This is a community website for Grangetown in Cardiff, highlighting people, business, community activities, local news and things to do in the area and linking other websites and blogs.
This voluntary project - in connection with Grangetown Community Action - is the free, independent, online presence of the long-running Grangetown News community paper, which has been distributed to 6,500 local homes at least twice a year for 40 years.
E-mail us on grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk if you'd like to help, are local or would like to send any contributions for inclusion, or wish to advertise. Also if you'd like to be included FREE in our DIRECTORY,
You can also follow us on Twitter @grangecardiff and look for Grangetown Community Action on Facebook. We have a growing number of followers and are keen to encourage a social network to promote Grangetown community events, activities, issues, businesses and organisations.
Toy shop is latest indie shop venture
The latest in a new string of independent shops is opening this weekend, giving a boost to the main Grangetown shopping district.
The Honeycomb is a toy and children’s book shop in Clare Road.
Owner Maia Banks, who has a background in education, wants to go beyond just opening a business and, perhaps with a cue from the nearby Wild Thing cafe, wants to forge strong links with the neighbourhood she’s become a part of.
"My desire to start this toy shop has grown out of a want to engage with the local Grangetown community,” she told Grangetown News.
There was a very busy grand opening on Saturday 5th October, with upcycled necklace making, face-painting and cake at the shop at 110 Clare Road.
Lovely shoutout from @grangecardiff!
— The Honeycomb (@HoneycombToys) October 1, 2019
Opening hours for this Saturday are 9-5! Craft event with @ArtGrangetown at noon. Candy floss 1-3. Glitter face paint 1:30-3:30. Make your own necklace session with @Twin_Made from 3-5! Oh and cake from @thedanishbakery in the morning! https://t.co/e4oAbOdPq5
"It’s about creating a fun space to be play and be creative, as well as to support as many local artists and makers as I can."
Maia and her new shop are featured in the latest Grangetown News, out on Friday.
Meanwhile, a tanning salon, sweet shop and modest clothing boutique will be opening in newly refurbished shop units in Penarth Road, next to Yang's Chinese.
A coffee house/cafe will be opening in Penarth Road on the ground floor of a new flats developent opposite, while further along, the old Black and White Cafe on the corner of North Clive Street is set to re-open after being closed for nearly three years.
Day-by-day Saturday/Sunday 12th-13th and all October weekends: Y Bwrdd/Annes's breakfast/brunch pop-up at Lufkin, Clare Road, 9.30am-3.30pm. Menu is a mix of Welsh and Middle Eastern, using very local ingredients, including fruits, jams, chutneys from Bessemer Road allotment. See @y_bwrdd on Twitter/Insta Wednesday 16th October: Community Open Day, South Riverside Community Centre, Brunel Street, 12pm-3.30pm. A chance to find out about new local services, plus coffee and cake.
Saturday 19th October: Keep Grangetown Tidy litter-pick, meet 10am, Corporation Road. Look out for the Cardiff Rivers maroon truck. All welcome to join in, equipment, gloves and bags provided. Growing Street Talk 1st birthday party/harvest lunch, St Samson's Church Hall, Pentre Gardens, 10am-1pm. Bring a dish to share, try some pumpkin, learn of the gardening/growing project's latest plans. To book your place - please go to growing-street-talk@eventcube.io or contact us on growingstreettalk@gmail.com mobile & whatsapp: 07707 879546.
The Cinema at Tramshed - Watch for future programme. click here for listings and to buy tickets online.
