Steve Andrews (aka "The Bard of Ely"), is a singer-songwriter, writer and journalist with a strong interest in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and conservation. Andrews is known for having a brightly coloured beard and being a Welsh icon.cardiff wall of fame featuring the bard of ely
– video showing "the bard of Ely" in the center of Cardiff on a Billboard

Early life

Steve Andrews was born in Canton, Cardiff in 1953 and lived in Ely for 25 years, a suburb on the outskirts of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

Writing career

He was dubbed "The Bard of Ely" by

Big Issue Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * '' Big!'', a Discover ...

Cymru when he had a regular column in the publication. Andrews is the author of "Herbs of the Northern Shaman" published by O-Books and Hummadruz and a Life of High Strangeness. He has written articles and features for many publications including Tenerife News newspaper,
Big Issue, Kindred Spirit, Eye on Life magazine, Prediction, Permaculture, Feed Your Brain, Living Tenerife and the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners magazines. He has a

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

BA (Honours) degree in Journalism, Film and Broadcast.

Television and radio

Andrews was a co-presenter for two series of "In Full View" on the

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first United Kingdom, British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in Digital television, digital format, as well as t ...

Digital channel and has also been featured on HTV's "Weird Wales" and appeared as a musician on

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

' "The Slate", and a guest on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's "Roll over Beethoven". Also his song "Rubber Ducky" was used in the drama Y Tŷ ("The House") on

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

. Andrews was a guest on many of Steve Johnson's radio shows in Wales.Steve Johnson's radio shows on various stations including:

Capital South Wales Capital South Wales is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global as part of the Capital (radio network), Capital network. It broadcasts to Cardiff and Newport, Wales, Newport and the ...

, Valleys Radio, 106.3 Bridge FM, Radio Cardiff and

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

Music

Andrews has released a number of albums since 1989 on various indie record labels, including a collaboration with Ian Kaye and Philip Moxham (from "

Young Marble Giants Young Marble Giants were a Welsh post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1978. Their music was based around the vocals of Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. Their early sound was ...

") called "Taffia EP" and has had tracks released on a number of compilations. Discography: Tracks contained in compilations:

Featured in

* the book "The World's Most Mysterious People" by Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe * the book "The Last of the Hippies" and other titles by C.J. Stone * as Peter's guide to the west of Cardiff in the book "Real Cardiff" by

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudevi ...

* quoted at length in the book "Leonard Cohen: a remarkable life" by Anthony Reynolds

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Steve Welsh writers 1950 births Living people Welsh male singers Writers from Cardiff Journalists from Cardiff