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Cardiff Airport

Airports in WalesCivilian airports with RAF originsGovernment-owned companies of WalesRhooseTransport in Cardiff
Transport in the Vale of GlamorganUse British English from May 2013
Cardiff Airport September 2023 02
Cardiff Airport September 2023 02

Cardiff Airport (Welsh: Maes Awyr Caerdydd) (IATA: CWL, ICAO: EGFF) is an airport based in Rhoose, Wales. It is the only airport offering commercial passenger services in Wales. The airport is owned by the Welsh Government, operating at it at arm's length as a commercial business.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Cardiff Airport (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.396666666667 ° E -3.3433333333333 °
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Address

Cardiff Airport

Picton Road
CF62 3HU , Rhoose
Wales, United Kingdom
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Cardiff Airport September 2023 02
Cardiff Airport September 2023 02
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Nearby Places

RAF Rhoose

Royal Air Force Rhoose, or more simply RAF Rhoose, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located near Rhoose, 10 miles (16 km) south west of Cardiff and 2 miles (3 km) east of RAF St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It was first used by an Operational Training Unit in April 1942, as additional space, until May 1943. The airfield then remained unused until February 1944, when an Air Gunnery School operated out of RAF Rhoose until August 1944. It was then placed into care and maintenance until transferred to RAF Maintenance Command in November 1944. After the Second World War, the airfield became a sub-site of a Maintenance Unit. The MU and airfield closed in 1948.The new airfield at Rhoose was urgently needed to relieve RAF Llandow. The latter opened as an Aircraft Storage Unit (A.S.U.) but was then allocated a training unit on top. There were a number of reasons, there was a need for space to accommodate operational squadrons in the south-east of England, and a need to move the training schools and trainee pilots away from any Luftwaffe incursions.RAF Rhoose was used immediately upon opening, by the training unit, alleviating RAF Llandow. However, as there were little facilities available at the satellite, all aircraft maintenance had to be done at the parent base.By the end of 1944 the airfield was utilised for aircraft storage, but with hangar space being limited, most of the aircraft were stored in the open, covered with tarpaulin, and the airfield continued in this role until the end of the Second World War. For a short period in 1946, Rhoose was used as a bomb storage depot. However, this was kept as a secret from the local community for fear of complaints and creating panic.

Porthkerry Viaduct
Porthkerry Viaduct

Porthkerry Viaduct is a railway viaduct near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The viaduct was designed and engineered by James Szlumper and William Szlumper, and was contracted to the Pethick Brothers to be built in the late nineteenth century in order to carry the Vale of Glamorgan Railway between Tondu via Coity Junction Bridgend and Barry Docks. Construction started in 1894, but on 18 August 1896 it was observed that No. 9 pier showed signs of settlement and on 20 August, No. 10 also settled. Over the course of three days, No. 9 pier had sunk 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) and No. 10 had sunk 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) into the ground, delaying construction as three arches became so distorted that they had to be taken down. Subsequently, Nos. 10 & 12 piers had to be underpinned and No. 11 pier reconstructed. The viaduct was opened on 1 December 1897, but by 16 December it was observed that the embankment at the Barry end was slipping away and had moved pier No. 15 slightly and so Nos. 13, 14 & 15 footings were repacked with stone to stabilise the embankment. However, on 10 January 1898, an indentation in the track above pier No. 13 was observed and traffic was immediately stopped following which, the pier was gradually pushed forward by the embankment and had sunk 13 inches (33 cm). A 2+1⁄2-mile (4 km) loop line diversion was quickly built around the north-west of the valley, whilst repairs and underpinning were entrusted to Price and Wills, builders of the No. 2 dock in Barry. The viaduct eventually reopened on 8 January 1900.The viaduct has sixteen arches, thirteen at 50 feet (15 m) and at the Barry end, three at 45 feet (14 m) span and rising to a height of 110 feet (34 m) and nowadays spans the northwest end of Porthkerry Park. It became Grade II listed in 1963.Originally designed as a route to bring coal to Barry Docks, the railway now carries a passenger service and some freight traffic between Cardiff and Bridgend when engineering occupations are necessary on the South Wales main line via St Fagans. Heavy coal traffic to the merry-go-round coal discharge system at Aberthaw Power Station ceased by August 2019 and the "B" power station was officially closed in December 2019. Passenger trains run between Cardiff, Cardiff Airport and Bridgend via Llantwit Major.The Porthkerry Viaduct was designed to be an exact copy of the Shillamill Viaduct spanning the river Lumburn at Gullworthy, north of Tavistock but in fact now barren of track on a dismantled railway and also a listed structure, the Shillamill viaduct is laid on a gentle curve and has only 12 arches. Watercolour artist Thomas Frederick Worrall lived in Barry from 1913, and painted Porthkerry Viaduct.