To the left is a picture of Cardiff City Hall, glistening in white Portland stone.

To the right is a picture of many of the buildings in Cardiff civic centre.

Visitors to Cardiff are often astonished to find a perfectly maintained castle standing right at the heart of the city centre. Cardiff Castle (left), is world renowned for its lavish and extravagant embellishments and furnishings, all of which are open to be viewed by the public. Medieval-style banquets are also held here at regular intervals.

An even more surprising factor for many visitors to Cardiff is that the Castle Gardens, at the back of the castle, open up to several square miles of beautiful parkland called Bute Park. Bearing in mind that the castle itself is in the city centre, this has been called one of Cardiff's most glorious surprises. Our picture shows the Castle Keep and one of the famous peacocks of Cardiff Castle.

This is the very elegant, but often hectic, St Mary Street, Cardiff. Cardiff's bustling shopping centre has been rated the fourth best in the entire UK.

The picture to the right is of Cardiff Bay barrage system which helped create Cardiff Bay itself. The Bay is now a permanent freshwater lake. In the foreground to the left is part of Penarth, behind that is the Bay and in the background is Cardiff.

Cardiff's Millenium Rugby Stadium (left), has become famous. It has a sliding roof and is the home of the Wales rugby team, as well as being a venue for many other events. Back in the 1970s the Welsh rugby team was ranked about third or fourth in the world, but hard times set in during the 1980s and the ranking is now around seven on average.

The picture to the right is of Penarth Pier which is on the Penarth waterfront. We have now moved 5 miles SSW of Cardiff, and our small town is located on the Bristol Channel coastline. UK Apologetics is based just 1 mile from here. The reputation for Wales having a wet climate does not really do justice to the Bristol Channel coastal area since it is one of the mildest climates to be found in the British Isles. Most afternoons between April and September are sunny and frosts are quite rare except during exceptionally cold winters (which are few). Almost anything can be grown here, but in winter gales can be frequent and the 'high summer' month of August can be wet and thundery. A pleasant summer afternoon should see a temperature of 72F (22C), but it can be as hot as 90F (32C).

To the left is Penarth Marina, a new (from the 1990s) development in the northeast part of Penarth, facing back towards Cardiff. This is all part of the Cardiff Bay area. This picture does not really do justice to the attractiveness of all the boats and yachts which are anchored in this area. Many highly expensive homes have also sprouted in this area.

A view of Penarth Cliffs, looking northeastwards towards Cardiff and Newport. This is south of Cardiff Bay, and is the Bristol Channel coast.

Here is another shot of the Cardiff Bay area in summer. This picture is taken from the Cardiff side of the bay. As you look across this scene, beyond the waterfront-set hotel, you are looking towards Penarth. We are the other side of the bay, beyond the hotel. This is the very pleasant part of the world in which UK Apologetics is situated.

To the right is a picture of the exotic gardens on Penarth Esplanade. Tropical palms are very common throughout the whole Penarth area where they thrive in the local very mild climate. Which palms? Cordylines, Washingtonias, Trachycarpus and Phoenix Canariensis (Canary Island Date Palm) all flourish here. Why is the South Wales area, and places like Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, so warm despite being as far north as Newfoundland (Canada)? It is due to the effect of the Gulf Stream, a warm water current which originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and also due to the fact that - being no more than a group of islands - Great Britain receives maximum benefit from this warm water stream.

To the left is the outstanding new Wales Millenium Centre, venue for concerts of all tastes in the Bay area. Your writer cannot pretend to be a fan of every ultra-modern style development in Cardiff Bay, but this is undoubtedly a very interesting building, even if not beautiful. I am grateful to Free Foto.com for the use of this particular photo.

Yep - to the right is the new Cardiff Bay construction which is so controversial and which I personally loathe. It's not that all modern buildings are ugly, some, even in the bay, are quite beautiful; but this new Welsh Assembly building is ugly beyond belief (even more so when one goes inside!)

To the left is one of the outstanding ships which visit here; in the summer, ship tours are often available.

A boat and vintage/custom car festival is held in Cardiff Bay every August. There is always much marine activity here.

Finally, yep - these really are banana trees! They grow in the walled garden in the Welsh Botanical Gardens, 70 miles west of Cardiff. However, since our climate is very temperate and not hot and tropical, the trees don't fruit.

I couldn't resist including this picture of the Cardiff city centre of around 1955!