Bay uplift

After a wet day yesterday when the workmen weren't able to continue stripping the rendering, they returned this morning and continued their daunting noisy task. I was glad to go out and meet Rufus for coffee and chat at Cafe Castan. He's not being treated at all well by those overseeing  his ministry development. In the absence of a diocesan Bishop at the moment, there's no higher church authority he can reasonably appeal to. With no authentic spiritual leadership being exercised, it seems affairs are being managed in a seriously un-pastoral fashion. I don't like it at all. It's destroying that sense of community in faith and trust which Christians are meant to give witness to in life together.

I walked to the Bay wetland nature reserve, after lunch, and was astonished so see scores of swans swimming around in the neighbourhood of the great flyover which crosses the water, joining the A4232 with the central Bay area. There was a pair of ducks I didn't recognise too, and couldn't identify when I looked later at my birdie books. 

Outside the Millennium Centre, Roald Dahl Plas is once more occupied during August by a fun fair with a giant sand pit at the heart of it - all branded as 'Cardiff Bay Beach'. It's an ingenious idea to do something different with this huge open space, a hundred yards from the water's edge, and it looked pretty busy as I passed by. 

Renovation work on on Bute Road railway station buildings is now complete and it looks spruce and clean for the first time in half a century. It dates back to the 1860s when the South Wales Railway line was constructed under Brunel, and a short branch line extended to take passengers down to the cross channel steamers in the docks. It's been semi-derelict and unoccupied for decades, blighting the neighbouring area. It now has space for a restaurant and some offices. I hope they get fully occupied and soon, as this would really enhance this interesting historic locality.

On the way back I met Clare in John Lewis' for a cup of tea, escaping from the house after the workmen had gone for the day. After supper, I whiled away the evening by working my way through several episodes of 'Keeping Faith' series two. It's again filmed in the most beautiful coastal locations in the vicinity of the Gower and Pendine. There's a serious crime thread threaded into a domestic  family drama, beautifully acted, kids as well as adults. What with this and some powerful domestic narratives about sexual abuse and rural housing poverty in the Archers, there's some thoughtful stuff to capture the attention being broadcasted at the moment.