St Mary Street

Yes it’s great that Cardiff city centre is being pedestrianised but I am sick to death of living in a building site. It feels like we have road works and traffic jams forever.
During the 70’s the world went through a big economic downturn and Cardiff docks went into terminal decline. Cardiff was like a ghost town. The answer was to regenerate Cardiff and the Docks into a modern capitol city. We lived in Adamsdown. As part of the compulsory purchase slum clearance our street was earmarked to be demolished but we petitioned and saved the street. We lived very close to a huge abbattoir that was on the site where Anderson Place, now is, so our playground was a building site. Then during the 90’s the Bay reconstruction started and the building site moved down to the Docks.
One day it would be lovely to have the building work finished.

St Mary Street is the main street of Cardiff. At one end you have Cardiff castle and at the other end you have, um, well the railway line? Cardiff is undergoing a lot of development at the moment and buildings are appearing from nowhere all of a sudden. At this end of St Mary Street you will find Mill Lane, The Great Western and Sleeperz hotel. At the castle end of this street they have been busy pedestrianising the street so now, instead of risking your life to get from one side to the other you can amble casually safe in the knowledge you won’t be run down by a city bus or a nutter in a taxi.
St Mary Street is typically known for it’s nightlife during the evenings and weekends but during the day you find just as many people darting back and forth. I like this street most because you have three music stores along this route and access to all of the arcades, except Queen’s arcade that is (not a huge loss really). If you look up will notice some interesting architecture and quite a few of these buildings have or are being turned into apartments. I’ve been looking for somewhere along here to move into as it is so close to where I work but no joy as yet. I wonder if anyone reading this has a room spare, or maybe I could babysit a disused office? I don’t know why but I have a real urge to live on this street and to look down on the city folk and people watch from my bedroom.

St Mary Street was once a busy main road thundering with buses and stinking of car exhaust fumes, but nowadays it’s a quieter pedestrian thoroughfare.
Despite being lined with some interesting buildings with unique architectural details, St Mary Street seems a bit lost at the moment. Gone are the cars and fumes, but where are all the people? By day it’s usually quiet, even when other parts of the city centre are heaving — then at night it’s taken over by rowdy crowds of drinkers who descend on the street for its bars and clubs.
The best thing about St Mary Street, however, is where it leads: historic arcades snake off in either direction, as well as the Brewery Quarter eating and drinking area — and it also links through to The Hayes at the heart of the city centre with its many shops and restaurants. At the very top of St Mary Street you find Mill Lane, or ‘Café Quarter’ as it’s known by locals, a lovely strip of bars and restaurants with outdoor seating areas. So, a stroll down St Mary Street can lead you to many of Cardiff’s loveliest city centre areas!

St Mary Street is my favourite shopping street in Cardiff. This is where I access all of the lovely independent shops in The Royal and Morgan Arcades. The street itself is mainly populated with banks and fast food joints as well as a smattering of more up-​market eateries. But, it just so happens to have two of my best loved restaurants in Cardiff — The Porta Due and the.
This area boasts some of the best architecture in town, and rarely sees much traffic. Instead, it is a vibrant pedestrian area, but doesn’t get anywhere near as overcrowded as the paved shopping precinct adjacent to it. If I have call to visit one of the shops in the more commercial retail sector, this is where I escape to, to chill out and grad a bite to eat.