# Let's have it out then. East or West of the Taff?



## Col_Buendia (Mar 27, 2006)

Time we had it sorted out once and for all.

I’m well bored with this “Grangetown” snobbery, and the needless nose-in-the-air posturing of the Pontcanna urbanerati. Had it. End of. Just cos a couple of the desperate wannabees on the other side of the river get to eat over-priced veggie burgers every Sunday in the Farmers’ Market doesn’t mean they’ve got the right to rub our noses in it over here where we’re keeping it *real*.

So I invite you to offer your thoughts on the definitive debate, the ultimate urbanite argy-bargy, the concluding controversy, the last word… on EAST versus WEST of the Taff.

From the outset the West would seem to have it, when you line up Chapter, the Sunday Market, Ninian Park stadium, home of the future champions of the English Premiership  and, errr, oh yeah, the rotting shell of Rajahs.

But then when you reflect on the eastern side of the river, not only does your mind turn to the sublime delights of Adamsdown, birthplace of Western democracy and the fine arts (as mentioned in Pliny’s 5th dialogue with Socrates), the lofty heights of knowledge as found in the hallowed grounds of the university, the Royal Oak, or the Albany Fish Bar, but also the Eiffel Tower (east of the Taff), the Oracle at Delphi (east of the Taff), the Venus de Milo (east of the Taff) and the pyramids (east of the Taff).

So it seems to me that there isn’t much of a debate to be had. But I’m prepared to let the westies have their final moments of injured pride, prepared to listen to the last gasps of a dying civilization (Canton) and hear their case.

So which is it for you? East or West of the Taff?

(And don't forget the Vulcan's East of the Taff.)


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 27, 2006)

East all the way.....

Lived here for over 20 years now......

Im done with the pontcanna snobbery, its piff!!!!

Clifton St may be like the walking dead, but i wouldnt swap it for the west side.


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## King Biscuit Time (Mar 27, 2006)

Big up Eastside!







Big up Splott market, That dodgy turkish boozer, Albany road, Death junction, Mackintosh sports centre and that superloo next to threshers that never works and is always full of diazipam packets.

And a big RIP to the once great 'Cardiff's video Centre' with its cave like shelves.

 

Any westsiders care to comment?
(or are you too busy snorting cocaine through a £50 note with Rhodri in the Cameo Club?)


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Well I think it's abit unfair to include the castle, good clubs intown, mill stadium, Roath PArk, Bute park, CAstell Coch, etc.

So I give you 

West
Good - better charity shops ( less students )
Millers Tavern
Inroads
Ninian Park
Admiral Napiers disco
KIngs Castle jukebox
CAyo Arms
Thompson Park
Victoria Park Paddling pool

BAd
Nimbys

EAst
Good
Roath Park back room
Albany back room
PArk VAults
The stretch from Waterloo gardens up the lake
The rec when the baseballs on
HAwaiin theme nights
Winchester club ( no defunct )
St Peters church function hall ( sadly underused except for annual Elvis birthday bash )
similarly Roberts Emporium

Bad
Students, students and more bloody students.
Fucking big queues in Tesco
Broken communities
House prices
Decline of the local pubs


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Oh and for the west
BAd
Billy the frigging seal
and that twat Frank Henessy


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## Brockway (Mar 28, 2006)

At last, a meaningful debate. 

Cards on the table - I was born on the westside, St David's Hospital to be exact and although I'm from the Gabalfa estate (eastside - though strictly speaking north because the Taff gets a bit bendy where I live) I've always had an infantilist yearning for the West. There's something pre-lapsarian about the westside, it's a kind of Arcadian paradise perhaps best exemplified in the idyllic rusticity of Thompson Park.

Sure the eastside has a seedy glamour but when you live it 24/7 that _noirish_ charm begins to pall and you see it for what it really is - depressing.

Westside for me.


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## Belushi (Mar 28, 2006)

Like any real Welshman lives anywhere east of Neath


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Belushi said:
			
		

> Like any real Welshman lives anywhere east of Neath



JAck or Bluebird?


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Oh and Cathays cemetery, not quite Pere Lachaise,but better than Ely


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 28, 2006)

East of the Taff:
Big Ben, Barcelona and Bognor Regis.

West of the Taff:
Ground Zero, Greenland and Guantanamo Bay.

What else is there, westwards?


