Saint David's Shopping Center is the oldest shopping center in Cardiff, and the third-busiest in the UK.
The center was first built in 1982, and named after the Welsh Patron Saint. It has four entrances located on Queen Street, Cathedral Walk, Working Street and Hills Street. The entrance on Hills Street connects to the northern entrance of the second phase of the shopping centre, open at street level and via an enclosed bridge on the first floor. It is also joined internally with Queens Arcade. There are three thoroughfares within the centre: Town Wall, Cathedral Walk and St David's Way. The centre attracted an average footfall of 39,000,000 per annum and has a core catchment of 2.4 million people. The 12 million tourists that visit the city annually help generate over £7.5 billion in retail spending. There are seventy-five individual shops and stores in the first centre that cater for a broad demographic.
While Saint David's Center has since been demolished and rebuilt, Saint David's still stands today as a British icon. |
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Cardiff Bay has long been a popular hangout for many. Its many landmarks include the Wales Millennium Center, the Welsh Senydd, and several restaurants and bars. A ferris wheel can be seen at the bay's edge. During summer, a water park operates at the edge of the bay. In 1974, ABBA won the Eurovision at Cardiff Bay with their breakthrough hit "Waterloo."
In recent years nonetheless, Cardiff Bay has become the center of scrutiny for security concern, following several incidents involving far-right white supremacist groups that culminated in the racial attacks in August 2024.
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National Theater, the public theatre for performances, concerts and conferences, is located on London’s South Bank, close to Waterloo, Embankment and Southwark stations. Completed in 1962, National Theatre is one of the largest theaters in the UK, with a capacity of 2,440 seats in its three theaters combined.
National Theatre was the venue for various performances in the 1980s and 90s and some of the famous performances were by popular names such as the Bee Gees, Cliff Richard, Hanson, and the Spice Girls.
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Queen Street facing towards Cardiff Castle
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Like today, the Queen Street of the 1990s was just as bustling. However, many popular hangouts have been replaced by the current buildings that we see.
In addition, the opening of Saint David's Center in 1982 boosted Queen Street's popularity, offering young people a place to shop for the latest fashion wears. Following that, three cinemas also sprouted along the street, namely Saint David's Hall, the New Theater, and Cineworld Cardiff. All these attractions transformed Queen Street into a popular dating spot among youngsters.
The food fare was just as good. Not to be missed, the Mill Lane Cafe Quarter was also famous for the street cafes who provided a great variety of food and beverage. This area was a big hit with tourists and locals alike.
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Kiddy Rides of the 1990s of various shapes
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These were very popular back in the 1980s and 1990s, and could be found all over the city center.
These kiddy rides came in various shapes, from animals to vehicles to well-known cartoon characters. You dropped in a coin, usually 20p (sometimes 50p, especially for larger rides), and the machine would move, while making the sound of the object it was shaped like. A pony kiddy ride, for instance, featured realistic pony sounds (sometimes accompanied by Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture or Benny Goodman's "Sing sing sing"), while a motorbike kiddy ride featured real motorbike revving sounds. Some kiddy rides were shaped like famous cartoon characters, such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck from Disney, or Budgie the Little Helicopter from the Duchess of York's TV series; these, would often play back audio of said cartoon character talking, often taken from the cartoon itself. Motion usually lasted anywhere from a minute to two minutes.
The most interesting thing about these kiddy rides was the way they functioned. The vast majority moved in the standard back-forth manner with a slight front-back tilt. Some, particularly the larger ones, moved in a slithering motion, or in a revolving-on-a-pivot motion. Those that were shaped like ferris wheels rotated parallel to the walls, moving the ride itself up and down, often with LEDs flashing; and those shaped like one-man roundabouts rotated parallel to the ground.
Today, the last remaining kiddy rides can be found only in amusement arcades, such as in Barry Island.
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