Well, a banging community, but what else? Splott has a lot more to offer than people think.
East Cardiff has a reputation for being a bit of a wasteland, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! Splott and surrounding areas is chock full of fab stuff, if you know where to look (luckily, pointing this out is the whole reason Inksplott exists!).
So, if you’re thinking of moving to the best part of The ‘Diff, what can you expect?
From parks, a lake and a beach to incredible community projects, here’s what Splott has to offer…
Nature and Wildlife
I’m starting with this one because we’re seen as an ‘industrial’ part of Cardiff, but truth be told, we have some smashing parks and a beach! We’re one of the few Cardiff coastal wards and are on the Wales Coast Path.
Here is a list of our parks and trails and what you can find there:
Moorland Park
Moorland Park is at the bottom of Splott, accessible from Neath Street, Swansea Street, Moorland Road and Portmanmoor Road. It has a playing field, a wild nature area in the South East corner, loads of trees and is home to a lovely family of Mistle Thrush.
Fun fact about Moorland Park: it is the location of Splott’s oldest surviving trees, planted around 1870!
To find out more about Moorland Park, click here.
Parc Tredelerch (Lamby Lake)
Cardiffians are familiar with the lovely Roath Park Lake, Sophia Gardens, Bute Park and the Bay, but for us here in Splott, there’s a wildlife park just around the corner which has a 40,000 square meter lake at its heart. Today Inksplott introduces Parc Tredelerch, found on the edge of Tremorfa.
Teeming with wild birds including black caps, finches, buntings and herons, the park has also become home to some beautiful green parakeets!
The park has a lake in the middle and multiple pathways and trails, it forms part of the Wales Coast Path. I can easily spend hours there, listening to the birds and soaking up the peaceful atmosphere.
Find out more about the park here.
Splott Park
Splott Park is in Tremorfa, accessible from Splott by North Park Rd and South Park Rd and is wrapped by Muirton Rd. It is home to the STAR Hub, a community and leisure centre with a swimming pool, gym, cafe, library and rooms to hire. It has a small BMX track and skate park, is home to Splott Phoenix Bowls Club and has two pitches for rugby and football.
Splott Beach
Splott Beach, as it’s known, is our little strip of coastline and officially part of the Coastline of Wales. It may not be Barbados, or even Barrybados, but it has a unique blend of industrial and natural charm. It’s easy to spend an hour walking the foreshore and looking at all the different merchants’ names on the bricks that have washed ashore following the dismantling of local factories or just find some interesting items washed ashore at high tide.
To find Splott Beach, head across Moorland Park, walk down Portmanmoor Road to the end, turnleft at the junction, keep left at the big roundabout with all the trees and cross over the road, when it’s safe, opposite the billboard by the Steelworks. There’s a metal gate which is easy to miss, but head through it and you’ll find the foreshore.
Tremorfa Park
Tremorfa Park is a beautiful park with a sports pitch and a tree-lined avenue that looks beautiful in spring. It has been known to house a woodpecker or two and is teeming with wildlife.
Play Parks
Splott and surrounding areas have a number of play parks that children can enjoy, including the following:
- Horwood Close
- Anderson Fields
- Library Park
- Splott Park
Play Provision
Splott has two awesome play providers in Seren in the Community and the Goldstars After School Club.
Seren in the Community
Seren in the Community is a charity supporting children and young people, and the wider community in Splott, Tremorfa and surrounding area and offer varied sessions, including free play sessions in term time. You can find them in their home in Splott Park next to the STAR Hub.
Find out more here.
Goldstars After School Club
This club runs out of Old Splott Library and provides after school play for children.
Dance and Performing Arts
We have two incredible providers in Rubicon Dance and Just One Theatre Arts.
Rubicon Dance
For those not in the know, Rubicon Dance delivers outstanding dance practice that enriches creativity, encourages learning and increases happiness and wellbeing.
Rubicon offers a range of dance classes across Cardiff and Newport, at their fully accessible studios in Nora St, Adamsdown, and at community venues including Day Centres, Community Centres, Hospitals and Schools. They offer classes for young people – from 18 months old upwards – to the elderly. Their oldest participant is well into her 90s.
