Salt Versus Fresh - Flora & Fauna - Cardiff Bay, Wales.
N 51° 26.963 W 003° 09.898
30U E 488536 N 5699812
An audio graphic sign, explains the types of Flora & Fauna that now live in the freshwater environment of Cardiff Bay barrage, as opposed to the Salt water bay & mudflats that it used to be, before the barrage was opened in 2001.
Waymark Code: WMPC7Q
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/07/2015
Views: 1
The tidal nature of Cardiff Bay, exposing as it did extensive mudflats save for two hours either side of high water was seen as aesthetically unappealing, to the many people living in an area.
The solution to this perceived problem was to build a barrage, stretching across the mouth of Cardiff Bay from Cardiff Docks to Penarth which would impound freshwater from the rivers Ely and Taff to create a large freshwater lake, thus providing permanent high-water. By making the area more appealing it was hoped this would attract investment into the docklands, and an area covering nearly 20% of the City of Cardiff. The Flora & Fauna sign is located, on the footpath atop the the barrage, Cardiff Bay, South Wales.
It sure worked, Cardiff Bay is now a Top Ten, World Class, not to be missed tourist attraction. (
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"Historically a city of castles and coal, Wales’s capital is emerging as a modern sports-entertainment destination. Summer action centers on Cardiff Bay, once the world’s largest coal-exporting port, now a 500-acre freshwater lake with eight miles of waterfront. Surrounding diversions, part of Europe’s largest waterfront development, include shopping and dining at Mermaid Quay." (
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For more info on the Barrage see: (
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