I have always been fascinated by the tides on the River Taff
as a kid I would sit on the riverbank and watch the tide rush in on a sunny day
it was beautiful. The local paper would carry the time of the tides but after a
while, you just knew when it was that time of the day. A tell tale sign the
tide was coming in were ships entering or leaving the Docks or the Bowles sand boat
waiting to come up the Taff to its berth.
I would sit and watch the water build up behind the rapids,
we called them the rapids but they were nothing like the major rapids you see
explorers navigate it was a trickle. Then again, we called the waterway from
the old entrance of the Glamorganshire Canal the big Amazon and a large gully leading
into it the little Amazon. We like to give things impressive names. When the
tide was out, we would walk the tide line looking to see what goodies drifted
down river. We were never short of a ball also the odd dead sheep.
There were two tides a day one every 12 hours one would come
in when you were tucked up asleep in bed but in the summer, it was possible to
catch both better if you were out camping. You would never get much sleep
anyway when we camped out.
The tide would refresh the River Taff and become busier as
children playing around the water’s edge, fishing for fun not really caring if
you were to catch something but it was nice to catch an eel or two. We swam in
the Taff and back then it was not the cleanest river in the world and from time
to time you would have a rash to cope with. Rafts were a fun distraction you
would have to seek out building material and then build it or you could be lucky
and find someone had discarded their raft. If you felt less energetic and it
was a sunny day you could just sit on the riverbank throwing the odd stone into
the water and just chatting with a friend or friends.
No big brother authority over looking us as long as we stayed
within the law of course which was not always possible. We lit fires melted
lead to make fishing weights among other things jumping gullies it was fun.
It has all gone now, the big and little Amazon are under the
waters of the new-fangled Cardiff Bay along with the rest of my memories. No tide
just a bay and the smell of the mud as gone. The Cardiff Bay project has
certainly change the River Taff right up to Bute Park. There is a completely
new life to the river for the better in my book with the water in a better
condition and there are more activities on the water.
You can catch a waterbus from Cardiff Bay to Bute Park and
back as you have party boats or booze cruise on the river. You can also take a
boat over to the island of Flat Home in the Bristol Channel. On a nice day a
walk over the Barrage on one side, you have Cardiff Bay on the other side the
Bristol Channel the café has been up graded and I am looking forward to see it
when the weather warms up.
There has been an increase in wildlife in and out of the
water when I took a trip on the waterbus I cannot believe how many swans were
on the river and bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment