Sorry everyone, another picture intensive post (as are all the posts planned this week). I'm desperately trying to get to grips with my camera and am still rather rubbish as I can't quite figure it out. I'm sure I'll run out of things to photograph soon, just bear with me.
I was at a bit of a loose end one weekend and decided to go for a wander around the Pumping Station in Cardiff, a beautiful Victorian pumping station once owned by Welsh Waters and now a treasure trove in a Grade II Listed building. Everything is for sale, and it has everything you can think of: antiques, vintage, even modern day ... erm, stuff. My parents, once they learned where I was headed, decided to tag along to hunt for a birthday present for one of their friends. The Pumping Station is so big, so packed with goodies, that we only covered the ground floor before lunch. So we headed to the nearby Harvester in Cardiff Bay for yummy goodness and then returned to the Pumping Station to scour the upstairs floor. Be warned people, you could lose days there.
 |
| Some old friends ... erm, miniturised |
 |
| Apparently, this is the world's largest lion and is in the Guiness Book of Records. When he died they stuffed him and he ended up here! |
I wore my Ginger skirt that I'd made (and completely failed to blog about, shame on me). I love my Ginger skirt, unfortunately my step-dad can't seem to work my camera either and the photos he took of me were mostly too blurry to post. Suffice to say, the skirt looks awesome, fit together really well and completely deserves its own blog post (note to self, write that!).
Not only did we manage to fit in the Pumping Station, but we also decided - as the weather was being particularly lovely - to go for an ice cream and a wander along the Victorian Pier in Penarth as my parents had never been. The art deco pavillion on the pier is beautiful but in need of restoration, Penarth Arts & Crafts Ltd are asking for local volunteers to help with their planned renovations. The pavillion managed to survive a fire in 1931 that destroyed much of the pier, the Port Royal Park (a 7,000 ton ship) being blown by gale force winds in to the pier in 1947 and the Bristol Queen paddle steamer running in to the pier during dense fog in 1966. Poor thing, it's had a bit of a bad time of it, and it's one of the last remaining Victorian Piers in Wales. It's not particularly long but it has great views and, on this occasion, a local brass band playing. Any day that involves ice cream is a good day, but this one was particularly lovely.
Thanks for stopping by,
...Sounds like my kind of week-end!!
ReplyDeleteDid you see the awesome black dress on the model at the pumphouse station? I drool all over it every time I go there. There used to be a lovely shop called "Powder, Lipstick, and Lace" or something like that where there was all sorts of lovely vintage things: hats, gloves and petticoats.
I really love Penarth, if you carry on after the Pier there is a big park and a little path just on the edge of the cliffs, it takes you to a secluded beach where there's lots of fossils.
Your pics are great by the way- which camera are you using? This is one of the area where there is lots of room for improvement in my case!!
The whole clothes area of the Pumping Station has now become furniture, in fact that's where I took the picture of the bronze ram's head. However, there's a new store downstairs that used to be based in Bridgend and they have fab clothes, stoles, jewellery, and hats.
ReplyDeleteI shall definitely have to go find the park and the beach, thanks for the tip!
I'm using a something or other my Uncle gave me. Perhaps this is why I don't know how to use the damn thing! ;) It's a little mini digital SLR and I love it.
Great photos!! And this looks like a great place. I will keep it in mind for my next Welsh holiday :)
ReplyDeleteShould you come here on a Welsh holiday I'll show you all the cool places, the Pumping Station and Penarth would definitely be on the list!
ReplyDelete