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## Belushi (Mar 28, 2006)

RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> JAck or Bluebird?



Jack   

Should get my brother D. on here sometime he's a proper Jack.


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> East of the Taff:
> Big Ben, Barcelona and Bognor Regis.
> 
> West of the Taff:
> ...



Well if your going global.. cetrAL amERica, carreg cenin and pembrokeshire national park.
EAst ...engerland


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## ddraig (Mar 28, 2006)

is this the preamble to the next meet that LMHF suggested in the Cayo?


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 28, 2006)

^^^  it's a bit early to be killing the thread, innit?

Fucking westies... 

@ RB - OK, then East we got the Wye Valley and Stonehenge... keep going


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> ^^^  it's a bit early to be killing the thread, innit?
> 
> Fucking westies...
> 
> @ RB - OK, then East we got the Wye Valley and Stonehenge... keep going



Avebury, Paris, Amsterdam, Newport transporter bridge, TJs.

West CBGBs San Franscisco, Voodoo, Santeria and Chiapas

I Like th way you split the whole world into east or west of the Taff, I suppose you'd have to say Eire is west


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 28, 2006)

Taff-centrism.

It's contagious, you get it after about 5 years in Cardiff 

OK, then, back to the city...


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

CAroline St - E
La Lupa - W
Ton triangle - E
Chinatown - W


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## pigtails (Mar 28, 2006)

I'm a penylan girl - posh innit!!

I like my side of cardiff - penylan, roath, splott, cathays.  but also have a love of Canton


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## llantwit (Mar 28, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> Time we had it sorted out once and for all.
> 
> I’m well bored with this “Grangetown” snobbery, and the needless nose-in-the-air posturing of the Pontcanna urbanerati. Had it. End of. Just cos a couple of the desperate wannabees on the other side of the river get to eat over-priced veggie burgers every Sunday in the Farmers’ Market doesn’t mean they’ve got the right to rub our noses in it over here where we’re keeping it *real*.
> 
> ...



I thought they were both equally shit, Buendia?


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## cymrukid (Mar 28, 2006)

Fuck Cardiff, Rhondda Valleys Represent etc


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## ddraig (Mar 28, 2006)

llantwit said:
			
		

> I thought they were both equally shit, Buendia?


innit! and 'boring' eh col!


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## ddraig (Mar 28, 2006)

cymrukid said:
			
		

> Fuck Cardiff, Rhondda Valleys Represent etc


yeah! they bloody represent their guts over my pavements of a weekend


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 28, 2006)

llantwit said:
			
		

> I thought they were both equally shit, Buendia?



I'm trying my fucking best here, give me a break!

East - Sophia Gardens & Bute Park, hence the Mardi Gras and Compass Point... oh, hang on, I'll retract that last one!


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> I'm trying my fucking best here, give me a break!
> 
> East - Sophia Gardens & Bute Park, hence the Mardi Gras and Compass Point... oh, hang on, I'll retract that last one!



Sophia Gardens is West you fenian fop


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## Brockway (Mar 28, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> I'm trying my fucking best here, give me a break!
> 
> East - Sophia Gardens & Bute Park, hence the Mardi Gras and Compass Point... oh, hang on, I'll retract that last one!



Sophia Gardens is west...


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## Brockway (Mar 28, 2006)

The west has a ski-slope. And don't say: we've got the Alps.
Ely v Llanrumney - gotta be Ely.
Canton v Roath - no contest.
Pontcanna v Penylan. Ok you can have that one.


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## ddraig (Mar 28, 2006)

*Col*

for your information like


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

The west had the 'Scream house', while we had Burges house.

West -Parachute club

Funny how none of the easties have mentioned Journeys yet 

Oh and the Black Bridge.


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 28, 2006)

Brockway said:
			
		

> The west has a ski-slope. And don't say: we've got the Alps.



A big toothbrush


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 28, 2006)

RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> Sophia Gardens is West you fenian fop



Who you calling a fenian?  Alright alright, I meant Coopers Field, and y'all knew it an took advantage anyway, yous scumbags.  




			
				RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> The west had the 'Scream house', while we had Burges house.
> 
> West -Parachute club
> 
> ...



I think you'll find it's called The Toucan Club now. And yes, I claim it  In fact, between it, the Howardian and Pizza Kitchen, why would anyone want to live anywhere else than Clifton St?


