Cardiff Central station^s water tower gets a new coat of paint

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From WalesOnline:

For decades it was a landmark welcoming travellers to Cardiff with its distinctive giant daffodils.



Now plans have been unveiled to restore the listed water tower at Cardiff Central train station to its ^former glory^... by painting it brown.

Network Rail^s proposal has been put forward after a South Wales artist^s vision of a colourful mural celebrating the region^s landscape and industry was turned down by planners.

Until it fell into disrepair, the Grade II-listed tower was a landmark for generations of rail travellers arriving in the city from the west.

Network Rail now plans to paint the 15m high concrete tower, which is opposite the Millennium Stadium on Wood Street, brown and beige.

The scheme, which will also be put before planners for approval, is in stark contrast to the abstract colourful mural celebrating Welsh landscapes and industry proposed by Barry-born Dan Llywelyn Hall.

Mr Hall, a former Sunday Times Young Artist of the Year, said he had received a ^tremendous response^ to his proposal from Cardiff residents.

But council planning officials said the design failed to preserve the structure^s character and was of ^insufficient quality^ for the prominent landmark.

The tower, built in 1932 to replenish the water supplies of steam locomotive engines, sits on Network Rail land and was painted with a daffodil design in the early 1980s.

The new proposals and colour scheme were drawn up in consultation with the Railway Heritage Trust.

According to Network Rail^s listed consent application, the drab colours are in keeping with that used by Great Western Railway architects in the 1930s.

^From the very outset of the project, the aim has been to return the tower to a more faithful and original appearance. The design scheme is clean and crisp; it does not distract from the structure or the setting. Furthermore, the scheme helps to connect the station to the surroundings by updating the landmark and improving the ease of movement around the station.^

The application also includes other works, including repairs to the brickwork, cracks in the concrete and the guard rail.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Network Rail press release:

CARDIFF LANDMARK TO BE FRESHENED UP

A unique 1930s water tower, which is also a Cardiff landmark, is to be transformed by Network Rail.

The concrete water tower outside Cardiff Central (Caerdydd Canolog) was built by Great Western Railway in 1932 as part of its redevelopment of the station. Now Network Rail is to repaint the structure in the original colours of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

The tower, with its concrete fluted base and a cylindrical water tank, has no comparable GWR structures.

As a result, it is grade two listed, both on its own merit but also as part of the larger station complex. Cardiff Central itself is regarded as the most complete 1930s GWR station still in existence.

By painting the tower in GWR colours, it will link it to the already restored buildings and provide a fine impression for visitors arriving in the Welsh capital by rail.

Notes to Editors:
- Network Rail developed the scheme along with the Rail Heritage Group, train operators and Cardiff Council
- When built it featured a large advertisement for White Horse whisky
- The work will be complted before the start of the Olympics