Mummy in the foothills

The Delta breeze is always welcome and so is todays rain I'm loving it.

Lothianlad

......but a word of warning.......from what I hear the valleys empty out on Friday and Saturday nights and head to Cardiff for some insane libations....

Ha! Ha! Insane libations! I can assure you that this sort of activity is not confined to Cardiff......practically every city and town centre in the UK...even the smaller ones all over the country.... are scenes of "insane libation" at weekends to varying degrees and even weekday nights are not exempt from them either. It's part of The British Scene nowadays, made more acute by the extension of licensing hours and the widescale introduction of "Happy Hours" and price cutting of booze....but mostly due to the so called "British Culture" thing. The "abuse" of alcohol is a "Northern European" trend for the most part, much more so than in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean lands, but seems to be particularly prevalent in Britain more so than most other countries in Europe. Here in the UK the general attitude of many people between the ages of 18 (minimum official drinking age but not always stricly observed) and 25 especially is to get as blootered and bladdered as you possibly can in order to have a "good night out". If you don't end up practically brain dead then it hasn't been a decent night out.

Measures have been taken to try and combat this problem in Britain, some, repat some, of which are being shown to be successful, but an interesting feature of this whole thing is that the incidence of alcohol abuse and disorderly behaviour among young males in the 18 to 25 age group in the UK has shown a steady decline over the last 5 years, the same thing, over the same period, for females has increased quite sharply and continues to do so, as is the increasing trend to physical violence and abusive behaviour among females generally, most noticeably in the 18 to 25 age group.

It's no accident that UK TV regularly broadcasts programs like "Street Wars", "Road Wars", "CCTV UK" "Police Camera Action" and "Police Interceptors" - all of them reality TV prorams portraying the work of the Police Service here in Britain, and which graphically displays officers coping with drunken fighting, vomiting, foul mouthed dickheads and crackheads pouring out of the pubs and clubs and out onto the streets. Some of the programs show the officers dealing with crime and drug dealing and all kinds of stuff. I love watching these shows, and the one featuring the Essex Police Force in "Police Interceptors" is my favoutire show.....the ANPR guys are fantastic and always spot on the button in what they do to combat crime and anti social behaviour in Essex.

"Street Wars" mostly involves the guys of the Kent Constabulary in and around the three Medway Towns of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham. They are never short of anything to do and that's for sure.

On the Welsh theme, "Street Wars" also shows the South Wales Police dealing with the same sort of problems in and around the Swansea area where the locals certainly know how to down a pint or two...or three...or four...or forty....all before chucking out time when the fun really begins.

terese677

I'd definately agree with Scout, those areas are by far the nicest. I used to live in Newport easily accessible to Cardiff but cheaper as house prices in Cardiff have rocketed in the last few years. Although Barry is nice as a day trip not a great area to live and definately avoid Butetown, Splott, St Mellons ( the large council area by Cardiff).
There has been a lot of regeneration around the bay as mentioned and the area has improved, lots of shops on city road but very much a student/itinerant area.
As mentioned people from the valleys come to Cardiff city centre on the weekend but still it's better than Newport ( avoid that on a week end night).
Best of luck, Cardiff is a lovely city.
Terese

terese677

by the way have you ever watched Torchwood ( the spin off from Dr Who ) that's set in Cardiff, so too Gavin and Stacey ( and Barry of course).

Jay-Producer

Thanks for that info. You have concurred what I researched. Good to know I was reading the right stuff. We will be renting. In the city we can get a 1 or 2 bed for £600 p/m which is half what we are paying now in Auckland. My partner loves living in the middle so we are only looking for the city centre plus she is going back to Uni so the closer we are to that the better. We don't really want to be living near clubs because of the noise unless we are 15 floors above the ground to avoid the screaming - so that tough I know because all the pubs and clubs are int he city so we will be choosing very carefully. Do have an idea where in the city centre is the better place to live?

Jay-Producer

Nope I haven't. I hate Dr Who anyway

Might check em out on youtube. Ta.

tonrob

Brains SA Gold.

terese677

I forgot about Rhiwbina thats also a nice area

heggie

Hi Jay,

If you need advice on a particular area PM me as I worked in your field of work in Cardiff for many years & know the area well. Good luck with your move back

finleysj

Hi jay, canton is a nice area, not cheap though! only a short walk (5 min) from the city centre,

go for it boyo

Scout

It's going to be hard to avoid the pubs if you want the city centre. If the uni is in the picture, I'd head for around Roath. It's probably the greenest part of Cardiff.....more cafes and shops and a few pubs.....but not too noisy.

Cardiff Bay is nice, but I get the impression it's a bit sterile with very little soul to the place.

Mummy in the foothills

I like Roath. I had a friend I used to visit on weekends that lived there, he was at the Uniiversity Hospital (Llandaff) I loved walking through the park.
Nice place to wander, shop and eat.