Cardiff Arcades: A foodie special
This week we've had a food special on the Cardiff Arcades blog. First up, I posted about Price's Sweets, a new addition to the High Street Arcade. Next came Wally's Deli, which I'm sure for many needs hardly any introduction and finally Celtic Cakes, a bespoke cake studio in the Castle Arcade. Also this week, you'll find details on how you could help protect the Arcades with lottery funding. As always, I'm very keen to hear from anyone with a story to tell about the arcades – so if you have one, please get in touch.
Price's Sweets
Prices sweets Photograph: Amy Davies
Photographing a sweet shop is not exactly a chore, and I had a great time shooting Steve and Deina Price and their fantastic new shop in the High Street Arcade. If you find yourself unable to resist its charms and wander in, you will be confronted by a bewildering array of sweets. You're sure to find something you like, whether that be classics like Rhubarb and Custard or my new favourite Vimto bon-bons. Proving popular with students, children and sweet-addicted folk of any age, you'll also find retro classics that will have you reminiscing back to your days in primary school with sherbet dib-dabs, flying saucers and parma violets.
Wally's Deli
Wally's Deli Photograph: Amy Davies
Legendary Cardiff deli, Wally's, has been right at the very top of my hitlist ever since I started the project. It's the shop that I probably spend the most time in and for a photographer it's a haven. I also learned some fascinating facts about arcade history by speaking to the owner, Steve. Probably most interesting was finding out that the area directly underneath the shop is apparently the site of an 1800s cholera pit – I'm keen to do more research on this so if you know any information, please do let me know.
Wally's moved to the Royal Arcade in 1981 and is now one of Cardiff's most popular shopping destinations – you'll notice that in these pictures the shop is empty, I had to visit pretty early to achieve that as normally it can be found rammed with foodies like me stocking up on their lemongrass stalks, tamarind paste, exotic spices and more. I'm very proud of the photographs from this set, and although I don't really like to play favourites with my shoots, these are certainly up there.
Celtic Cakes Studio
Celtic Cakes Photograph: Amy Davies
In another life I'm a food blogger and writer, with my main passion being baking. So when I got the opportunity to shoot Celtic Cakes it was a welcome return to my first love – food photography. Owned by Ann and her husband, the cake shop offers bespoke cakes for weddings, christenings, birthdays, parties, and probably just about any occasion you can think of. Even though the shop is only a part-time venture, amazingly Celtic has managed to make over 300 cakes in the past year alone. Next time you're in the Castle Arcade be sure to press your nose up against the glass to see some incredibly ornate sugarcrafting at its best.
Lottery funding
Finally this week, there's news that the Heritage Lottery Fund is looking for views from the people of Cardiff on what lottery money will be spent on from 2013. I'll obviously be writing in about the arcades myself, but it can only help if you do too. Alternatively, let me know what you love about them and I will include it in my submission – I've already had some great thoughts sent in and of course I'm always happy to hear more.
Over the next few weeks I'd like to spend some time getting to know more about the history of the arcades, sparked by a visit to 'Pigeon Alley' – a Dickensian style walkway in the Royal Arcade. I'm keen to know more history though, see more old pictures and generally read more accounts of arcade life in the early days. If you're a historian, know of one, or know of any great books or resources, please do let me know so I can find out more.
Amy Davies is the photographer behind the Cardiff Arcades Project and we've been running a series on her escapades which you can see here.