I lived in Cardiff as an adult during the 1980s and 1990s but my ties to the city go back to my early childhood.

My father was from Canton. No, he was not Chinese; Canton is a well-known area of Cardiff and has nothing to do with Canton, China. My father used to take me to Ninian Park football ground in Canton to watch the local team. In those days, there was no seating so my father would take a wooden box for me to stand on. Ninian Park has since disappeared and been replaced by a shiny, new all-seater stadium just down the road. I also remember visiting nearby Victoria Park with my grandfather and listening to his stories about ‘Billy the Seal’ who lived in the pond and would regularly escape during the floods that frequently affected this area. All that remains of the seal today is a statue.

Neighbouring Pontcanna is a fashionable area close to the River Taff and Llandaff Fields, where I used to hone my own footballing skills. One of the best things about Cardiff is its abundance of green spaces. You can walk or cycle along the banks of the Taff all the way to Brecon, 55 miles to the north, without having to cross a major road. The Taff used to be very dirty because of the coal industry. The closure of the mines had a terrible economic impact on the area but it has brought the river back to life and these days you can even see salmon jumping their way up Llandaff Weir, close to the city centre.

On the other side of the river, the castle, with its immense grounds, might look old but is in fact a nineteenth century construction built by the Marquess of Bute who owned a huge amount of land in the city. It was built around an ancient Roman fortress, which you can see when you enter the castle.

Close to the castle is Cathays Park with its civic centre, where I worked in the local council for many years. It is sometimes compared to Washington DC, because of the architecture of the buildings, not the political power held within them. Here, you can visit the National Museum of Wales and other great Welsh institutions. Because of its modest size, it is sometimes easy to forget that Cardiff is a capital city but here it becomes evident.

Crossing the Boulevard de Nantes and Stuttgarter Strasse, both named in honour of our two oldest ‘twin’ cities, you get to Queens Street and its shopping malls. However, it is more fun to shop in the independent shops and boutiques of the narrow arcades near St Mary’s Street. Spillers Records, in the Morgan Arcade, claims to be the oldest record shop in the world. This is also close to the Millenium Stadium, home to Wesh rugby and a major concert venue.

It is hard to believe but Cardiff was once the busiest port in the world. With the decline of the coal industry, the area around the docks became one of the poorest parts of the city and in the 1980s people would warn me against venturing into it after dark. In the 1990s, it was redeveloped and today it is filled with museums, cinemas, theatres and expensive restaurants.

The ‘Diff,’ as we call it, has changed a lot over the years but some places seem to be almost trapped in time. Clwb Ifor Bach, which is also known as ‘the Welsh Club’ because of its Welsh-speaking bar staff (unusual in English-speaking Cardiff), where I used to dance the night away in the 1980s, is still going strong and often has live music. And you can still visit Dorothy’s fish bar on Caroline Street for the best fish and chips in South Wales.

Jon Ostler