Twitter @RubiconDance
Rubicon Dance, Nora Street, Adamsdown, Cardiff, CF24 1ND
Tel: 02920 491477
Email: info@rubicondance.co.uk
Just One Theatre Arts
JustOne Theatre Arts is an award-winning theatre school, dance, drama and singing academy that relocated to 19 Splott Road a few years ago following successful stints at Old Splott Library and Moorland Road Community Centre. Their mantra is to provide affordable sessions in all aspects of the arts for all ages and abilities.
Find out more here.
Community Projects
Railway Gardens
This one deserves a section all to itself! A groundbreaking green community-led project situated in Splott for the people of Splott, Adamsdown and Tremorfa, this brings green ambitions, co-production and community principles together in one gorgeous bundle.
Situated on the site of a disused play park at the edge of the railway line at the top of Adeline Street just off Railway Street, Railway Gardens has growing spaces, a community hub and is home to some brilliant independent businesses., Check it out here.
Sports Clubs and Groups
Girls’ Running Group
Girls Together have been running as a group since 2015. It’s a way to run safely as a group and make new friends along the way.
- Girls together meet every Thursday at 6.15 at the Star Hyb in Tremorfa
- Sessions are currently free although the group sometimes collect small contributions that go towards training new run leaders
- For more details, or to find out about a run, you can Tweet them @SplottRunners
Tremorfa Park Run
A free, weekly, timed 5k walk/jog/run at 9:00am every Saturday at Tremorfa Park. Open to all ages and abilities.
Find out more here.
Zumba with Michalina
Every Monday night in the Old Splott Library from 6pm to 7pm, for just £5 a session enjoy a really friendly and fun zumba class with Adamsdown resident, Michalina.
Find out more here.
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way of meeting new people, making new friends, getting active locally and doing something good for the community, so it’s fantastic that here in Splott we have so many volunteering opportunities on offer.
Keep Splott Tidy
If you would like to help make Splott look better, why not join Keep Splott Tidy? The group meets on the last weekend of the month and tackles a different area of Splott each time. All equipment is provided – all you have to do is turn up!
To find out more about the group, click here
To keep in touch with the group and find out when the next litter pick is happening, follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
You can earn Time Credits by volunteering with Keep Splott Tidy.
Shopping
Cardiff indoor Flea Market
Cardiff Indoor Flea Market is one of this area’s real hidden gems and if you’ve got an hour or two to spare on the weekend, it’s a fabulous place to explore. A word of warning though; you can lose hours in this Aladdin’s den!
The market is split into three areas; two main rooms which house the stalls, and an auction room, where items are on display on a Saturday so that people can view them before the auction on a Sunday (viewing on a Sunday starts at 9am and the auction starts at 10am and usually ends around 1pm).
Find out more here.
Splott Road
Splott Road has a post office, the Co-op, barbers, bakers and Splott’s newest restaurant, Balkan BBQ, serving grilled meats and accompaniments.
Salvation Army Charity Shop
Yes! Splott has a charity shop, though many don’t know it’s there! Situated just off Walker Road, in the SAlvation Army building, there isn’t just a charity shop but there’s also a community cafe! Who knew?
Food Projects
There are two major food projects in Splott; Splodown Food Co-op and the Splott Community Volunteers’ Breakfast Club.
Splo-down
Splo-Down Community Food Group is a group of neighbours from Splott, Adamsdown and Tremorfa who have come together to meet their own food needs collectively. They purchase and distribute good food affordably, and strengthen community connections as they go.
You can pre-order your stir-fry veggie box or seasonal veg box from Thursday to Sunday via the website. Based on the co-op’s ethic of solidarity not charity, they also offer several free veg boxes for anyone struggling to afford food. If you feel comfortable, you can purchase a solidarity veg box for someone else that the organisers will distribute.
The weekly member-run market stall is open at the Oasis Centre courtyard (Splott Road, Cardiff, CF24 2BW) every Wednesday 5pm-7pm for collection of veggie boxes.
Find out how you can pre-order veg boxes on the website: https://splo-down.org/
Check out Inksplott’s article here: https://www.inksplott.co.uk/plastic-free-and-low-cost-food-for-residents/
Splott Community Volunteers’ Breakfast Club
Helping to bring our community together and ensure no one goes hungry.
Breakfast Club is open every Thursday 8.30am -10.30am at the STAR Centre on Splott Road. Every week there are lots of goodies on offer; a hot drink and a bag of food for only £3pp.
Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/splottcommvols and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/splottcommunityvols
Dining
Sometimes we forget what’s on our doorstep, so here’s a handy reminder of the delicious dishes you can feast on in Splott…
Pregos
Street food is a massive growing trend in the UK and it’s bloomin’ brilliant that here in Splott we have our very own initiative in Pregos, a family business selling the best steak sandwich in town!
Their speciality is the Prego, a very typical Portuguese steak sandwich with all the trimmings. Theirs is specifically Madeiran as its made with a homemade sweet potato bread, something that is seen all over Portugal nowadays but still relatively new here in the UK. They specialise in Portuguese dishes and dishes inspired by the travels of Portuguese across the globe, from Goan chicken curry to Venezuelan empanadas which they have adopted back home.
You can follow Pregos on Facebook and Twitter (@Pregos_No1)
You can find Pregos on Freshmoor Road in Splott (off Lewis Road which has Splott Market on it).
Pregos is open Monday to Saturday, 9pm – 2pm.
Read more about what’s on offer here:
Oasis Cardiff
Enjoy global eats in the sun in the outdoor seating area at Oasis Cardiff Tuesday-Thursday from 12-2:30pm
Wash down your chicken taco, falafel wrap or mezze box with a glass of mango lassi or hibiscus lemonade
Find Oasis Cardiff on Splott Road opposite Splott Chippy.
Read more about the Oasis Global Eats here.
Follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
The Old Favourites
We can’t do a piece on lush lunches without some of the Splott staples!
Imperial Cafe
The Imperial Cafe is an institution here in Splott and is open seven days a week, serving breakfasts, lunches and roasts on the weekend.
Imperial Cafe is on Splott Road – follow them on Facebook.
Cheese & Wine Lovers:
Benedito’s of Cardiff, 15 Splott Road
Benedito’s Portuguese Delicatessen at the top of Splott Road is a bit of an institution in Splott – it’s been there ages and sells almost everything you could imagine:
Fine wines, beers and spirits, Meat, Cheese, Fish & Seafood,
Poultry & Game, Soft Drinks, Tremocos, Tinned and Packet Foods,
Olives – Olive Oils, Biscuits, Cereals, Portuguese cakes, Nuts, Bread, Pasta, Vegetables, Confectionery and Ice Cream!
You can buy a bottle of Portuguese green wine and some delicious cheese and olives to nibble on as you drink it. You can also buy salt cod here and a number of different hams and sausages.
According to the website, ‘whatever the occasion you will find all the ingredients for that special meal’ in Benedito’s.
For more information on the deli, click here: http://www.beneditos.co.uk/
Bread & Pastries:
Carlisle’s, 16 Splott Road
For a mind-boggling selection of super-yummy breads, cakes, pies, pasties, sausage rolls and other delicious items, Carlisle Bakery on Splott Road is king.
They have some super deals on as well, like buy any pasty and get chips for 50p, coffee and a cake for £1.65, breakfast roll with tea or coffee for £2.30 (the list goes on and on). You can also buy a Jamaican pasty for a pound!
The Danish pastries are sublime and the bread is delicious. Carlisle bakery is a true local gem and a tasty one at that.
Top tip: try the sausage rolls. They are the business.
Other options:
Baker’s Dozen, 17 Splott Road
What I love about this bakery is that, in addition to the usual bread and pastries, they sell good quality meals in tupperware for between £2 and £3, making them excellent value and really handy for people who are less than Nigella Lawson in the kitchen.
Like in Carlisle bakery, the staff are friendly and uber-helpful and are never too busy that you can’t have a chat with them.
Brutons the Bakers, 31 Carlisle Street
Established in 1898, Brutons has a number of bakeries in Cardiff. For more information on Brutons, go here: http://www.brutonsthebakers.co.uk/
Things on Toast
Situated in Railway Gardens, at the top of Adeline Street, Things on Toast is an independent food business serving…you guessed it…things on toast!
Follow them on Facebook.
Going for a pint
Though pubs and clubs are closing at a scary rate, there are still a few watering holes left in Splott. If you fancy an after-work pint, you can pop along to The Cottage on Sanquhar Street, the New Fleurs on Walker Road, the Old Illtydians on Splott Road bridge or the Cons Club on Adeline Street. If you fancy stretching your legs, you could pop over the bridge into Adamsdown to try the refurbished Royal Oak (which up until recently was home to the magnificent Hench Burger. Here’s hoping that they get another great food offer soon).
There’s also a bar in the Brewer’s Fair next to the Magic Roundabout.
