IN CONVERSATION :
Diane, Nos Da (In Person. Cardiff, Wales)
Diane tells me a little about Cardiff, its development, and the Valleys.
TRANSCRIPT
JO: If I am thinking about where I’d like to go today … all I’ve come up with just browsing this and a couple of things is … maybe the castle now and then wander over on the bike to the bay area … do you think that’s reasonable?
D: yes … you can do or there’s also the museum .. the museum is free …
JO: is that the gallery or is that the one with all the houses … ?
D: that’s where the gallery is, yes …
JO: what about the one with all the houses? Is there a place where they’ve built lots of old ..
D: that’s St Fagans …. it’s about twenty minutes on the bus …
JO: ok … so it’s a little bit out of town …
D: yes …. there’s the National Museum of Wales …. which is about fifteen minutes … well five … ten minutes walk from the castle …
JO: yes ….
D: and it is in quite an old building …. in Cardiff … and that whole area is old buildings which we were lucky enough weren’t destroyed in the war …. so .. yes … there’s a wonderful art collection …. a really good natural history section … as well … and it is free ….
JO: yes … that always helps …
D: and you will be out of the rain ….
JO: that’s true .. apparently it’s the wettest city in the UK …
D: I wouldn’t be at all surprised ….
JO: some stiff competition …
D: well … I’m from the valleys so I don’t tend to take much notice …..
JO: whereabouts?
D: Aberdare … that’s about 45 minutes away …
JO: I’ve just booked a room in a hostel … well .. a room … a bed in a hostel in the Brecon Beacons tonight …. so I’ll be going up the old coal … I guess the old coal route ….
D: yes
JO: in reverse ….
D: that’s right … yes …
JO: up through Merthyr
D: that’s right … up through Merthyr and then head onto Brecon … it’s lovely country .. I mean … even in this weather … it’s really nice ….
JO: okdoke … that’s really helpful … and fun ….
D: alright … ok …
JO: and a bit of colour … are you Cardiff born and bred?
D: No, Aberdare born and bred …. but I grew up in Cardiff …
3rd P: I’m Cardiff born and bred!
JO: Sorry … you did just say … I do listen … sometimes … but you’ve been here 17 years ….
D: yes
JO: you are obviously quite content ….
D: I am … yes … the weather could always be better … but …
JO: has Cardiff changed much?
D: Very much, yes … I mean … Cardiff Bay used to be very run down old houses [ ] one of the poorer parts of town … but it’s been completely rebuilt now …
JO: yes
D: and the rebuilding is moving from the bay towards the centre ….
JO: so it’s gradually creeping back towards the centre …
D: yes … which is going to make all those areas better ….
JO: but I think … I mean … reading what I read on Wikipedia … quite a few of the inner city wards are still pretty … they’re struggling … they’re pretty deprived relatively …
D: it is … but I think we do much better in Cardiff than maybe some of the other areas … certainly much better in Cardiff than it is up the valleys … I’ll be honest …
JO: So, do you think I’ll see much of that in Merthyr?
D: Probably, yes …. You’ll definitely see some issues in Merthyr .. we’re still … they’re still struggling after the coal mines closed …
JO: yes … they’ve just been neglected basically …
D: yes ….
JO: well hopefully we can turn that round in the next five ten years …
D: it’s getting better …. slowly
JO: but it’s too slow … certainly for some people …
D: unfortunately, yes …
JO: okdoke … brilliant … thanks …
D: alright … have a nice day …
END
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