Regular events: Mondays: Friends and Neighbours (FAN) group at Grangetown Hyb, 9.30am to 10.30am, women-only group at Clare Road Cultural Centre, 33 Clare Rd, 9.30am; and at Ikea, 11am to 12pm; Dementia Cafe, St Paul's Community Hall, first Monday of the month, 1.30pm-3pm. Monthly drop-in for anyone affected by dementia. Hosted by Alzheimer's Society and Dementia Care. The cafe is run by volunteers and has been supported by funds raised in memory of the late Brenda Griffiths, a lovely lady who latterly suffered from dementia. Grangetown Community Choir, Cornwall St church hall, 7.30pm-9.30pm. All weclome, relaxed, harmonious environment. £70 for term, from 18th September, payment options available. Email paulinedown7@gmail.com Tuesdays: Exercise for Beginners, Grangetown Health Centre, 10.30am–11.30am. Weekly sessions to improve your mobility/flexibility and get advice on simple
exercise routines that you can do at home. Grangetown Running Club, meets Channel View 6.15pm warm-up for 6.30pm start. Friendly and easy-paced group, ideal for beginners. Cost £1. Meets weekly. 9th Cardiff Brownies and Guides, St Samson's church hall, Pentre Gardens, 6-7.30pm. For girls aged 7-10, 10 to 14. Grangetown Book Club, Grangetown Hub, 6pm First Tuesday of each month, December's book - The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. Wednesdays: Baby massage and baby yoga group, Grangetown Hyb, 1pm. Includes Welsh vocab and songs, suitable for babies under nine months. Email: rhian.arwel@meithrin.cymru. Six weeks from start of February.
Cardiff People First, Grangetown Hub Cafe, 1pm-3pm. A chance to meet project worker Dawn over a cuppa in the cafe, chat, make new friends or try new things. Project run by local charity working with people with learning difficulties. Cardiff Dance Stars - Ballet and Lyrical Dance, ages 4-6, 4pm; Modern and Lyrical Dance, ages 7-12, 5pm - at Grangetown Hub, Havelock Place. Qualified dance classes for children, www.cardiffdancestars.weebly.com Welsh Taster and Beginners courses, Channel View leisure centre, 7pm-9pm. Introduction to Welsh - particularly aimed at parents with children at Welsh-medium school. From October/November 2017 until July and October 2018. Cost £177, intalments possible. Pub Quiz, The Grange Pub, 8.30pm. Weekly quizzes, with a different quiz-master every week. Thursdays: The Great Brains Speed Quiz, The Cornwall pub, 8pm. First Thursday of every month. Prizes. Fridays: Grangetown Food Bank, Grangetown Baptist Church, Clive Street, 12pm-2pm. Weekly foodbank, organised by Cardiff Foodbank Grangetown FAN group, Salvation Army - Women only. Starting at 10am with an English language class then 11am for a FAN meeting. Fluent English speakers welcome too! Grangetown Local History Society, first Friday of the month, 2pm, Glamorgan Archives, Leckwith Close, Leckwith, by Cardiff City Stadium. Free, a chance to share stories, memories, work on project, talks. See www.grangetownhistory.co.uk. Grangetown Afterschool Club/Full Circle Education, Grange Pavilion, Grange Gardens, 3.30pm-5pm. Brand new girls club, perfect for girls who love arts and crafts, games, music, photography, sports and making friends. If you would like any more information, please email: Nikki@FullCircleEducation.org Cardiff Dance Stars - Acro and Gymnastic Dance, ages 5-12, 4.15pm; at Grangetown Hub, Havelock Place. Qualified dance classes for children, www.cardiffdancestars.weebly.com Cook At Church, St Paul's Community Hall, 5.30pm-7.30pm - first Friday of month. For children aged 10 and 11 to learn cooking skills and have fun
Email your local events to grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk. For regular events, meetings and classes - including a listing for Grangetown Library Hub - see our directory. |
New book traces how Grangetown was built
Grangetown author and local historian Ray Noyes has produced a new book, which charts the history of the neighbourhood's development - with particular emphasis on its rapid growth in the Victorian era. Ray was born and brought up in Grangetown but his career in engineering took him away from the area, including abroad. He is secretary of Grangetown Local History Society.
Q How long did it take to build the Grangetown we now know? Most of Grangetown was built over 30 years, with some houses along the Taff and Avondale Road area added in the twentieth century once flood defences had been built along the Taff. Corporation Road was once a flood barrier which is why it is slightly higher than the houses and Grange Gardens on one side.
Q When and where did it all start? Construction started in 1857, at the same time as Penarth Docks. Grangetown was intended to house workers at Penarth harbour and docks as well as in an iron works and the gas works. With no public transport until 1873, workers had to live near their work. Penarth was easier to get to than Cardiff and Grangetown belonged to Penarth. It could have been name Clivetown after the Windsor-Clive family who built most of it.
Q How many of those original houses survive or were rebuilt? The vast majority of the original small terraced houses still exist, except for the very earliest ones that were on Oakley Street, Knole Street and Hewell Street. The National School and police station have also gone, they were some of the earliest public buildings.
