taff and Ely. The body of water was converted into a lake as part of a

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

redevelopment project, involving the damming of the rivers by the Cardiff Bay Barrage in 1999. The barrage impounds the rivers from the Severn Estuary, providing flood defence and the creation of a permanent non-tidal

high water Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tabl ...

lake with limited access to the sea, serving as a core feature of the redevelopment of the area in the 1990s. Surrounding the lake is a area of redeveloped former derelict docklands which shares its name. The area is situated between

Cardiff city centre Cardiff city centre ( cy, Canol Dinas Caerdydd) is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway st ...

and Penarth, in the communities of

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

and Grangetown. Its waterfront is home to notable attractions, in particular regarding Welsh politics; with devolved institutions such as the Senedd building (housing the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament), Pierhead Building and Tŷ Hywel; and cultural attractions including the Wales Millennium Centre and Norwegian Church. The presence of devolved institutions in Cardiff Bay has led to its name's use as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

for devolved Welsh politics. According to

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were establishe ...

, the creation of Cardiff Bay is regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The 'bay' was formerly tidal, with access to the sea limited to a couple of hours each side of high water but now provides 24-hour access through three locks. The Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve is situated along the northern edge of the lake, on the site of a former

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

History

On 15 June 1910 the Terra Nova Expedition left the Roath Basin in Cardiff's docklands and headed south to Antarctica. On board were Captain Robert Falcon Scott and members of his British Antarctic Expedition, who aimed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scott's entire party of five died on the return journey from the pole. Cardiff Bay played a major part in

’s development by being the means of exporting

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

from the South Wales Valleys to the rest of the world, helping to power the industrial age. The

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

industry helped fund the building of

into the capital city of Wales and helped the Third Marquis of Bute, who owned the docks, become the richest man in the world at the time. As Cardiff exports grew, so did its population; dockworkers and sailors from across the world settled in neighbourhoods close to the docks, known as Tiger Bay, and communities from up to 50 different nationalities, including Norwegian,

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

, Yemeni, Greek, Spanish, Italian,

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

and Irish helped create the unique multicultural character of the area. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

most of the industry closed down and the area became a neglected part of Cardiff, a wasteland of derelict docks and mudflats. Social exclusion of the area's inhabitants rose and Cardiff Bay had above average levels of unemployment. But, in 1999, new life was injected into the area by the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage, one of the most controversial building projects of the day but also one of the most successful.

Development

Cardiff Bay prior to the building of the Cardiff Bay Barrage

The

Cardiff Bay Development Corporation The Cardiff Bay Development Corporation was set up by the United Kingdom Government on 3 April 1987 to redevelop one sixth of the area of Cardiff to create Cardiff Bay. Objectives The Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards set out the ...

(CBDC) was created in 1987 to stimulate the redevelopment of 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of derelict land. The Development Corporation aimed to attract private capital by spending public money to improve the area. Despite opposition by

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

s and wildlife organisations, the mudflats at the mouths of the River Taff and River Ely were inundated, with loss of habitat for wading birds. The Barrage has created several new habitats for freshwater species with the wetlands to the south of the Hamadryad Park. When the Development Corporation was wound up in on 31 March 2000, it had achieved many of its objectives. The whole area was unrecognisable from ten years before. Much private land was now open to the public, particularly around the inner harbour and the north side of Roath basin. Work is progressing to complete a 13 kilometre walkway around the bay. In addition, the development has enabled land in the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

to be redeveloped for higher-value uses. The development of "something like 1,250 apartments a year" however might cause future problems. As at 2008 up to one third were not occupied. Critics such as

Lorraine Barrett Lorraine Jayne Barrett (born 18 Mar 1950) is a former Welsh Labour & Co-operative Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Cardiff South and Penarth and an Assembly Commissioner from 2007 until 2011. Barrett publicly announced in February ...

( AM Labour, Cardiff South and Penarth) say, the flat complexes will not help to build up a community and too little attention has been paid to develop affordable housing. With the recent falls in property values, sales in the area have become problematic. Therefore, landlords might be more willing to rent their places out to "people who may not be suited to that type of living." Connecting the bay area to the centre of Cardiff was a primary goal when plans to develop the docklands were first mooted. Original plans included a grand boulevard (similar to where Lloyd George Avenue is located now) with high-density commercial and residential units straddling both sides. This would have created significant demand for quality public transport provisions facilitating connections to the new Bay area but public transport was often of poor quality and, but there are now much-improved connections through the Cardiff Bus

BayCar Baycar (also styled as baycar) is a bus service in Cardiff, serving the city centre and Cardiff Bay. The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network, but is unique in that the entire Baycar bus system includes its own branded vehicles ...

service and rail service from

Cardiff Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Cardiff Queen St. (19366639218).jpg , caption = Cardiff Queen Street seen from the north. , borough = Cardiff, City and County of Cardiff , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name = ...

