Cardiff Bay: Pink hut

It's a strange little building, looks completely out of place where it sits, yet those two factors, and its bright pink colour, make the Pink hut one of the most recognisable buildings in Cardiff Bay.

According to the Cardiff Harbour website, the hut, which looks rather precarious on its thin stilt-like legs, was intended for use by 'local yacht clubs and other event organisers to start and control races in the estuary'. 

To be honest, that sounds very odd. Although the hut sits near the end of the eastern breakwater of the Barrage, the extreme tidal range of the Bristol Channel means that, at low tide, there is a large expanse of mud below the building, rather than water. 

And, in fact, I've read that the Pink hut has never been used for its intended purpose so now it's something of a pink elephant. Perhaps that's where the idea for its paint colour came from. 

An article on the Wales Online website, dated 6 October 2020, says the building had recently been set up as a personal gym, with a punch bag, bench, bar and weights, after being rented out to one of the Habour Authority employees. I don't know if that's still the case.

Weymouth: maypole plaque

Today is May Day and, in the few places around the UK where they still exist, maypoles will feature in the celebrations. The origin of the custom of dancing around a maypole seems still to be much debated, with various theories posited, mostly surrounding the worship of trees and/or tree spirits, the phallic symbolism of the pole and its relevance to fertility rituals, and the importance of the return of warm weather for agricultural production. 

There once was a maypole in Weymouth but it was removed many years ago, and its former location is now marked by this plaque at the intersection of St Mary Street and Bond Street. Though the pole is long gone, I was delighted to find a video on YouTube of two performances of maypole dancing at this location, from 2004 and 2005, by the children of Weymouth's Conifers Primary School.