Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Should get out more

At the risk of sounding like a myopic metropolitan wanker - like the worst kind of Londoner who's astonished to discover that there's life out in "the provinces" - I'm as guilty as anyone of greedily reaping the benefits of living in the Welsh capital but rarely looking beyond the city limits. It's all too easy to coast along in your Cardiff bubble, but the truth is that there are exciting, engaging things going on elsewhere in South Wales all the time - something I've made a resolution to recognise and publicise more often.

Take the various museums and Roman sites in Caerleon, for instance, or - up in the Valleys - the Workers Gallery in Ynyshir. Goodsheds has made Barry a serious draw for those who are slaves to their stomach. The National Lido of Wales has tempted me into several visits to Pontypridd in the last year, and I'm keen to visit Janet's Chinese restaurant in the market and see how the plans for the revitalisation of the Muni Arts Centre pan out.

And then there's Newport, a short journey away but somewhere I'd never really explored until a couple of weeks ago. It took the revamped indoor market and an exhibition of David Hurn's photography (including some previously unseen images) at the newly established Ffoto Newport (Buzz review here) to entice me there. Now I'm aware of just how easy it is to hop off the train and see a show in Le Pub, I'm determined to visit more often.

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