Gabalfa (, ) is a district and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

in the north of the city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, capital of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It is characterised by a four-lane fly over road at the Gabalfa Interchange, where the

A48 road The A48 is a trunk road in Great Britain running from the A40 at Highnam, west of Gloucester, England, to the A40 at Carmarthen, Wales. Before the Severn Bridge opened on 8 September 1966, it was a major route between England and South ...

meets the

A470 road The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate ...

(North Road) which leads from Cardiff to northern Wales, and the A469 road ( Caerphilly Road). The name is derived from the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

'Ceubalfa', which is literally translated as 'place of the boat'. It was formerly the site of a ferry crossing across the

River Taff The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with th ...

, upon which a school is now built. The area was first heavily developed in the 1880s, with most of the characteristic terraced housing originating from the next 30 years of construction. The area around St. Joseph's Church near to

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are in ...

is known as 'the Colonies' due to the number of street names after former British colonies, including Australia Road, Newfoundland Road and many more.

Education

Primary

Gabalfa has three primary schools, with a combined attendance of more than 720: * St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic) Primary School * Allensbank Primary School * Ysgol Mynydd Bychan ('Heath School' in Welsh), which teaches in the Welsh medium. Gabalfa Primary school is not within modern Gabalfa but is in neighbouring

Llandaff North Llandaff North ( cy, Ystum Taf), is a district, community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Description It is located in the north of Cardiff and can be considered a two-part ward, each containin ...

Secondary

Gabalfa has one secondary school, Cathays High School, which serves around 900 students (mainly from outside Gabalfa)

University

Gabalfa has a high student population. Several

halls of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

for Cardiff University are in Gabalfa, housing about 3,100 students, around 10% of the student body. Liberty House serves mainly medical and nursing students at the nearly

University Hospital of Wales University Hospital of Wales ( cy, Ysbyty Athrofaol Cymru) (UHW), also known as the Heath Hospital, is a major 1,000-bed hospital in the Heath district of Cardiff, Wales. UHW is a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine. Constr ...

. In addition, many students live in privately rented accommodation in the area.

Places of worship

St Joseph's Catholic Church, Cardiff (Geograph 1972973 by Jaggery)

Churches in Gabalfa include St Mark's on North Road (

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The p ...

), St Joseph's on New Zealand Road (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

), and the All Nations Church on Eastern Avenue (colocated with the All Nations Centre).

Politics

The electoral ward of Gabalfa lies within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff North, which has been represented since 2017 by

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

MP Anna McMorrin. In the Senedd, Cardiff North is represented by Welsh Labour MS Julie Morgan. There is no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

for the area. Gabalfa was served by two councillors: Ed Bridges (Liberal Democrat), elected in 2004, and Gareth Holden, elected in 2012. Holden was elected as a Liberal Democrat but resigned from the party in 2013. He lost out to a Liberal Democrat candidate in the May 2017 election. The ward is currently served by Rhys Taylor and Ashley Wood (2019). It is bounded by Birchgrove and

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

to the north,

Cathays Cathays ( ; Welsh: officially ''Cathays'' but also , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is very densely populated and contain ...

and

Maindy Maindy ( cy, Maendy, meaning ''Stone House'') is a district of the city of Cardiff, Wales. Its boundaries are not formally recognised by Cardiff Council, and the district falls within the Cathays ward and Gabalfa. A notable facility in the area ...

to the south, and

to the northwest.

Transport

The area is known for the Gabalfa Interchange (or Gabalfa flyover), where the A48 Eastern Avenue,

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigat ...

North Road, and the A469 road, A469 Whitchurch Road (south)/Caerphilly Road (north) meet. The interchange is known for its suicides and suicide attempts, although efforts have been made to improve this, with signs to suicide prevention charities now clearly visible on the pedestrian bridge over Eastern Avenue.

Bus

Cardiff Bus' service 35 bus circles the area before heading to Cardiff Bay via Cathays and Cardiff Central bus station, Central station. Services 1/2 ''Bay Circle'' run along Western Avenue towards

or Llandaff. Additionally, the following services stop at the Gabalfa Interchange: *8 (University Hospital of Wales) or (Cathays-Roath-Central Station-Grangetown-Cardiff Bay) *9 (University Hospital of Wales) or (International Sports Village) *21 (Rhiwbina-Coryton-Whitchurch) or (Central Stn) *23 (Whitchurch-Coryton-Rhiwbina) or (Central Stn) *24 (Whitchurch-Llandaff North-Pontcanna-Llandaff) *25 (Central Stn) *27 Capital City Green (Heath-Birchgrove-Thornhill) or (Central Stn) *35 (Gabalfa) or (Cathays-Central Stn-Cardiff Bay)

Rail

There are no railway stations located within Gabalfa, although a new railway station serving the ward was proposed by the County Council in 2000. The nearest railway stations are Heath Low Level railway station, Heath Low Level and Heath High Level railway station, Heath High Level to the north-west, Cathays railway station, Cathays to the south and Llandaf railway station to the north-east.

Walking and Cycling

The Taff Trail long-distance footpath and cycle route runs along the

, and is connected to Gabalfa by Llys Tal-y-Bont Road. Cardiff council has plans to build Cycleway 1 along Allensbank Road on the edge of the area. To promote cycling and improve safety, in recent years councillors and residents have campaigned with some success for traffic calming measures, such as Gabalfa becoming a 20-mile per hour zone, raised crossings being installed, and curbs being narrowed. Gabalfa is within a 30-minute walk or a 10-minute cycle of the city centre.

Gallery

File:Africa Gardens, Gabalfa - geograph.org.uk - 827176.jpg, Africa Gardens File:Gabalfa flyover, Cardiff.jpg, Part of the Gabalfa Interchange and flyover File:Subway under Gabalfa Interchange, Cardiff.jpg, Subway under Gabalfa Interchange

References

External links

The History of Cardiff's Suburbs - GabalfaGeograph - Photos of Gabalfa, CardiffSt. Joseph's R.C. Primary SchoolAllensbank Primary SchoolYsgol Mynydd BychanCathays High School
{{Politics and Government in Cardiff Communities in Cardiff Politics of Cardiff Districts of Cardiff Cardiff electoral wards