South Wales, UK - the best pubs, hotels and places to visit

Some friends of mine John and Siân Evans have just opened a new Bed and Breakfast in the Vale of Glamorgan in their old farmhouse near Sigginstone.

They’ve put a huge amount of effort into making sure that guests will really enjoy their stay in South Wales. Their attention to detail will ensure that visitors will enjoy some traditional Welsh hospitality in their welcoming home. [Read more →]

St Illtud's Church - north

St Illtud’s church in Llantwit Major is a remarkable place. A church was first set up here by St Illtud in AD520 when he created the first collegiate church and monastery.

It has often been called “the oldest university in the world”. Llanilltud Fawr became the centre of learning throughout Christian Britain.
[Read more →]

I’ve been getting lots of visitors over the past day or two looking for information on South Wales travel and M4 webcams.

Here are some previous posts that I’ve done over the last year or so that you may find useful rather than you having to search around:

http://www.south-wales.org/2009/uk-weather-rain-and-snow-radar/

http://www.south-wales.org/2009/m4-motorway-traffic-cams/

You may also find this page useful as it has lots of useful links to all sorts of travel information – http://www.south-wales.org/useful-south-wales-links/

Update: Wednesday 6th January – it seems the webcams are struggling with the load of people trying to have a look.  You may find that they don’t work for you.

St David's 2

St David’s 2 is a prestigious new shopping centre in the centre of Cardiff. It builds on the existing St David’s shopping centre that houses Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and Boots.

With the opening of the new shopping centre in November 2009 it is now possible to shop totally under cover from Cardiff’s main shopping street Queen St. right through to the Cardiff Marriott Hotel on Mill Lane.

Building on Cardiff’s shopping arcade history the centrepiece is a large 2 storey glass-topped arcade that runs from Debenhams through to a massive new John Lewis store. [Read more →]

I’ve added support on this site for iPhone and Touch devices using a plugin provided by http://www.bravenewcode.com/wptouch/

The site should now automatically display as a well designed Apple App. if you view it via iPhone or iPod Touch devices.

If you have any problems then please add a comment to this post.

With all this bad weather it’s worth highlighting a post I did earlier this year on travel information if you’re travelling by road to, or through, South Wales – http://www.south-wales.org/2009/m4-motorway-traffic-cams/

My Useful South Wales links page also has other travel resources that you may find useful – http://www.south-wales.org/useful-south-wales-links/ especially if you’re travelling by train, coach or plane.

A couple of weeks ago we walked from Ogmore by Sea to Southerndown.  It’s a great walk along the coastal path with great views across the Bristol Channel.

As we passed one of the bays I spotted these Trials bikes practising on the limestone slabs.  Click on the photo for a better view.

It looked like a lot of fun and the guys were pretty skilled. Pretty impressive

Update 26th January 2010: it seems one of the riders was Dave Kerr – both guys are top of their sport in the UK

Cardiff Bay

We had a nice walk around Cardiff Bay last weekend just as the sun was setting.  The light was really nice though it was a bit cold for me!

You can see the Pierhead Building to the left, the Senedd next to it and the Atradius building with the sloping roof to the right.

It’s well worth a walk around the Bay and now that the pathway across the Barrage is open you can now walk all the way across to Penarth.

Be warned though that the path gates are closed at 8pm so make sure you are back before then.

Click on the picture for a larger version.