𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.25A

It’s another one of those Cardiff Bus curveballs that I’m slowly getting used to now. The 25A only runs four times a day, all in the evenings. It was therefore and early tea for me and off to town to prepare to catch the 19.35 to Whitchurch. I arrived in town early and with the cafes closed so I was forced to go for a beer. I chose the Cottage on St Mary Street which I haven’t been in for more than 40 years. The last time I was here there was a bit of trouble brewing and the landlady came out from behind the bar with a baseball bat. That sorted it! Tonight I had a nice pint of Butty Bach and enjoyed the music before heading for the bus station to catch the No.25A. It was surprisingly popular.

The bus went up through Llandaff and then headed to Gabalfa shops before going on to its terminus at the Three Elms. I was curious to know what happened to it after that. Apparently it renumbers itself the No.24 and goes back to town in the opposite direction.

The Tree Elms was the natural place to head for a beverage and a read. It’s a sizable establishment and was pretty full but hardly anyone was talking. It took a while for me to understand why. It was quiz night and they were doing the picture round. In fact they were doing the picture round when I arrived and when I left. That’s one long picture round!

I had a pint of the only draught beer being served, Green King IPA. Not my sort of thing. A chilled cask beer. Why?

My book was Tommy Cooper’s Secret Joke Files. Like many comedians of his time he filed his jokes away and was terrified of losing them. For anyone from abroad, Tommy Cooper is hard to explain. He was unique in having a magic show and was deliberately inept until the last moment when the trick worked. His tricks were interspersed with daft jokes.

I haven’t heard this one for ages:-

A drunk was driving his car the wrong way down a one-way street when a policeman stopped him. The cop said ‘Didn’t you see the arrows?’ He said, ‘Arrows? I didn’t even see the Indians!’

I could see the ending of this one coming:-

The old man went to the doctor for a check-up and when the doctor finished examining him he said to the man ‘You’re in fine shape. You’ll live to be eighty.’ The old guy said, ‘But I am eighty.’ The doctor said, ‘See, what did I tell you?’

And to finish:-

I broke my glasses when I dropped them. I said to the optician, ‘Will I have to be examined all over again?’ He said, ‘No, just your eyes!’

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.25

It was a pretty wet day so what better thing to do than catch a bus. It was the turn of the No.25 today which goes the opposite way round to the No.24 i.e. to Llandaff, Llandaff North and then Whitchurch. Having previously visited Llandaff and Whitchurch I chose today to explore Llandaff North.

It wasn’t really exploring weather but armed with an umbrella I did manage a brisk walk around Hailey Park, joining some brave dog walkers and runners. The River Taff looked grey and fast-flowing. There’s a very smart squirrel sculpture appeared as has a widened cycle/pedestrian path alongside the river. Work on the new sewage-pumping scheme is proving problematic with their tunnelling machine stuck underground and awaiting retrieval. I’d make a quip but know better than to make jokes about schemes shrouded in controversy.

New squirrel sculpture in Hailey Park, Llandaff North,

I was then into Café Artiste for a nice coffee and a read. It wasn’t until afterwards did I spot on their website they advertise themselves with the tag-lines:-

Get whisked away, without the travel. We all need a little break every now and then. Whether you’re catching up with friends, getting lost in a book, or taking a quick ten minutes between meetings, Cafe Artiste, the perfect departure from the norm.

I chose the ‘get lost in a book’ option and read some of The Great British Bucket List. I made such a list once. It was: Pail, Plastic, Galvanised, Sand-castle. The book was actually very well written but suffered from a serious flaw. It didn’t have any maps. Yes, they tended to specify which country each attraction was in and my geography is reasonably good but a map would have helped.

The bay widow was a perfect place to watch the goings-on on Llandaff North for half an hour before heading out into the rain again and catching a No.25 back into town via Whitchurch.

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.24

I remember the days when the terminus of the No.24 used to be near where I lived. Not today though. It departs from the Cardiff Bus Interchange. I still wonder what would happen if I asked a stranger in the street if they could point me in the direction of the Cardiff Bus Interchange. Some know-it-all may say, ‘Just keep walking down there, past the hyb’ (Cardiff’s new word for a library).

