City Road, Cardiff
City Road (Welsh: Heol y Plwca) is a commercial thoroughfare in the Plasnewydd area of Cardiff, Wales. The B4261 road runs the entire length of City Road roughly in a south easterly direction from the junction of Crwys Road (A469 road) at the northern point (known as "Death Junction"), to its meeting point with Newport Road (A4161 road) in the south. It had its own television series, broadcast on BBC Wales.
| B4261 | |
 Just over half way up City Road looking north | |
| Former name(s) | Plwcca Lane, Castle Road |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Cardiff Council |
| Length | 1.0 km (0.6 mi) |
| Area | Plasnewydd/Roath |
| Postal code | CF24 |
| From | Newport Road (A4161) |
| To | "Death Junction" (A469) |
History
City Road was originally known as Plwcca Lane (Welsh: Plwcca Alai).[1][2] Plwcca meaning dirty, wet, uncultivated land.[2] Alai meaning an alley.[2] In 1830 Plwcca Lane consisted of Roath Castle and six small cottages in two fields,[2] it led to Plwcca Halog,[1] named after the Gallows Field, which was where public executions were carried out.
Plwcca Lane became Castle Road in 1874, which was named after Roath Castle. it ran north south from Cardiff through the settlement of Plasnewydd. Roath and Plasnewydd were absorbed into Cardiff in 1875. Castle Road was renamed City Road in 1905 to mark Cardiff's new city status,[3] after the Parish of Roath was absorbed into the county borough of Cardiff in 1903, as Cardiff already had another Castle Street.[4][5] City Road gained the B4261 number classification in the late 1920s.[6]
The northern point, where five roads (City Road, Richmond Road, Crwys Road, Mackintosh Place, Albany Road) meet has in later years gained the name "Death Junction", possibly because of its difficulty for pedestrians and motorists, though an alternative explanation is it being the location of the grisly execution of two Roman Catholic priests (Philip Evans and John Lloyd) who were hung, drawn and quartered at this crossing point,[7] during the reign of Charles II.[8]
Description
The road has hosted a number of public houses, a cinema and a college campus.
City Road has gained a reputation for its multicultural mixture of restaurants and food takeaways.[9]
TV series
City Road was the subject of a three-part television series, first broadcast on BBC One Wales in July 2016. The series featured several businesses including a hairdressers, a sex shop and a fitness centre.[10] The series was made in partnership with Made Television[11] and also broadcast on Made in Cardiff.
References
- "The lost suburbs of Cardiff and the fascinating history behind them". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- "Reminiscences of old inhabitants of Cardiff". University of London. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- "The History Of Cardiff's Suburbs - Plasnewydd incorporating part of Roath". Cardiffians. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- "Council Chamber". City of Cardiff Council. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- "City Road, Cardiff: suburban thoroughfare". Open University. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- "B4261". SABRE Wiki. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- "Plasnewydd". thecardiffmuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- Therese Wynn-Davies (10 March 2011). "Spotlight: History of 'death junction'". theguardian.com. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- Ruth Mosalski (4 November 2015). "Should Cardiff's City Road be rebranded and turned into the city's very own Brick Lane?". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- Cathy Owen (14 July 2016). "The sex shop owner, hairdresser and kick boxer starring in a new TV show about one of Cardiff's best known streets". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- Ian Burrell (13 November 2016). "A new force in broadcasting: the revival of local television". i. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
External links
Media related to City Road, Cardiff at Wikimedia Commons