Rhiwbina Living 62

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Blue plaque query
I wonder if your readers can give
me some advice to share with
the residents of the road in which
I live?
I live on Junction Terrace in
Radyr and at our last residents'
association meeting, we were
mooting the possibility of a blue
plaque for our terrace. I visited
Cardiff Council website but am
none the wiser where to start.
In 1864, 12 houses were built,
followed by 8 further houses a
few years later, by the Taff Vale
Railway Company to house their
employees. The houses were
built for £150 each. Junction
Terrace therefore became the
first ‘street’ in Radyr.
The houses were built of Radyr
stone, presumably sourced from
the nearby Radyr quarry located
to the south of the site alongside
the river and the Llandaff Loop
railway bridge at the top of Hailey
Park. The houses were built with
long front gardens that were
fronted by a narrow cart track
(owned by the railway) which led
to Radyr Lodge Farm, located
in Radyr Woods. The farm was
purchased by the Education
Authority and demolished in the
1960s to provide land for the
comprehensive school.
In the 1990s, development of
the now disused Radyr Yard
sidings was muted and the
association acted to ensure the
terrace was protected for its
present and future owners. Long
negotiations, with the developers
and the Council (planners
and councillors) enabled the
construction of the new access
road to replace the rough cart
track with footpath.
We would like to recognise this
part of our north Cardiff story and
would appreciate any help. My
email address is below.
Neil Crowle
Radyr
neilcrowle@icloud.com
Our travels well
remembered
I recently collected a copy of your
multi-award winning community
magazine.
Turning to pages 26 and 27
(Spring Visits), subject to one
possible exception, I was met by
countries that my late wife Sue
and I visited from here in Wales.
The exception is Morocco
on the southern side of the
Mediterranean Sea and the north
of the African continent. If I might
be allowed to say so, I would
recommend spring, summer,
autumn, and, even winter visits to
the rest of the African continent.
The recommendation is based
on the nine years that my late wife,
Suzanne Mary, and I lived at its
most southern end in South Africa
encircled Lesotho.
As we found out, Lesotho is also
known as the Kingdom in the Sky.
This is because of its monarchical
societal status and its elevated
position in the mountains of the
country that overlook parts of
Republican South Africa.
During the said nine years, we
took the opportunity to visit vast
other numbers of the countries
constituting the African continent
from south to north and west to
east. In the process, we saw an
abundance of onshore wildlife and
some more offshore too.
I am now aged 85 and must leave
it like that. However, from our
travels, we collected memorabilia
that we have brought home again
to Wales. It helps me remember
our times together.
Derek Noel George Griffiths
BA; LLB 2.1 FCIArb,
Llandaff
Pollution worries
I've recently been made aware
of a source of river pollution that
perhaps some (or most!) of your
readers will be unaware of.
The chemicals found in backof-the-neck
flea treatments
for domestic pets are toxic to
freshwater invertebrates and
have been detected in rivers
across England, despite severe
restrictions on agricultural use
since 2018. Please don't let this
happen in Wales!
Terry Weathers,
email
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