The No.24 now does an anti-clockwise loop around Whitchurch, Llandaff North and Llandaff. We decided a visit to Llandaff Cathedral was in order, somewhere my wife tells me she’s never been inside, mainly because she’d always have the dog in tow when visiting Llandaff. First though it was a walk around the Green, a look at the statue of former Archdeacon of Llandaff, James Rice Buckley looking happy with himself in his bowler hat, and then onto the rather unusual war memorial designed by W. Goscombe John.

My book for today was one of the series of Real Cardiff books by local author Peter Finch. I do like these books which for me cram in prose, historical information and humour all the way through. When he penned this first of the series back in 2002 he didn’t appear enthralled with the inside of the cathedral layout. I think things have improved somewhat over the intervening years.

Lunch was taken in Jaspers Tea Rooms, popular even in winter. I had the cawl, Welsh for stew but it sounds much better and tastes better too come to that. There was just time for a mooch along the high street and the post-Christmas sales – half price Christmas cards etc, before catching the No.24 back to town.

An ex-Jasper’s coffee and a bowl of cawl

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.23

The No.23 goes in the opposite direction to the No.21 around Whitchurch and Rhiwbina. The used to be a No.22 route but it was scrapped after a bus absconded one day and was last seen heading over the Severn Bridge. Whether the passengers ever managed to get off before Devizes is not known but Mr Appleby missed his hospital appointment and is now Secretary of the Wiltshire Ramblers. No, ignore all that, just my imagination running wild.

Another wet day. It’s been raining for a month in South Wales and I’m pleased to report our reservoirs are now almost full after the summer drought. It can stop raining now! I alighted in Rhiwbina intending to walk to a nearby pub but spotted a load of beer barrels on the pavement opposite and thought I would investigate more. It was the Rhiwbina Tap and looked inviting so I went in. I think they’ve lost their sign.

This is one of the new style bars serving craft beers, distinguishable from the traditional beers by being £2 more expensive, 10^oC colder and needing to be drunk whilst sat on hard chairs. I’m going to have to get used to it and enter the modern age or become a cynic. Actually the beer was good and so was the atmosphere and the service so no complaints there. I had a pint of Panettone beer from the Arbor Bristol brewery.

My book for the trip was ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ by Amor Towels. What a great read. It’s tells the story of a Count under house arrest in a hotel in Moscow after the Russian Revolution. I chuckled when reading the following whist supping my beer. When the Count and his young companion, Nina, stumble upon a room containing banqueting utensils:

Nina asks “What’s that?”

“An asparagus server” he explained.

“Does a banquette really need an asparagus server?”

“Does an orchestra really need a bassoon?”

I came out and went for a very brisk walk around Rhiwbina Park, arriving back at the bus stop just in the nick of time to catch the next No.23 into town which was by now getting busy with people heading to Winter Wonderland.

My musical week: A

If you had to choose just one artist to listen to each day who would you choose for the letter A? Here are mine this past week:

Joan Armatrading: I do like female singer-songwriters. The advantages of this challenge immediately showed through. There is a lot of her catalogue I’ve never listened to and it’s good. The only artist in this first week I have seen live and we were both far from home – Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis. I always thought she came from Birmingham but she was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis. An intensely private person with a BA in history.

Aswad: I also like a bit of reggae sometimes, but maybe a whole day of it is a bit much. I recall someone having an Aswad album in college and then forgot about them, only rediscovering them in later life. A London based group where their reggae has other influences in it such as R&B.

‘Cannonball’ Adderley: An American jazz saxophonist who died too young at 46. He covered a wide range of jazz genres some of which I like a lot more than others.

America: When people ask me what type of music I like then I invariably answer folk-rock. America was always one of my favorites, though I never caught them live. Maybe they didn’t leave America that often. I wonder if they have found a name for that horse yet?

Adwaith: By this stage in the week word was getting out about this challenge and the family were starting to chip in with suggestions. Adwaith are a Welsh indie-rock band from Carmarthen meaning ‘reaction’ in English. Good lively stuff.

