My old friend and colleague Jenny Wigley was on Canon's duty in the Cathedral this morning, so I took services for her in St John's Danescourt and Christchurch Radyr. I've been to both of them often enough over the past few years to know and be known by a good few people in both congregations, and this makes it an enjoyable experience.
After the second service, I talked with David Suthers of Radyr Community Council about the impact on West Cardiff of a series of housing estates soon to add several thousand new dwellings to sites around Radyr and Pentyrch. There are no plans to improve main roads into town, nor to add public transport infrastructure. Already, since the expansion of Radyr housing along the upper plain of the river Taff, there's been a marked increase in traffic congestion in Llandaff. It's now one of the most polluted areas of Cardiff. Proposals to develop a cross-city metro line have not been pursued, despite the need already obvious to commuters. Is nobody interested in this kind of investment? Improving quality of life and environment is generally economically beneficial as well.
Not long after I returned from church, there was a phone call from Ann to say that brother in law Eddie had taken a turn for the worse and she was going immediately to the hospital. By the time she arrived, he'd died peacefully, in the company of a couple of nurses. Just twelve days after his open heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurism. We were aware of the uncertainty of recovery after such a high risk rescue operation, taking things a step at a time, but this came as shock after a brief spell of optimism. The rest of the day was spent contacting family and friends to tell them, waiting for the painful impact to make itself felt, and praying for the repose of his soul.
May he rest in peace.
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