Q Where does your own particular fascination with construction and engineering come from? My fascination with the history of Grangetown as an engineer is in its construction techniques. Discovering it was once a marsh on a thick bed of clay made me wonder how on earth it was done. It was not the best place to build anything and for centuries no-one dared. During construction, foundations and even entire buildings (Such as the main school) began to sink. As an engineer this caught my imagination, knowing that all had to be done by hand, without machinery. Even the roads and drains began to sink and eventually 22,000 tons of gravel had to be used to stabilise them, all quarried, transported and broken up by hand. The Marl Field is named after the clay beneath it which was quarried there in a large excavation so big it was used as a stadium.
Q Are there any buildings in the area you're particularly fond of? The buildings I am most fond of may come as a surprise. I love the many stables and cart sheds that were built at the time and are now mostly used as garages but some have been converted into small houses.
Urban Development in the Victorian Era: A Case Study of Grangetown, Cardiff, 1100-1900 is available from Wordcatcher Publishing for £15, and will also be on Amazon. Ray, who is secretary of Grangetown Local History Society, is also happy to order copies which he can bring along to its monthly meetings.
Read more about Grangetown streets here
White brothers can't stop Grange Cup exit
Grange Albion 3-4 Cwm Welfare
Match coverage by Tom Sargent
Grange Albion lost an entertaining League Cup tie at home to a much-improved Cwm Welfare on Saturday afternoon.
Read more of the match report here
Grangetown News autumn edition out
The autumn edition of Grangetown News is out!
It includes news on the progress of the £1.6m Grange Pavilion, including an exclusive first interview with the newly-appointed manager.
We have features on one long-running shop that has closed - and a new business which has opened. A look behind the scenes at Grange Albion football club - and we will be also catching up (if we can!) with the folks involved with Run Grangetown.
There is also a special farewell message from Grangetown vicar Father David Morris.
Copies are available from Friday/Saturday - there is an online version here - and we are appealing for volunteer deliverers, especially for streets in North Grangetown and off North Clive Street.
Please email grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk or go to our Trello board to register an interest in delivering.
Copies are distributed to 6,500 homes, shops and businesses. It is also be available in Grangetown Hub, local shops, venues and pubs and you will be able to view an online version above.
Grangetown News was shortlisted for a community news award in the 2019 Wales Media Awards in what is the publication's 40th year.
The newspaper - with website and social media presence - was chosen by the judges in the community news category. Can we take this opportunity of thanking all our readers, contributors, volunteer deliverers and advertisers for all their help and support over the years.
Now called Grangetown News, the first edition of the new-look 16-page full-colour tabloid newspaper came out in May 2016. Published by Grangetown Community Action, it has been a quarterly magazine format since 1978. In March 2019, it was shortlisted in the community news category in the Wales Media Awards.
Thanks for all those who have contributed and advertised - and also to our volunteer deliverers. If you can help deliver - email grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk
Should you have a local news story or would like to tell the community about your organisation or school then our paper is a perfect way of reaching people!you are a local business/organisation who would like to advertise to the local community our paper is an ideal place to place an advert.
Our rates are listed below:
1/8 page - £40
1/4 page - £70
1/2 page - £110
1 full page - £200
1 full back page - £250
The Grangetown News is still printed 100% in COLOUR, but is printed in a tabloid format, making your articles and adverts larger than ever! This is a pilot project which will hopefully allow us to increase readership through spreading more positive, local news stories. The editions are 16 pages. All articles submitted should be in a Word document (or jpeg for images / designed adverts - All images to be supplied high-quality 350dpi, colour pictures converted to CMYK) and sent to grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk.
If you would like to discuss advertising in the Grangetown News, please feel free to contact grangetowncardiff@yahoo.co.uk, or call Ashley on 07572875804.
As well as more local news stories, there are features on local businesses and also sport. The paper has also been designed by Grangetown residents. Online versions of the features - with more photos - will also be put up later on this website But it's not too late if you want to get involved:
City guides: Cardiff
Council BIG Cardiff Cardiffians
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city map Cardiff Pubs Real Cardiff © Grangetown Community Action and webmaster 2019. Last updated October 12th
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