During the 1950's my sisters and I all lived in Caldy Road, Llandaff North. The houses were new, built straight after the War and I was born in number 30.

Caldy Road was full of young families and there was a great community spirit. Gabalfa estate was also recently built and Batemans grocers was where we all went on a Saturday morning to get most of our groceries.

The smell of uncooked bacon and sawdust greeted you as you entered the shop, and I can still remember the slabs of butter and margarine wrapped in greaseproof paper which were put into brown bags and placed on top of me as I was still in my pushchair.

That pushchair was like a prison and I longed to get out and run all over the shop, but with three older sisters there was never a chance of breaking free.

As a treat we had a cream cake from the bakers a couple of doors up from Batemans, I have never tasted synthetic cream like it to this day.

Station Road in Llandaff North was usually visited on a Saturday afternoon and my favourite shop was Parishes, all sorts of bits and bobs that a haberdashery sold was in chests of narrow wooden drawers fitted with a small glass window so the shopkeeper could see what each drawer contained.

The treat of the month was to buy a piece of ribbon, some hair grips and sometimes white ankle socks. Wearing the ribbon in your hair and your new socks and then going to All Saints Church on a Sunday was really something.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, my white socks and ribbon were the dirtiest and once they were washed they never really felt that special to wear, but I knew that in a another month a new piece of ribbon would be something to look forward to.

Shirley Evans (nee Hanford) - Cardiff - January 2007