How I discovered my new favourite secret place in town
If it had been just half a mile closer to the city centre it would have been concreted over...
LOCKDOWN is boring right?
I am really lucky in many ways.
I have a job, they are still paying the vast majority of my wages and none of my loved ones have died of coronavirus.
Despite this there is no denying that it is dull not being able to go more than a few miles’ radius of your house for weeks on end.
Or at least this is what I thought. For my 12 years living in the capital I have spent 10 of them living to the east of the Taff and west of the A4232.
So that’s Splott, Roath, Gabalfa, Cathays and Adamsdown with a brief flirtation with Leckwith/Grangetown thrown in the mix.
I have been using my daily exercise to explore the parks near me.
Before the lockdown was ordered, I was pretty sure I knew the parks around me well – turns out I was wrong.
I have discovered some lovely hidden gems within our city’s green spaces.
Little streams, signs on the trees explaining their history and even a cocky heron.
Finding out the odd treat about the park is one thing, but I was shocked to discover a whole new park that I didn’t know existed.
Seasoned Cardiffians will probably scoff at the fact I had managed to live here for more than a decade, have an active interest in nature and was totally unaware that I had walked and driven passed it thousands of times.
The park, or should I say the nature reserve, is Howardian Nature Reserve.
I always thought that the greenery I could see from the A4232 was just a few trees between the road and the estate.
And yet while walking a week ago, I came across the entrance and found this absolute haven.
I have been back every day since – and every time I have come across something new.
Little waterfalls, glades where the light pours through the tress and a pond so brimming with tadpoles it looks like a sex education video you used to watch in school.
To be honest, even writing this I am starting to regret it.
On my walks there I have never seen any more than a couple of people.
It is a place to escape and I sincerely want to keep it that way.
By continuing to read this column you are entering into an agreement with me that you will keep Howardian just between us, OK? Deal.
One of the best things about it is that it is quiet.
It is weird that you are surrounded on three sides by some of the busiest roads in the city but feel like you are a million miles away from everyone.
The animals that I have seen there include: frog (x3), heron, blackbird, raven, newt (couldn’t make out the species), moor hen, ducks and a fox (I realise this is very close to the cast of the Animals of Farthing Wood).
If you look at the reserve on a map there is no way any of these creatures can really get anywhere else without crossing a busy road.
Over the decades the city has really grown up around it.
I don’t profess to know the history of it well but I am glad Cardiff’s relentless development hasn’t swallowed it.
You know that if it had been just half a mile closer to the city centre it would have been concreted over, a grey tower would have been stuck on it and it would have been described as “luxury student flats”.
In the plans submitted to a council an architect would have drawn a little square of grass with a few trees out the front and described it as a “modern green living environment”. When the lockdown started we were in winter.
Even if it were lifted tomorrow we would be well into spring.
By the time the lockdown is fully lifted an entire season will have come and gone.
When we think about Cardiff in spring we normally picture our green spaces, the sights and the smells.
St Mary Street in February is much the same as in August (except for a lot of drunk rugby fans).
However, it is our parks that show the passage of time and warm our souls.
We should treasure and defend our green spaces. Just don’t mention Howardian to anyone, OK?