To think that Cardiff is essentially an English city?

[hirwaun]

Despite changes over recent years to "welshify" Cardiff... to me, it essentially feels like an English city. Barely any different to Bristol over the channel.

If you look at surnames of people living there, and exclude those who have moved more recently from other parts of Wales... the vast majority of families have roots in England.

Culturally Cardiff feels very different to other bits of Wales, even those 5 miles into the valleys feel so much more Welsh.

The Cardiff accent is mainly an english accent, especially in the nicer areas and the older generation sound almost RP.

Culturally Cardiff feels very different to other bits of Wales, even those 5 miles into the valleys feel so much more Welsh.

…Well yeah. A city, the capital no less, will feel very different to rural areas etc. That doesn’t just happen in Wales though.

The xenophobia you’ve experienced is not ok however. I’m shocked that’s happened to you, mainly because I’m English living in Cardiff and never get hassle, even when the rugby is on.

Culturally Cardiff feels very different to other bits of Wales, even those 5 miles into the valleys feel so much more Welsh

The usually the same in any big city though, they tend to attract a wider variety of people due to the wider array of jobs on offer and things to do. This means they tend to sort of form their own culture, Bristol for example is completely different to the countryside a mere few miles away- worlds apart, and also has a different vibe than other cities in England. The same applies in Wales, the Valleys feel more 'Welsh' because there's not as much movement to them and because they haven't been heavily developed.

Cardiff on a rugby international day is most certainly…Welsh (and it’s brilliant op, you should try it) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Cardiff is most definitely welsh.

I’d consider Bristol to be entry level Welsh culture-wise. I’ve got a lot of friends who live Newport way who commute to Bristol for work - so I do think it feels a bit Welsh - but to be honest that could just be because every time I go to Bristol it’s to meet my Welsh friends.

I’m looking forward to telling my Newport based, Llanelli born best mate whose first language is Welsh that Cardiff is now English.

I got called a Saes [insert insult of choice] often enough when I was at university there so yeah, I wouldn't class it as English

(Bit ironic given that I'm actually Irish, but so)

Cardiff get battered everywhere they go. 🎶

Next you'll tell us Glasgow isn't really in Scotland because some people sound a bit posh.

complete crap

cardiff has the highest number of welsh speakers in wales and keeps having to open more welsh medium schools to cope with demand

it has the welsh national opera, the senedd, the welsh government, the hq's for welsh language broadcasting, nearly half the universities in wales are there, the welsh language commissioner's office is there....how could it be more Welsh?

the surnames thing is one of the most illogical arguments I've ever heard! Apart from the fact that welsh surname doesn't equal welsh
Someone could have generations of roberts/jones/davies/pughs making up the majority of their heritage but if their mother married someone with an anglicised surname you'd never know it. For example, my mother is welsh, my dad is welsh, both their parents were welsh, my great-grandparents were welsh, most of their parents were welsh apart from my great-greatgrandfather, whose family emigrated from Germany when he was 1year old (so for all intents and purposes considered himself welsh) - so due to patriarchal naming conventions I have a German surname so although I don't speak it and have never been there, and have at best 1/32 german heritage and 31/32 welsh, I wouldn't count by your ~insane~ reckoning???

Cardiff do not actually get battered everywhere we go, hope this helps Greenadventurine .

@hirwaun I'm in Swansea, and Cardiff feels much more Welsh than Swansea does. It has the stadium, and the Senedd, and it's just feels Welshier. The accent to me is much more Welsh as well. I'm English, though I've lived in Wales for 30 odd years, since I was 7, and I feel a lot more like an outsider in Cardiff than Swansea.

I reckon you're confusing urban with English. Welsh cities are tiny in comparison to their English counterparts. Cardiff and Swansea and miniscule in comparison to London and Birmingham, and as a result even the cities in Wales are quite rural.

I'm 5 minutes drive from the city centre. I've also got a hill with horses and cows outside my back window. I'm also unlikely to pop into town without bumping into at least two people I know, because it's just not that big a city.

Cardiff is probably the only place in Wales where you can drive for 20 minutes and still be in town. It's also the only place in Wales where you can go on a night out and not bump into someone from work. That doesn't make it English, it just makes it big (comparatively)

I’m interested in your thought processes, OP! Someone at school with a (rudely) heightened sense of Welsh identity called your child ‘English’ as an insult, and from
this you concluded that Cardiff is basically English anyway? Rather than thinking, Welsh people are fiercely protective of being Welsh and Cardiff is the nation’s capital?

I reckon you're confusing urban with English.
Yes!

Ridiculous post

Oh give over OP. It's a city in Wales, so it's Welsh. Just because a randomer was rude to you, it doesn't mean the city was geographically and culturally moved. That's your ego talking right there.

Cardiff, like many cities, has a wonderful melting pot culture with many languages and traditions with roots all over the world. It doesn't make it any less Welsh. You don't have to prove your lineage before you consider yourself a Welsh person.

I bet you wouldn't dare tell a Glaswegian that Glasgow is basically an English city because some English folk live there!

I saw an interesting graphic the other day that suggested that the Glaswegian had more genetically in common with an Englishman than a North Walian does with a South Walian.

Oooft. Prepare to get ya arse handed to you. No.

Ive only visited once but I didn’t feel Cardiff have a particularly Welsh feeling when I went there it was like any city, very multicultural. I’ve been to rural parts of Wales and people spoke mostly Welsh but you wouldn’t expect a city to have the same feel as a rural area. I wouldn’t say it’s like Bristol though , Bristol is very much a student town kind of a chilled feel and not a lot to do there imo, Cardiff is much better.

🤣 bendigedig!

Probably one of the stupidest things I've ever read on mumsnet
And the competition is stiff
Er mwyn dyn 🙄

THIS! hands down. I love Cardiff.

You could also argue Edinburgh is an English city as no one originally from Edinburgh can afford property there for half of England moving there from down south - still untrue though🤷

We seriously though of selling up in Bristol (3 bed terrace) and going to Edinburgh when Scottish independence and EU membership seemed possible ('Come on up!' said Nicola). We would still do very nicely out of such a move.

It’s in Wales so it’s a Welsh city isn’t it?

Out of interest @hirwaun how could it be any more Welsh in your eyes?
Should everyone be speaking Welsh, wearing the traditional costume or what?
It’s very Welsh. There are bilingual signs everywhere, symbols of Wales such as the flag, red dragons and daffodils everywhere, Cardiff Castle, the stadium, the rugby, the Senedd. You couldn’t get more Welsh than all of that.

So you think that the capital city of Wales is English rather than Welsh??

Interesting take on it, but I doubt many will agree with you and I don't. Of course Cardiff is Welsh.

The xenophobic remarks towards your child are not on though, and I should think that few would seek to defend that.