Sheltered by Penarth Head, Cardiff Bay has attracted sea traffic since the Middle Ages. By the 16th century, a brisk trade had developed along the South Wales coast, across the Bristol Channel, and onwards to France, Spain and Italy. By the 19th century trade extended world wide to countries such as Argentina and India. The last coal left the docks in 1964 and for a time Cardiff Bay appeared to be rather desolate. Today the Bay appears a very modern place, perhaps indicating the changing fortunes of Cardiff in the early 21st Century. In 1993 the Cardiff Bay Barrage was built which excludes sea water from the previously tidal zone. The Barrage is an 800 m long embankment of rock and sand and effectively creates a lake with a 13 km water front and has led to the regeneration of South Cardiff and Penarth. The area is now home to the Welsh Assembly, TechniQuest, the Bay Visitors Centre and the Norwegian Church Arts Centre, and is a bustling area with shops, cafes and water-side restaurants. Wales Millennium Centre  One of the first buildings that you see while walking along James Street is the new Wales Millennium Centre. Due to open in late November 2004, this is the new prestigious international arts centre in Cardiff.
The building is clad in 5 different slates taken from quarries in north and mid Wales. Each of the slates can be identified by the different colour and texture ranging from reds, to greens to almost black. The old docks Coming down to the water front you will pass through Roald Dahl Plass - formerly the Oval Basin. This joined the Bute West Dock to the north with the Severn Estuary via two locks. The dock opened in 1839; granite was used along the top of the basin, where it could withstand the knocks and shocks of the many ships that would moor along side here, while Pennant Sandstone was used in the walls. Before the flooding of the Bay in 1999, the area was mainly mudflats and salt marshes, the River Taff was tidal - right up to Blackweir, just north of the city centre. Wildlife in the Bay The exclusion of sea water from the Bay by the new Barrage has changed the habitats available for flora and fauna to thrive. Previously the area was home to a large waterfowl and wading bird populations; sea-going shoals of grey mullet were still known to make their way upstream as far as the Bute Park revetments. Sea plantain, sea arrow grass, and spartina survived the change, but the whole area is now subject to landscaping as part of the Bay redevelopments, and many native species are discouraged in favour of more formal planting. The constant water level has removed the inter-tidal zone, which would have supported many species. There has been a scheme to encourage salmon, sewin and sea trout back into the Taff to breed, including a fishpass inthe actual Barrage itself. Waterfowl and wading bird populations have relocated to newly protected areas including the nearby the Gwent Levels Reserve, just outside Newport. |