Brian Auger: Jazz and rock pianist who used to play with Rod Stewart and Julie Driscoll (Wheels on Fire) and jammed with Clapton and Hendrix in his time. ‘Live at Bogies’ was my most played album this year according to Spotify. I haven’t seen him live but he has seen me perform. His uncle was Capt George Auger – The World’s Tallest Man, a subject of one of my talks. I first gave the talk during Covid by Zoom and Brian joined from his home in California. He’d only vaguely heard about George Auger previously and the family connection London born but still going strong in California at the age of 82. A charming man.

AnnenMayKantereit: Another good suggestion from the family. A German band singing in both German and English. My Spotify predicted age which this year was 82 will be falling like a stone at this rate.

And now for 7 beginning with B. Must get some classical music in here too.

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.21

I’ve just been reading about a popular computer game called ‘Croydon: London Bus Simulator’. Whoever would have thought that would sell. It may be a wet miserable day but I decided to go for the real thing rather ran use a simulator. Today it was the No.21 to Rhiwbina and Whitchurch and a ride on an electric Mercedes-Benz Citaro O530. It’s getting a bit serious now I am beginning to spot the difference between the types of buses.

I went to see my great-grandparents. They are buried in Pant Mawr Cemetery. It’s an appropriate time of year to visit as he was called Evan Christmas Thomas. I never knew them but I spent quite a few years researching them and eventually tracked him down to a small village in West Wales. When the woollen industry collapsed he closed his woollen mill and came to Cardiff as a paint salesman. In 1907 he was unlucky enough to be involved in what must have been one of the first ever hit-and-run cycling accidents on the road between Merthyr and Brecon in 1907. The newspaper reports make fascinating reading. I wrote up the highlights in It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Charismas.

I did find my great grandparents though they have fallen over since my last visit. Their red granite headstone used to be tied to a stake as it had evidently become unstable. The people from Bereavement Services regularly go around doing stability tests. I’ve seen them do it and they give the headstone a real shove. At some stage it must have been decided to lay this one flat rather than just secure it to a stake.

After paying my respects I had a wander around. I’d never seen the interesting large Chinese section in the cemetery. Back on the bus again and out of the rain I headed for Whitchurch and got off in the heart of the village. I sought refuge in The Plough, a former Brains pub now owned by Marsdon’s but still selling Brains beers. I had a pint of Santa’s Ale and jolly nice it was too.

My book for the day was ‘Deep Country: Five Years in the Welsh Hills’ by Neil Ansell. It’s a lovely read about a man who came to Wales and lived in a cottage for five years on his own with no utilities. It’s a gentle read, no bravado or arrogance or looking for sympathy. He has a wonderful in-depth knowledge of nature.

I noted in the bus station that some timetables and routes are changing in January including the No.7 route. Now what should I do? Ignore it, re-do it at the end or re-do it in January? A real dilemma. I’ve got Christmas to think about it and seek counselling.

A trip out on the No.21 Cardiff Bus on a pretty wet day calling off to visit Pant Mawr Cemetery and then on to Whitchurch and a visit to The Plough for a pint of Brains Santa's Ale and a good read. — Cardiff Bus No.21 route

Catch up on past Bus-Book-Beverage adventures.

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.18

I had to change my plan to catch the No.18 yesterday as Ely Bridge was closed after a crash. Today things were back to normal and the sun was shining. Ideal. People wearing their Christmas sweaters were out in force in town.

My book for the day was ‘Murder Under the Mistletoe’ by Reverend Richard Coles. It’s a short amusing novel but I can’t help thinking I’ve missed something. I’m two thirds of the way through and everyone is still alive and kicking.

Lunch at Lew’s Coffee Shop in Ely Hyb with Richard Coles.

The No.18 goes around Ely and Caerau in the opposite direction to the No.17, but things look quite different going in reverse. I went to Ely Hyb for some lunch at Lew’s Coffee Shop. My barbecue chicken baguette was tasty though I don’t think it had ever encountered a barbecue.

The colours in Trelau Park were excellent today. It reminded me of crisp bright days in USA. It’s a sizable park to walk round but I didn’t spot any sign of the old Roman Fort that used to be here nor the old Ely Racecourse where they used to hold the Welsh Grand National. Now here’s a good question for a quiz. Which famous jockey’s father won the last ever race here? It was Keith Piggott on Grasshopper in 1939.

Catch up on past Bus-Book-Beverage adventures.

