IN CONVERSATION :

Diane, Nos Da (In Person. Cardiff, Wales)

Diane tells me a little about Cardiff, its development, and the Valleys.

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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 …

3^rd 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