Pontcanna,
on the west bank of the River Taff in the heart
of Cardiff, is one of the city's more coveted
places to live and it's not difficult to see why.
Turn right at various points as you travel north
along Cathedral Road, the suburbs spine and first
you'll hit Sophia Gardens, home to Glamorgan Cricket
Club and the Welsh National Sports Centre(which
offers a swimming pool, squash courts and a vast
array of fitness classes), then you reach Pontcanna
Fields with its wonderful avenue of trees, riding
school where many a local child has learnt to
ride and numerous sports pitches, then the beautiful
Llandaff Fields where local residents soak up
the sun on a summers day or take peaceful autumn
walks along the leafy central avenue with the
spire of Llandaff Cathedral peeping above the
trees. Here you will also find ten excellent tennis
courts, bowling green and a safely enclosed children's
playground (3 wheeler off-road pushchairs abound).
For the energetic the Taff trail is close by.
One of the best things about
living in Pontcanna is that it's all so close
to the City centre, you never really need to
use your car, everything is within level walking
or cycling distance and its a nice walk too.
It's is easy to stroll down the the avenue of
lime trees or along the banks of the river watching
the cormorants fish and forget how close you
are to the centre of the capital until you look
up and see the fairy tale towers of the Castle
and the impressive National stadium looming
above the trees, in fact you can get to Marks
& Spencer in the heart of the City centre
for example without hardly walking on a road.
Not that Pontcanna is short of
it's own shops. At the north end of Cathedral
Road and is a range of excellent small specialist
shops, including a well stoked late night delicatessen
(warm croissants on a Sunday morning), excellent
butchers, a jeweller who makes his own designs,
and around the corner on Pontcanna Street, are
a pair of up- market ladies fashion shops, the
fragrant Costa Rica coffee shop, gift shops, fine
arts, antiques, interior designs, etc etcBut Pontcanna
is best known for its stylish cafes and restaurants
including - Brava and Cibo where 'Pobol Pontcanna'
congregate for Sunday brunch and hold lunchtime
business meetings. The perennial favourite Diner
77 for classic American style food and Ana-Bela
cafe-bistro offers fine cosmopolitan cuisine in
a colourful surroundings. |
Perhaps best known of
all is the fasionable Cameo private members
club which is open all-day and into the wee
small hours of the morning.
Just around the corner
on Romilly Crescent are two of Cardiff's top restaurants
Le Cassoulet and Le Gallois. Pontcanna is also
well served with watering holes, with a number
of excellent pubs
|