Cardiff Bay railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Cardiff Bay Railway Station (geograph 6004274).jpg , caption = Cardiff Bay railway station (May 2018) , borough = Cardiff Bay, Cardiff , country = Wales , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid ...

. On 30 January 2013 the planning consultant, Adrian Jones, stated that Cardiff Bay was a contender for the "worst example of waterside regeneration in Britain".

Notable buildings

Pierhead Building and Senedd, Cardiff Bay

St David's Hotel

The St David's Hotel & Spa is a 5-star luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

with commanding views of the bay and Penarth. Built by Rocco Forte in 2000, the hotel was sold in 2007, to Principal-Haley hotels.

The Pierhead Building

The Pierhead was built in 1897 and designed by

William Frame William Frame was an English architect. Life and works Frame was born at Melksham, Wiltshire in 1848. Training as an architect, he was articled firstly to William Smith of Trowbridge, he then became assistant to John Prichard of Llandaff. In 1 ...

, who studied under

William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...

It was formerly the headquarters of the Bute Dock Company, later the Cardiff Railway Company, and then the head office for the Great Western Railway. Today it is part of the Senedd estate and is used as an event and conference venue, it is also a Grade I listed building.

Senedd building

The Senedd building is the building that hosts the Senedd's debating chamber and committee rooms.

Wales Millennium Centre

The Wales Millennium Centre is home to the Welsh National Opera.

Norwegian Church

The Norwegian Church Arts Centre, is a rescued historic wooden church that was rebuilt in 1992 and operates as a registered self funded not for profit charity. It is managed by

Cardiff Harbour Authority Cardiff Harbour Authority (CHA) is the managing authority for Cardiff Bay under the Cardiff Bay Barrage Act 1993, and was established on 1 April 2000. It took over responsibility from Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and is responsible for ...

and is as a venue for small concerts, art exhibitions, conferences, meetings and celebrations. When living in Cardiff as a child, the famous children's author Roald Dahl attended this church.

Craft in the Bay

A refurbished Victorian dockside building houses Craft in the Bay, the home of the Makers Guild in Wales.

Techniquest

Techniquest Techniquest is a science discovery centre located in Cardiff Bay. It gives visitors a hands-on approach to science and includes a science theatre, a planetarium, and an exhibition space with over 100 interactive exhibits aimed at visitors of all ...

is an educational science & discovery centre, which also includes a science theatre and planetarium.

Roald Dahl Plass

Roald Dahl Plass is a large open amphitheatre style plaza frequently used as a venue for carnivals and festivals all year round.

Mermaid Quay

Mermaid Quay In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

comprises a mix of restaurants, bars, cafés, shops and services located on the waterfront.

The Tube (Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre)

Dismantled in 2010, this unique building "single-handedly put Cardiff on the architectural map", housing exhibitions and visitor information.

Water-based attractions

* Cardiff Bay Barrage – accessible via the Water Bus and by road, and free to explore and also has guided tours. * Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve – reserve home to rare birds and a boardwalk leading to a viewing platform. * Cardiff Bay Yacht Club – located at the Cardiff International Sports Village, RYA Training centre and one of the largest yacht clubs in the UK * Cardiff International Pool. *

Cardiff International White Water Cardiff International White Water ( cy, Dŵr Gwyn Rhyngwladol Caerdydd) is an Olympic standard white water rafting centre based at the Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay. The centre opened on 26 March 2010, after taking two year ...

. * Cardiff Rowing Centre – located in Channel View Centre. *

Cardiff Sailing Centre Cardiff Sailing Centre ( cy, Canolfan Hwylio Caerdydd) is a Cardiff Council run watersports facility based on Cardiff Bay Barrage in Cardiff Bay. The centre runs dinghy & keelboat sailing, windsurfing, powerboat and other shore-based courses. ...