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.17

The Cardiff Bus No’s 17 and 18 head out west from the city centre to Ely and Caerau, using the same route until they cross Ely Bridge then the 17 goes clockwise and the 18 anti-clockwise. I looked at the route map and decided I’d visit the ruins of St Mary’s Church and Caerau Hill Fort, somewhere I haven’t been for quite some time.

The smooth No 17 electric bus whirred to a halt in traffic on Cowbridge Road for some unknown reason, but armed with a book I didn’t have a care in the world. I noticed how my mental attitude to such as stoppage was completely different than if it were to have happened on my normal route into town to a meeting or alike. After 15 minutes we were moving again though on these quiet electric buses I hadn’t even noticed.

On my walk up the hill I spotted newish Caer Heritage Hidden Hill Fort Centre and being both curious and cheeky I popped my head in. It a was a great find from a number of angles. They had some finds on display uncovered from recent excavations both at the hill fort and Trelai Park. Also, the people there were able to tell me all about the excavation activities and the involvement of the local community.

Some of the finds from Caerau Hill Fort and Trelai Park

I climbed the hill and had the area to myself. I can see why it’s called the hidden hill fort as there is nothing there to see – it’s in the imagination. I thought the orange markers in the adjoining field marked some recent excavations but they were just feeding buckets for the cows. Easy mistake. There’s not much left of St Mary’s Church and unfortunately it is very prone to vandalism being so isolated. Some recent damage to graves was sad to see.

I had got off the bus at a stop called the 4^th Glamorgan Homeguard Club and thought it worth a closer look, if only for its unique name. It’s a friendly place, lots of snooker being played both on the table and the TV. I even had a chat with the ex-Wales pool champion. The Guinness was certainly decent. My book for the day was ‘Cracking the Elements’ by Rebecca Mileham. I describe it as a dipping book i.e. a good book for dipping in and out of and in this case reading about all the elements and the periodic table.

A decent Guinness and Cracking the Elements at the 4th Glamorgan Homeguard Club.

I jumped off my No.17 bus when it got back to Wood Street in town to take a photo, only to be thwarted by the fact it had already changed its headboard to the No.18. Lucky I don’t approach these hobbies too seriously.

Catch up on past Bus-Book-Beverage adventures.

𝗕𝘂𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸-𝗕𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 – Cardiff Bus No.14

This is a cruel trick to play on me Cardiff Bus! I thought this was a straightforward challenge I was undertaking but I’ve already been surprised by the existence of the Nos.1A, 2A and 4 buses and now we have the No.14 This is a rare bus indeed, just one per day that starts in Caerau and goes to the Heath Hospital. Not only that but it leaves at 7am! I’m not a morning person at the best of times. I used to wake up at 6.45am and have an hour drive into work but those days are long gone.

Given the pain I was about to go through by rising early I wanted to minimize the chances of things going wrong. I’d spotted the No.14 on a bus tracker app a few weeks previously when I happened to wake up early so I knew it existed. The No.14 is meant to start from a stop called Amroth Road, close to the junction with the A48 but when I looked on Google Street View there was no sign of a bus stop on that side of the road. I decided to visit in advance thinking that Street View may be out of date. Unfortunately there is indeed no bus stop sign there. The No.17 was due which is also meant to stop there. It came around the corner, I stuck out my hand and the drive gave an apologetic shrug of his shoulders and drove past. I guess it used to be a bus stop but probably caused traffic congestion being so close to the junction. I walked down the road 150yds and found another bus stop. This was strangely advertising the No.15 even though there isn’t a Cardiff Bus No.15. Maybe there was once upon a time.

The bus stop sign may say No.15 but don’t believe it.

On the day of this adventure I was up at 6am and struggled through the pain barrier. It was still dark and a heavy frost lay on the ground. I arrived at the Bromley Road bus stop. I don’t know why but I was surprised how busy the area was; cars, vans, cyclists and dog walkers all out and about. And what should appear, dead on time, but the No.14. Needless to say I was the only one on it. I sat the in a chilly bus wondering if anyone else would get on between here and the Heath Hospital. Astonishingly a lot of people did. It’s a popular bus. By the time we got to the hospital at 7.45 it was full! I walked up to the main concourse and almost got flattened by the hundreds of people arriving. It must be shift change-over time. I asked at reception if they still had my tonsils I’d had extracted in the 1970s. They said probably not but instead gave me a leaflet on counseling.

