Visitor Centre
The Secret Garden Visitor Centre first opened in November 2011 and was built as part of the Heritage Lottery-funded Bute Park Restoration Project. However, in recent years Cardiff Council have not had the funds available to open the centre to members of the public and so this significant resource has been underutilised.
To help the Council and to provide a facility to park users and visitors, the New Friends made a commitment to open the Centre for a few hours each Saturday and this has been done since June 2023.
The Centre is something of a well-kept secret, so we purchased signs to place outside the two entrances which have directed an amazing variety of visitors from just a few streets away and as far as South Africa, Hong Kong, Brazil and Venezuela.
Cardiff no longer has a Tourist Information Centre and, while a hut in the Castle provides leaflets, there is nowhere that visitors can speak to someone with local knowledge who can offer a welcome and provide advice on where to go and what to see.
For tourists and locals alike, we provide detailed information on facilities within the park supported by a host of ideas on what to do and how to spend their time in Bute Park. Going forward we are looking to organise a programme of varied activities the Visitor Centre, adding a new dimension to what the park has to offer.
Craft Fair
Building on the success that came from opening the Visitor Centre on Saturdays, the New Friends made its first foray into activities within the Centre. On the two days of Bute Park’s Spring Weekender in April we organised a Craft Fair.
A wide range of crafters responded to the call which resulted in demonstrations of knitting, crochet, spinning and weaving, macrame, woodworking, model painting, badge making and resin work. Public response was really encouraging, and the activity provided a nice balance with the annual Plant Fair outside.
It seems that exhibitors were equally enthusiastic and are keen to do it again and so we are now making plans for more craft fairs.
Biodiversity
At the end of 2022 the New Friends successfully applied for a grant from the Cardiff Local Nature Partnership and, in the Spring of the following year, we removed the old rotting raised beds behind the Visitor Centre. We then covered the area with gravel and prepared a series of large pots. These were then filled with pollinator-friendly plant plugs and the area in between sown with wildflower seeds and climbers. A couple of bird-feeders were added and then nature was left to do her share of the work. The area has now grown vigorously and is providing an attraction for natural pollinators.
A second stage of this project is planned in the form of a wildlife habitat to include a dead hedge, log pile, bird splash, beetle stumpery and a hibernaculum as a home and resting place for toads and slow worms.
The two areas will be maintained by the New Friends to ensure an ongoing contribution to biodiversity within the park.
Reindeer Trail
The main Christmas Lights event in Bute Park is well-known and the New Friends complemented this by organising a free children’s Reindeer Trail over the same period.
During December 2023 more than 100 families brought their children to search for ‘reindeer hiding in the trees’. A map was available from the Secret Garden CafĂ© (to avoid potential tears caused by wandering around in the wrong area) and then it involved a simple 15-minute walk around the walled nursery to spot the ‘hidden’ reindeer.
The idea was proposed by one of our members. Madeleine, who had seen it in action elsewhere, like many other parents, recognised the value of a free activity to keep the kids occupied for a while. Madeleine also helped the group by producing the reindeer and helping to publicise the event. With the Park Team and New Friends also involved it became a good collaboration.
Given the success of the first year we will be running it again in December 2024 and hope it will become a regular feature.
New Park Entrance
A proposal for a new, fully-accessible entrance to the park at the north end was picked up by the New Friends to assist in making it a reality. The new path was to lead from Tesco (Western Avenue) car park and then down onto the Taff Trail, thus offering a much improved alternative to the steep steps and slope from Western Avenue.
By the time we got involved Tesco had kindly agreed to provide a surface and footpath on their side of the fence, in conjunction with the overall re-surfacing of their car park. We then helped co-ordinate the progress to encourage Cardiff Council to provide a sloped and fenced footpath the other side, down to the Taff Trail by the river.
The end result is a completely accessible entrance for all users. As well as being a boon to those who could not negotiate the steps and slope, it has proved popular with the regular participants of the Park Run – and, as a by-product, has taken away the need to squeeze through a narrow gap in the bent bars of the old fence.