– A council run watersports & RYA Training Centre based on Cardiff Bay Barrage. *

Cardiff Waterbus The Cardiff Waterbus is a water bus service operated along the River Taff in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Services are operated by 4 separate companies, Cardiff Cats Ltd (operating as Cardiff Waterbus), Cardiff Cruises Ltd, Cardiff Boats Lt ...

– which offers a public transport service and tourist cruises. * Ice Arena Wales – ice rink in the Cardiff International Sports Village. *

Queen Alexandra Dock Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...

Commercial and residential

* Style-conscious shops, bars and restaurants at

. * Cardiff Bay Retail Park * Mischief's Cafe Bar, a cafe bar and live music venue. * The Coal Exchange, formally a music venue, but due to be developed into a hotel and museum. * The Mount Stuart, a

Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It ...

Pub situated in an 1880s, former dock building. * Cardiff International Sports Village, which includes Ice Arena Wales and Cardiff International Pool. * The

Red Dragon Centre The Red Dragon Centre is an indoor entertainment complex in southern Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally known as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village when it opened in August 1997. The complex features restaurants, cafés, a Hollywo ...

(formerly ''Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village''), a leisure and entertainment complex.

Appearances in the media

Cardiff Bay was used as the high-tech urban setting for the '' Doctor Who'' episode "

Boom Town A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...

" and the show's spinoff, '' Torchwood'', whose makers deliberately avoided stereotypical portrayals of Wales in order to portray Cardiff as the modern urban centre it is today. In ''Torchwood'' series, there is a giant secret base underneath the bay, named "The Hub", from where the Torchwood team works. There is also a lift from the hub into the plaza with a perception filter making anyone who stands on the spot "not noticed". In the third series of Torchwood entitled "Children Of Earth", Cardiff Bay was the centre of a bomb explosion, destroying the Torchwood Hub and Cardiff Bay. Roald Dahl Plass features prominently. In the episode "

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island soc ...

", the Plass is home to a rift that the Doctor uses to refuel his TARDIS. The ''Doctor Who'' episode " The Runaway Bride" made use of office buildings in Cardiff Bay.

Transport

is northeast of Mermaid Quay and is served by shuttle services to Cardiff Queen Street railway station. Cardiff Bus operates the following services to the bay: *1 – ''Bay Circle clockwise'': Grangetown-Leckwith-Canton-Fairwater-Llandaff-Gabalfa-Heath-Penylan-Roath-Tremorfa-Central Station *2 – ''Bay Circle anticlockwise'': as above but reversed *6 – ''

Baycar Baycar (also styled as baycar) is a bus service in Cardiff, serving the city centre and Cardiff Bay. The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network, but is unique in that the entire Baycar bus system includes its own branded vehicles ...

'': Queen Street station via Central Station *8 – City Centre via Grangetown *11 – Pengam Green via Central Station and Tremorfa *35/36 – Gabalfa via Central Station, Cathays and Heath The bay lies off the A4232 before the Butetown tunnels and is linked to the city centre by Lloyd George Avenue, Bute Street and the Central Link Road. The Pont y Werin pedestrian and cycle bridge opened in July 2010, completing a six and a half-mile circular route around Cardiff Bay and Penarth. A cycle hire system, similar to those in other large cities, launched in September 2009, and includes 70 bikes and 35 hire points (initially seven) around the centre and the south of the city. The current stations are: Central Station; Cardiff Bay Station; County Hall; Cardiff Bay Visitors’ Centre; Churchill Way; City Hall and eastern Queen Street. It is necessary to register before using bike. The first half an hour is free after which a small hourly fee is payable. Under the

South Wales Metro The South Wales Metro () is an integrated heavy rail, light rail and bus-based public transport services and systems network in South East Wales around the hub of . The first phase was approved for development in October 2013. Works are current ...

Scheme, 3 new metro stations are due to be built in the area, serving a new Cardiff Bay, Roath Lock & Porth Tiegr.

Gallery

References

External links

Cardiff Harbour Authority

EduWiki Conference 2013
{{Navboxes, list1= {{Cardiff {{Landmarks and Visitor Attractions in Cardiff {{Economy and Industry of Cardiff {{Economy of the United Kingdom Economy of Cardiff Tourist attractions in Cardiff Cool Cymru Districts of Cardiff Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Wales Redevelopment projects in Cardiff Bays of Wales Bodies of water of Cardiff Butetown