A Place Called Space: Cardiff bay

We spent a very pleasant morning in Cardiff Bay, a diverse water front built around a 200 hectare freshwater lake. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the UK. The Bay is supplied by two rivers, the Taff and the Ely, to form the freshwater lake around the former dockland area south of the city centre.

The bus dropped us off in front of the Wales Millenium Centre. Dominating the water front, the Centre comprises one large theatre and two smaller halls, shops, bars and restaurants. It houses the national orchestra and opera, dance theatre and literature companies - a total of eight arts organisations in residence.

An international design competition attracted 268 applicants and was won by Zaha Hadid. Her avant-garde design was so radical that she and a selection of other applicants were asked to submit revised designs for a second round of competition, which she again won with 'a sleek and dazzling complex of sharp lines and surfaces' that she compared to 'an inverted necklace'. Her design was cancelled, when the government threw off the project, a decision she put down to prejudice against her being a woman and foreigner.

The present centre was designed by Jonathan Adams. It's an impressive building and the dome is distinctive and memorable.

The Centre's main feature, the bronze coloured dome is clad in steel that was treated with copper oxide. It was designed to withstand the weather conditions on the bay waterfront and will look increasingly better with age. Inscribed on the front of the dome, above the main entrance, are two poetic lines, written by Gwyneth Lewis in Welsh and English. The lettering is formed by windows in the upstairs bar areas and is internally illuminated at night. The inscription in English reads:

In these stones

Horizons

Sing

According to Lewis, 'the copper dome of the building reminded me of the furnaces of Wales' industrial heritage. I wanted to link that to medieval Welsh tradition, ad Ceridwen's cauldron from which the poet Taliesin received his inspiration. I wanted the words also to reflect the architecture, to use its physical presence as a metaphor for our collective values as a nation'.

The spacious main lobby is very imposing

as are the stairs.

Next to the Millenium Centre is Y Senedd, home to the National Assembly for Wales. Designed by architects Richard Rogers and Ivan Harbour, this was the new home for assembly members following the formation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. It opened in 2006. Not surprisingly, it has won several awards.

It has a glass facade around the entire building and is dominated by a steel roof and wood ceiling. The first and second floors are accessible to the public and the ground floor is a private area for officials. The building was designed to be as open and accessible as possible. Rogers said: 'the building was not to be an insular, closed edifice. Rather it would be a transparent envelope, looking towards Cardiff Bay and beyond, and making visible the inner workings of the Assembly and encouraging public participation in the democratic process'.

Inside, this iconic building is as impressive as outside. The wooden funnel dominates the first floor and is covered in red cedar wood

On the first floor is a viewing gallery

which allows the public to follow Parliamentary procedures.

Outside Y Senedd lies the Merchant Seafarers' War Memorial (1977) by Brian Fell, commemorating the merchant seamen who sailed from the ports of Cardiff, Penarth and Barry during WWII, never to return.

The Pierhead building opened in 1897 as the headquarters of the Cardiff Railway Co to replace the original Bute Dock Co offices which burnt down in 1892. It was here that the Harbour Master oversaw the ports, where the engineers drew up their plans and the docks accounts were settled.

In Gothic Renaissance style, it was designed by William Frame. Its multi-directional clock face would be visible day and night - illuminated by gas lighting at the rear of the dials, it would automatically light at night.

Looking out at the bay, one can see in the distance one of my favourite buildings - it reminds me of John Caple's atmospheric paintings

It's the Norwegian Church, a truly iconic building. It was built during the days when Cardiff was one of the greatest sea ports in the world. In Cardiff Dock's heyday, the Church was a haven for Scandinavian seamen, its pointed steeple dwarfed by the tall masts of the sailing ships which packed the quay. Founded in 1868 by Herman Lunde of Oslo and built at the entrance to the Bute West Dock, the church was designed along traditional village lines. It was the oldest church built by the Norwegian Seaman's mission overseas that remained intact. Packed with Scandinavian newspapers, magazines and facilities for writing letters home, this was a place where sailots could relax and talk with friends in their native tongue.

The docks declined rapidly after WWII and the Norwegian ships turned elsewhere for trade. The church finally closed in 1974 upon de-consecration and fell into a state of disrepair. In 1987 the Norwegian Church Preservation Trust was established to raise money to rescue and rebuild the church. Its first president was Roald Dahl who was christened at the church. It reopened as an Arts Centre and coffee shop in 1992.

Outside the church stands the World Harmony Peace statue holding a torch and making a wish for peace.

And then we saw a bumble bee. I went up to say that I loved her costume and after our chat she agreed to pose for me.

She and her fellow-campaigners, the Friends of the Gwent Levels are trying to protect the area which has been dubbed the Wales Amazon Rainforest from being destroyed. Ministers are considering whether to allow a 'renewable energy hub' to be on this protected land. The campaigners say that the wetlands should be off limits due to their importance for rare wildlife.

Stretching from Cardiff's eastern borders to the Severn bridges, the Gwent Levels are a unique landscape, reclaimed from the sea during Roman times. Crisscrossing low-lying fields and saltmarshes are 900 miles worth of ancient drainage ditches - known locally as reens - home to hundreds of endangered species, including water voles, the king diving beetle and rootless duckweed, the world's smallest flowering plant.

She said they would be protesting in front of the Parliament and I said that we would catch up with them on our return.

Also near the church is the Antarctic 100, a sculpture commemorating the heroic age of the Antarctic exploration and in particular Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Scientific Expedition of 1910-13. The memorial overlooks the point from which Scott's expedition ship, the SS Terra Nova, left Cardiff on the 15th of June 1910. Prior to the departure, Scott had launched a national appeal for funds and the money donated by the City of Cardiff and South Wales exceeded that contribution by any other city in the UK. It was in recognition of this generosity that Scott designated the city as the home port of the Terra Nova.

The expedition ended tragically and created one of the great legends of the 20th century. It touched the imagination of this country as no other expedition had done. Scott's dying message, eloquently told in his diaries and handwritten in desperate circumstances: 'The causes of this disaster are not due to faulty organisation but to misfortune in all risks that had to be undertaken... Had we lived, I should have a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of everyone... These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale...'

We turned around and started walking back to where we had started from and came upon this sculpture? There was no plaque, so no idea what it is.

This cute little cottage caught our eye - still selling chips? It's not clear.

Further along, another little cottage - very cute

And then further along, these sculptures that with a bit of imagination could be seen as benches

From Pit to Port, a sculpture by John Clinch commemorating the South Wales engineers who extracted and transported materials in the iron, steel and coal industries in South Wales.