An interview with Paul and BBC’s Country Focus.

We are a group of volunteers working to encourage a change in behaviour towards the river and the Taff valley. There are a couple of goals that we’d like to achieve soon. These include:

1: Map and remove all the Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam from the Taff valley;

2: Work with local organisations to create educational resources, for parents and teachers, that use the Taff as a central theme;

3: Start a competition that calls for plans of how the Taff could be used better as a public space;

4: Develop publications, print and web, that promote the Taff valley as a place to visit;

5: Produce a film about the Taff valley;

6: Organise a Taff Valley River Festival for 2016.

If you share our aims and would like to work with us to complete these goals, please contact us.

Two villages that sit on the Taff’s banks are organising a festival for the following two weeks. There are various events scheduled for between 27.06 – 11.07, including a fun day in Tongwynlais on Sunday 28.06.

A full list of events can be seen on their website (http://tongwynlais.com/2015/06/18/whitchurch-and-tongwynlais-festival/) and you can get live updates on Twitter (https://twitter.com/mytongwynlais).

Did you ever think that people would consider the River Taff in the same way they think of the Wye or the Severn? Probably not. And neither did the majority of the population in Wales – until now.

On Sunday 21st June between 11.00hrs and 14.00hrs at the Pierhead in Cardiff Bay we will be launching The Living Taff project, which is a celebration of the river from its source in the Brecon Beacons National Park to its mouth in Cardiff. This is a project that we will be developing over an unlimited period of time – this is definitely not the Year of the Taff, Dr. Paul Barrett whose idea this is and who created and organised a number of major events when he worked with the Wales Tourist Board and community events like The Pontcanna Weekend and the Charles Rolls Centenary, knows from research and experience that events should be sustainable and should involve the local communities.  

The launch has been kindly sponsored by David Melding AM, Deputy Presiding Officer at the National Assembly for Wales.

At the launch we will be highlighting some existing and new projects like River Sonics, Wild Swimming’s Big Jump, Glamorganshire Canal, Sounding the Way (Audio walks), Taffs Well (the only thermal spring in Wales), Friends of Bute Park, the Cardiff Rivers Group, Greener Grangetown, Pontypridd Lido plus Jazz on the Taff (jazz in unusual venues along the river) and Laff on the Taff (stand-up). There are many iconic buildings along the course of the river, breathtaking history and famous people who were born here. We want to ensure that the Living Taff doesn’t mean a Welshman who hasn’t died, but a river that is beautiful, iconic and exciting.

We hope you are able to attend our event to discuss our idea and shared ambitions. Please contact us if you would like to discuss these aims, but are unable to attend the event. We are planning two more launch events; in Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. 

This is a project led by Glenn Davidson of Artstation and Mike Fedeski of Cardiff University and is about tuning our senses to the ambient sound sources that define the River Taff as a place. 

The work is to explore and expose the river’s regional sonic character. A key part is how to record and discover what status a recording holds.  What, for instance, does the recording of a large part of a river require? Could a sky ear possibly hear a whole river and what would that sound like? Also how could one show or exhibit a work of this type?

The approach has already led students to

– plan visits to the various sites by train and bicycle;

– develop from a common state of hearing to a state of active listening;

– explore how RAIN changes the river sonics;

– learn to combine sonic research and collaborate;

– mix and balance sonic sources;

– explore approaches to simultaneous recordings;

– make and exhibit a SoundScape installation.

The idea may be to create a regional SoundScape in which a user can zoom into and out of different scales of locations. The sonic studies can also be physically configured to produce a sound installation.

This is one of the most iconic open-air lidos in the UK.

The work on it has included restoring and remodelling the Lido with three heated swimming pools that offer maximum flexibility to accommodate different age groups and facilitate a varied and fun activities programme. It also includes a café and a state-of-the-art dry play area.

The restoration includes new features such as external and internal showers, heated changing facilities and a learning and visitor centre, permanently depicting the history of the Lido and the wider park.

A designated learning space is provided for school and community groups, as well as being available for hire for meetings and training activities by local organisations.

Art Shell is currently undertaking research into Cardiff’s changing water-scape, mapping recordings, remnants, residents memories and architects dreams of Cardiff’s waterways past, present and future.  

Heritage Lottery funding has been given to carry out the project and the group is working closely with The Cardiff Story Museum, Cardiff Transitions, The Boat Studio and architecture students from Cardiff University.

Art Shell is looking for volunteers to get involved in the project.  If you would like to register your interest please go to their web site.