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## Dai Sheep (Mar 28, 2006)

*The West Strikes Back*

Thorioughly apt Representative of the east:





Lamby Way - the stench of the east.

Wipe your feet if you come west please.


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 29, 2006)

Right im ready to meet you lot now, i reckon we probably know easch other anyway...

Suggestions for this weekend, cmon lets thrash this baby out......

(east v west i mean)  

Oh yeah and Guildford crescent, has to be east.....p[lease tell me  

Best place in the world...

oh and remember Liptons , on the cornor of Donald St and Albany Rd, where the post office is now.....

I stole a dairylea cheese triangle from there, my mum found it and marched me to Cathays police station to see the old bill


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## zog (Mar 29, 2006)

Living in exile in the east, I can safely say that west is the only place to be, riverside or grange to be precise. 

The east is just too full of students; parked up in roath yesterday someone artistically left some banana skins under my windscreen wipers. You wouldn't get that in grange.

Historically, west has proved to have the finest entertainment establishments. rajahs, the coldstream, inn on the river...

Admittedly the docks used to be on the east but they are no more, we now have the plastic bay. Staggered into the Bay Brassiere last week, lookin hanging having just helped redecorate a house (and a few hours inbetween on the piss). The staff were one to one marking us, assuming that we were gonna do a runner as they don't seem to serve our sort too much.

Sorely disappointed with the food there. Anyone with a grill could have knocked up the same stuff for a quarter of the price, the fish looked as fresh as my undercrackers, and the service was on the poor side of piss poor - I think they were hoping that we would leave.

Will be going back next week shaved and suited - then we'll do a runner.


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 29, 2006)

Noticed Djangos Dad voted west - you cunt , you said you preferred Roath.

The west has got Ninja tho'.

p.s. anyone actually like Chapter?


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 29, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> Living in exile in the east,
> Admittedly the docks used to be on the east but they are no more, we now have the plastic bay.
> .



The west diaspora. Exodus   

Yep the old docks - Casablanca.scene of Spandau Ballets afternoon sunday tea performance,yellowman and Aswad.

Oh and the Coal exchange


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 29, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> <snip> The east is just too full of students; parked up in roath yesterday someone artistically left some banana skins under my windscreen wipers. You wouldn't get that in grange.



Exactly. Your car would be gone 

Actually, that's not fair. We recently purchased the "one careful lady owner" former King Biscuit Time mobile, and it had been parked for a sum total of about 5 days outside my house before some cnuf took the wing mirror off.


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 29, 2006)

PS - does anyone have any idea why BlackSpecs voted on this poll?


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## King Biscuit Time (Mar 29, 2006)

Col_Buendia said:
			
		

> Actually, that's not fair. We recently purchased the "one careful lady owner" former King Biscuit Time mobile, and it had been parked for a sum total of about 5 days outside my house before some cnuf took the wing mirror off.



  Can't those Adamsdown scallys recognise a classic car when they see one!


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## Col_Buendia (Mar 29, 2006)

Yep. They did the classic car's wing mirrors as well


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## Brockway (Mar 29, 2006)

RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> p.s. anyone actually like Chapter?



Chapter's great mun! It's the only drinking establishment in Cardiff where there's absolutely no threat of violence. There might be the odd disagreement over which is Kubrick's best film; or performance art versus modern dance but otherwise it's an oasis of sanity in the madness that is Cardiff nightlife. It also has the finest selection of bottled beers _anywhere_ in Wales. Possibly the world. And it has the cleanest bogs I've ever seen in my entire life. And many years ago I saw Willem Dafoe in the (then) upstairs bar having a pint.

West is best.


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## zog (Mar 29, 2006)

> Chapter's great mun! It's the only drinking establishment in Cardiff where there's absolutely no threat of violence. There might be the odd disagreement over which is Kubrick's best film; or performance art versus modern dance but otherwise it's an oasis of sanity in the madness that is Cardiff nightlife. It also has the finest selection of bottled beers anywhere in Wales. Possibly the world. And it has the cleanest bogs I've ever seen in my entire life. And many years ago I saw Willem Dafoe in the (then) upstairs bar having a pint.



Used to go there many moons ago as we could do whatever we liked without the slightest chance of being chucked out. Far too liberal for their own good. Plus we knew one of the bar staff who would give us huge discounts - sometimes left there with more money than we went in with, and as he controled the music in the upstairs bar we brought our own music too. What more could you want. 

