| In and around Cardiff - capital of Wales since 20 December 1955 Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 14:38, 20th December 2025 |     |
We don't often see posts here on the Coffee Shop forum relating specifically to South Wales, even though it is clearly within our Great Western area.
Something I stumbled across, on the BBC, was this item - specific to Cardiff, and with an interesting local railway history angle:
From bullet-hole bridge to Death Junction - nine things you might not know about Cardiff
Cardiff became capital city of Wales in 1955 - but among the many changes of the past 70 years, glimpses of its history remain
From bullet holes in a railway bridge to an underground bunker - Cardiff has a rich and diverse history.
But among the hustle and bustle of the modern day, hidden nuggets of the stories that shaped it remain.
"Cardiff has always been a friendly city... small enough for people to know one another, but big enough to have things going on," said Helen Stradling of Grangetown Local History Society, who was 11 when when the city was named Wales' capital.
In a ceremony on 20 December 1955 at Cardiff City Hall, its capital city was officially declared after a competition spanning four years with other contenders including Caernarfon and Aberystwyth.
Now, 70 years on, here are just some of Cardiff's historical gems you may just have missed.
1. Bullet-hole bridge
Look up and you might spot a series of bullet holes in this bridge, thought to date back to World War Two
If you look closely at the railway bridges in Canton, one in particular stands out.
The bridge, positioned where Lansdowne Road meets Grosvenor Street, has a series of small bullet holes, thought to date back to the Cardiff blitz era of World War Two.
As Cardiff docks constituted the biggest coal exporting port in the United Kingdom when the war broke out, the city was a major target.
There were several raids during the war, with the worst being on 2 January 1941 when a fleet of 100 German planes droned in across the Severn Estuary.
A total of 165 people were killed that night and more than 350 homes were destroyed in the 10-hour raid that saw Llandaff Cathedral badly damaged and both the Canton and Riverside areas seriously hit.
(BBC article continues)
Cardiff became capital city of Wales in 1955 - but among the many changes of the past 70 years, glimpses of its history remain
From bullet holes in a railway bridge to an underground bunker - Cardiff has a rich and diverse history.
But among the hustle and bustle of the modern day, hidden nuggets of the stories that shaped it remain.
"Cardiff has always been a friendly city... small enough for people to know one another, but big enough to have things going on," said Helen Stradling of Grangetown Local History Society, who was 11 when when the city was named Wales' capital.
In a ceremony on 20 December 1955 at Cardiff City Hall, its capital city was officially declared after a competition spanning four years with other contenders including Caernarfon and Aberystwyth.
Now, 70 years on, here are just some of Cardiff's historical gems you may just have missed.
1. Bullet-hole bridge
Look up and you might spot a series of bullet holes in this bridge, thought to date back to World War Two
If you look closely at the railway bridges in Canton, one in particular stands out.
The bridge, positioned where Lansdowne Road meets Grosvenor Street, has a series of small bullet holes, thought to date back to the Cardiff blitz era of World War Two.
As Cardiff docks constituted the biggest coal exporting port in the United Kingdom when the war broke out, the city was a major target.
There were several raids during the war, with the worst being on 2 January 1941 when a fleet of 100 German planes droned in across the Severn Estuary.
A total of 165 people were killed that night and more than 350 homes were destroyed in the 10-hour raid that saw Llandaff Cathedral badly damaged and both the Canton and Riverside areas seriously hit.
(BBC article continues)
| Re: In and around Cardiff - capital of Wales since 20 December 1955 Posted by Mark A at 16:30, 20th December 2025 | |
Speaking of holes in bridges, the Midland line's bridge at Locksbrook, on the route into Bath, there's a hand-sized bomb splinter hole in the upstream web of the south side span.
Mark
