The rapid disappearance of Cardiff’s countryside

In this video I cycle the old country lanes around north Cardiff. Much of the old village of Lisavne has disappeared along with the farming livelihood. £ years ago I documented the area before the major changes and so have returned to see how things look now in May 2024.

[Music] [Music] where I’ve just pulled up now is a beautiful Meadow you can see that just behind me but let me spin you around just like Gen X do let me spin you around and show you something else because in the back there it looks as if um Cardiff is still uh country town but actually um that is all going to be built on sadly what you see there all of that is going in the distance right over there can be seen the the city and you can even see the Channel Island the Channel Islands I wish you could you can see in the channel you can see the islands which is flat hes and steep hes so the chap I just spoke to was in the farm just down that hill and he was lovely cuz he was telling me that that farm isn’t going to be built on as yet they’ve no uh compulsory purchase or order or anything there so maybe this part will stay rural for for a while it’s now used for stabling it was a big farm but many much of the land was compulsory purchased when they built the motorway back in the early’ 70s so I’m going to head down here and take you through the other lane from this point now that we’re at just over there you can see the development now that was all Countryside probably 2 years ago I’ve got some footage from the Drone of that I’ll show you what it look like and you can see then along the edges the houses that have been built there’s a school well there’s a farm over there and you can see some Fields that’s all being built on and now you get a better view in the distance if you can see it down there is a farm that does the stable [Music] it just behind me is um a lovely old thatch Cottage don’t see many of those in cities nowadays but I noticed on the window what looks like a massive wasps nest I’m not sure if it is anyway I sto here cuz I’m at another Junction I’ve been here in the past and taken the Drone up beautiful house this is where the lane goes underneath the motorway they still uh got access for the farmer so let’s go down there and see what that’s like there’s the tunnel that I’ve just taken that goes under the motorway you can hear the traffic if I spin you around behind me now is a beautiful Farmhouse and in the past I managed to get the Drone up the the gentleman give me permission to go and take the Drone up and have a look so if I’m still go there I’ll show you what it used to look like and show you how it’s changed now I’ve left the bik there it’s too awkward to bring a bik so from here I thought I’d do a little bit on foot and show you if I can the garden at least of this house oh the ground is so waterl and there’s a house up there it’s absolutely stunning house pied wagtail on there the fence [Music] here well that was brilliant because the the chaps are working the farm gave me permission to drive down this Lane it’s a private Lane so no cars ever come down here there’s the old Stables there you can see over there the housing and you can see these lovely Fields these are all compulsory purchased see the houses up there have been built on just through that Woods it’s an Old Farm I spoke to the lady um her Farm has been um all the land has been compulsory purchased but they won’t purchase her house sadly and the B so she’s stuck with no Farm uh it’s really difficult for her all these fields here these are all compulsory purchased you can see really by the look of the grass I was not really looked after it’s not used by livestock is not farmed anymore cuz it’s all going to be built on so I’m going to head back through there towards the [Music] farm just spoke to the postman and funny enough I reckon him somebody I haven’t seen for 30 years and anyway I had a nice chat with him and we were talking about how much is all changed so this here is still on the one side of the motorway if I head down there and we go under the motorway as soon as we go under the motorway then you’ll start to see some of the building that is happening I’ll give you an idea of where I am if I knew in fact I was coming up this hill and got totally lost lost because I have not been here before I never knew any of this was built I found a road that goes I don’t know where and Incredibly only about 3 years ago on this road now cuz I’ve worked out where I am there’s a little Bungalow just down there I did a lot of carpentry work in there and it was surrounded by beautiful fields and I remember telling him that that’s the beautiful fields that it was surrounded by what I’m going to do now is head up this way and there a a real Steep Hill I might go up there get a bit of a look down onto where we are and then come back through a bit of the estake to show you some more of the uh [Music] progress so I’ve just come up that lane there past this lovely old bar but I’m going up there now up into the darkness and that’s a steep hill so I’ll see you at the top [Music] [Music] give you a little idea of where I am now there’s card if obviously in the distance I’m going to turn the camera around and show you the route I’ve come and then you can see where the building’s been done I’m right on the top of the Ridgeway here is an old I think it’s a TV Mast but let me show you so I started my journey just over in those houses went over to the industrial estate and I came through the countryside there right the way along there and up to there then I cycled through all the little Lanes alongside what is down there you can see the line that’s the motorway there so through those fields I went through those fields and there’s the big house um how can I see it on the map there I think you can see the big white house that I showed you I was speaking to the postman we came along there and then along there that’s where all the new build is going on so you can see all the new builds all that’s new all that’s new um right in the distance over there that’s all new within the last two years and then what you can see is all these fields here everything there that’s compulsory purchased sit on a concrete pillar here that gives me a bit of a advantage point as you can see over there there’s your bike that brought me up here and in the distance you might not be able to see it I’ve taken a photo right over there you can see quite clearly with the naked eye the Bracken [Music] beacons this Farm here I’ve spoken to the lady here and uh the lane used to carry on through there and went under the motorway and this is a one I mentioned whose Farm was come pulsy purchase but they wouldn’t buy the building so she’s left with these buildings with no land as you see this all been built on so a real shame and I feel sorry for her because she says she doesn’t want to be here anymore it was all a um Countryside and Village when she lived here and now sadly it’s gone now you can see it’s just Builders and as I cycle through there I pass another house beautiful old house couple of hundred years old left empty now people sold didn’t want to stay there they’ve even left it empty rather than uh stay until they sold it what a shame so this is part of the village there’s the old uh Church behind about 1,000 year old this building here the Black Griffin’s about 600 years old and all of a Cromwell Stadium here I’m going to cycle through the village you’ll see the old war memorial and some of the old buildings and on the right hand side used to be an old petrol station and a forge so again all changed [Music] behind me is the old farmhouse that owned all this land again that was compulsory purchased I actually went in there before they did anything to it and the old man who had to move out um again cuz it was bought everything was still in there it was amazing I got to I can give you a snippet if I can find a little video of what it was like in there but what I find is sad a stunning beautiful old building had all the original features and look they do nothing to look after it those old sash windows stood there for hundreds of years gone right never mind I’m heading down that way now and that’s my journey home so that’s the end of this video I’m going to end it here go home now but I’m going to sign off from here and maybe it might not be your type of thing cuz you’re you’re not from Cardiff you don’t know the area so it really doesn’t make a bit of difference but I can imagine that if you live in a big town or a big city then you’re used to having areas you once know get built on and you know Cardiff if you look around it is a beautiful city there’s so much to offer I’m right on the Hills but I’ve got the city right by there we got the coast right over there the the Bristol Channel and there’s there’s so much to see around here and so yeah it’s a shame when things change but they’ve got to change it’s such a lovely place and I thought it was worth just documenting before it gets built upon so at least we can remember what it was like if you enjoyed this don’t forget to like And subscribe and if if you want to watch any more content then check out this one up here [Music]