We stopped going there after they introduced the 3 legged chairs. Just not safe.


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## Brockway (Mar 29, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> We stopped going there after they introduced the 3 legged chairs. Just not safe.



It's Ok mate you can go back now - they've changed the furniture. Got rid of those 'orrible metallic 3-legged things and got some spine-hugging Swedish-type furniture instead. Was in there this morning - they had a big screen showing a film of a waterfall   Made me want to go to the loo. I'm guessing they don't show live football in there.


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 29, 2006)

Brockway said:
			
		

> Chapter's great mun! It's the only drinking establishment in Cardiff where there's absolutely no threat of violence. There might be the odd disagreement over which is Kubrick's best film; or performance art versus modern dance but otherwise it's an oasis of sanity in the madness that is Cardiff nightlife. It also has the finest selection of bottled beers _anywhere_ in Wales. Possibly the world. And it has the cleanest bogs I've ever seen in my entire life. And many years ago I saw Willem Dafoe in the (then) upstairs bar having a pint.
> 
> West is best.



Wouldnt say its great, same usual cliquey faces....

In the daytime for all the time i've been using it, they are forever changing, menu, layout, staff etc etc and one right snooty wench behind counter tooo!!!

But my man likes it there for the range of beers and a decent pint of Hoegarden......  

Seen Rhys Ifans there a few times


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## ddraig (Mar 29, 2006)

i do like chapter now and again, feel a bit of a possible poseur sitting there on me own pretending to read something tho   
lush beer mind  

disclaimer - can't vote on this poll really, don't know enough to judge yet

but you can always chase the sun out wesssst  

drink in the cayo, beverley or both  this weekend then?


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## King Biscuit Time (Mar 29, 2006)

Possibly a cheeky one late(ish) on Saturday?
(Or molokos tonight!?)


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 29, 2006)

ddraig said:
			
		

> i do like chapter now and again, feel a bit of a possible poseur sitting there on me own pretending to read something tho
> lush beer mind
> 
> disclaimer - can't vote on this poll really, don't know enough to judge yet
> ...



I'll venture westside if anyones up for it  

We dont have much luck with meetups , not like the brixton mob, who seem to be out every night


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## LilMissHissyFit (Mar 29, 2006)

Belushi said:
			
		

> Like any real Welshman lives anywhere east of Neath


Jack aaaaaarmmmmmmmmmyyy


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## LilMissHissyFit (Mar 29, 2006)

ddraig said:
			
		

> is this the preamble to the next meet that LMHF suggested in the Cayo?



Im lining up a paddling pool full of custard for anyone who wants to fight it out for our amusement


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## Cambrian (Mar 29, 2006)

haylz said:
			
		

> oh and remember Liptons , on the cornor of Donald St and Albany Rd, where the post office is now.....
> 
> I stole a dairylea cheese triangle from there, my mum found it and marched me to Cathays police station to see the old bill



Oh- happy memories! I used to love Liptons! Do you also remember International just down a bit on the other side? And what about Fine Fare in Clifton St?!


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## Cambrian (Mar 29, 2006)

Hang on a minute, everyone knows that North Cardiff is the best- give me Rhiwbina, Pantmawr and Llanishen any day.

Signed, a confirmed Subrbanite...


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## llantwit (Mar 30, 2006)

Hmmmm.
The only thing Ribena was good for was the Monaco - saw my first film in the cinema there. Ahhh. Empire Strikes Back. Had nightmares about chopped-off hands.
Happy days. visible jumping flees, rotting red felt-covered chairs, inidentifiable musty smell, kids club on the weekend with a clown, an old organ/keyboard and dodgy cheapo-looking films that were nonetheless rather good (Escape From Witch Mountain?).
Monaco was East, yeah?


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## Brockway (Mar 30, 2006)

Cambrian said:
			
		

> Hang on a minute, everyone knows that North Cardiff is the best- give me Rhiwbina, Pantmawr and Llanishen any day.
> 
> Signed, a confirmed Subrbanite...



Actually north Cardiff is, and has always been, completely pants - especially Rhiwbina (snob-central), of which Satan was the architect.