‘Behold Your Brother’ (2000) by Malcolm Robertson and ‘Sheep may Safely Graze’ (2021) by Candice Bees.

I realised this was not the place to go for a quiet coffee. Instead I headed for the Park Side café which I had spotted from the bus as we approached the hospital. Breakfast was therefore a plum Danish and a cappuccino. It was lovely. I sat there and read my book, The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Japanese author Michiko Aoyama that has been described as a feel good book. My criticism would be it has been translated into American-English rather than British-English, but luckily I speak American. You may be wondering (probably not) how I chose this specific book in the library. Well, as I’m on the No.14 bus, I counted 14 books along from the left and picked it up. Surely that’s what most people would do?

To walk off the Danish I went for a walk around the frosty Heath Park. A good adventure all round.

Catch up on past Bus-Book-Beverage adventures.

𝐁𝐮𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤-𝐁𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 – Cardiff Bus No.13

A friend of mine will be ever so jealous of me catching the No.13 to Drope. He’s been on to me for years saying he is fascinated by the name Drope and one day wants to catch the No.13 there. Wiki tells me ‘Drope is a hamlet in the valley of the River Ely in Vale of Glamorgan, southeast Wales, just beyond the territorial border of western Cardiff’. I took a picture of the bus and sent it to him. There’s one big problem though. The bus doesn’t actually go to Drope. Many years ago I think the bus probably did go there but not anymore. In fact if you look at Google Street View you can see a bus stop in Drope and even an actual bus but the photos are dated 2012. Nowadays the closest you get is Mansell Avenue which leaves you a 15 walk to Drope. So why is the No.13 Cardiff Bus still advertising Drope on it’s headboard? Probably because it would be fairly expensive to change I guess. Being a bit nerdy I asked both an attendant in the bus station and the bus driver whether the bus went to Drope. They looked rather confused/embarrassed, I’m not sure which, but didn’t have an answer.

Before catching the bus I needed a book. I’d had a look around to see what was near the No.13 terminus and spotted the Western Cemetery. I visit Cathays Cemetery on a weekly basis but I think I have only ever been to Western Cemetery once or twice and that was quite a few years ago. I searched to see if there was anyone of note buried there and came across a reference to Mahmood Mattan, the last person to be hung in Cardiff in 1952. In 1998, 45 years after his death, his conviction was quashed. I spotted the was a book, The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed, a non-fiction novel that semi-fictionalises the true story of Mahmood Mattan.

No.13 Cardiff Bus to Drope and Western Cemetery

I looked in the very useful Cardiff Libraries on-line catalogue. It told me they had some eight copies and only two were currently out on loan and that the most convenient one for me to pick up a copy would be Capel i Bawb library at the Infirmary. What a lovely wee library this is, built in a renovated hospital chapel. I was there some ten minutes after it opened, armed with the Dewey classification. Could I find it? No. Luckily there was a librarian on duty who said it was best to ignore the Dewey classification and have look in the fiction section. I suppose that made sense in hindsight considering the book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021.

The No.13 took me out along Cowbridge Road, over the River Ely and then into Ely itself. The Halloween decorations had come down and the Christmas decorations starting to appear.

Western Cemetery is large and opened in 1936. There is a war graves section, a fenced off Jewish section, a Greek orthodox section and a couple of Muslim sections. I didn’t have a location for the Mattan grave but I did have a picture and guessed it was in the Muslim section. It took about 30 minutes to locate. On his headstone is inscribed Killed by Injustice. I took a few minutes to reflect on that.

Mahmoud Mattan grave at Western Cemetery, Cardiff

I walked out the other end of the cemetery and onto Cowbridge Road West, past the milestone and found the Café Eighty Nine in The Range. The Christmas shoppers were out in droves but I found a table, ordered a brie and cranberry panini and pot of tea and settled down to read. The Fortune Men is very well written, lovely prose, good social history of Cardiff but a harrowing story at the same time.

Milestone Cowbridge Road Cardiff and The Range Cafe

Catch up on past Bus-Book-Beverage adventures.