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## Django's dad (Mar 30, 2006)

Brockway said:
			
		

> Chapter's great mun! It's the only drinking establishment in Cardiff where there's absolutely no threat of violence. There might be the odd disagreement over which is Kubrick's best film; or performance art versus modern dance but otherwise it's an oasis of sanity in the madness that is Cardiff nightlife. It also has the finest selection of bottled beers _anywhere_ in Wales. Possibly the world. And it has the cleanest bogs I've ever seen in my entire life. And many years ago I saw Willem Dafoe in the (then) upstairs bar having a pint.
> 
> West is best.



the Chapter is the only place I've found in the UK that sell DIEBELS ALT & GRIMBERGAN beers....reason enough...West it is !!


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 30, 2006)

Cambrian said:
			
		

> Hang on a minute, everyone knows that North Cardiff is the best- give me Rhiwbina, Pantmawr and Llanishen any day.
> 
> Signed, a confirmed Subrbanite...



I went to Llanishen high, but being a east girl was tough when having to contend with all the luxurious lifestyles all the thornhill and lisvane lot led.


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 30, 2006)

Anyone going to propose a starter for ten , meet up.

Or are we all going to go to different places at different times, and wonder if them over there are on the board.

I think the Colonels approach was best,like a vote or something.


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## ddraig (Mar 30, 2006)

RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> Anyone going to propose a starter for ten , meet up.
> 
> Or are we all going to go to different places at different times, and wonder if them over there are on the board.
> 
> I think the Colonels approach was best,like a vote or something.



yeah, gwan then!  

or if anyone wants to meet in the cayo this or any other weekend then i put my hand in the air


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## RubberBuccaneer (Mar 30, 2006)

ddraig said:
			
		

> yeah, gwan then!
> 
> or if anyone wants to meet in the cayo this or any other weekend then i put my hand in the air



I'd avoid sunday as the Jacks are in town vs the Carlisles


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## King Biscuit Time (Mar 30, 2006)

I should be around this weekend (not friday though)


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## ddraig (Mar 30, 2006)

RubberBuccaneer said:
			
		

> I'd avoid sunday as the Jacks are in town vs the Carlisles



true, true

sat?
might also go to technocrat at tafod (under riverbank hotel) later on on sat


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## zog (Mar 31, 2006)

> might also go to technocrat at tafod (under riverbank hotel) later on on sat



what's that like. I ain't been down the riverbank for 10 years?


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## ddraig (Mar 31, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> what's that like. I ain't been down the riverbank for 10 years?



allright really, i like underground venues
looks like this a bit






  with a few booth type seats an ok bar and a dance floor area.

have been told they've changed 'operational staff' recently so still hope to do my own night in there sometime, seeing as they seem to have wised up on the necessity of bass and volume. well they had when i went ot this a few weeks ago.
was relatively bust as well and only £3


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## LilMissHissyFit (Mar 31, 2006)

I'm saying nothing or it wont come off


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## zog (Mar 31, 2006)

ddraig said:
			
		

> allright really, i like underground venues
> looks like this a bit
> 
> 
> ...




Looks the same as it used to. what's the music like.... or does "technocrat" say it all? and when does it shut?


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## ddraig (Mar 31, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> Looks the same as it used to. what's the music like.... or does "technocrat" say it all? and when does it shut?



it was ok, good in parts, that C++ bloke was playing b2b with someone else and it was kinda electroeeetechno.  couldn't see the connection to acid casuals mind.

shuts about 3 afaicr
yeah 3am





anyone fancy it?


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## Sweaty Betty (Mar 31, 2006)

Im up for cayo on sat night????


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## zog (Apr 1, 2006)

yea, we might consider that. will have to see how the night pans out.


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## 2 Hardcore (Apr 1, 2006)

Have spent most of my life East of the river, although I had a lot of close friends in the West and 2 long-term exes and  families lived there, so am not a stranger to Canton or Ely. 
Grew up in Llanrumney, then lived in Riverside, which I liked - proximity to late nite shops (a rarity back then), town and uni (I was a student at the time), and everyone banging our door at godawful times en route home from the Casablanca, or the Moon   
From there we went to Tremorfa (council housing waiting lists responsible), then to Roath, been in Penylan for 12 ears now.


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## ddraig (Apr 2, 2006)

zog said:
			
		

> yea, we might consider that. will have to see how the night pans out.



nice to meet you zog, shame we couldn't have more of a chat (heard each other)
take it easy


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