Latest news with #Penarth
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Small Welsh bakery seen in BBC's Death Valley sells amazing pastries and the 'world's best bread'
You might be wondering where Timothy Spall's TV detective relaxes with his favourite coffee in BBC's brand new comedy drama, Death Valley. Well, it's popular Welsh cafe, Brød, a Danish bakery that has four locations in south Wales where they sell a selection of yummy Danish pastries, cakes and bread. BBC's new comedy crime drama, Death Valley, aired for the first time this month with the opening episode airing on Sunday, May 25. The show follows Detective Janie Mallowan, played by Gwyneth Keyworth and former TV detective John Chapel, played by Timothy Spall as they become partners, fighting crime in Mountain Ash. Throughout the series you may be able to spot some local places as filming took place across south Wales. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here READ MORE: I tried the food van hidden somewhere totally unexpected and ate something you don't often find on a streetfood menu READ MORE: Food festival with 'world's biggest bouncy castle' coming to Welsh country park with 8-mile beach From churches to piers to bakeries, read about all the south Wales locations used for the filming of Death Valley here. In one scene, Timothy Spall is seen enjoying a macchiato in Brød Bakery in Penarth, one of the Danish bakeries located in south Wales, which was founded in 2015 by Danish photographer-turned-baker Betina Skovbro. Brød now has three other spots across Cardiff including, Newport Road, the OG in Pontcanna and Cardiff Bay. Betina first arrived in Cardiff in 1998, bringing her grandfather's love of baking with her to feed the people of Wales delicious sweet and savoury treats. She told WalesOnline: "I went freelance as a photographer for 18 years and then I decided that I needed to have better bread in this country so I decided to give it a go. Some stupid idea turned into reality." In 2023 the bakery was named amongst the top 20 bakeries in the UK by The Finical Times, commending it for offering "real deal" pastries. It was also named best in the world the previous year winning three awards at the World Bread Awards in 2022. Named after the Danish word for bread, Brod's stores are filled with fresh pastries and goods made that morning – with the bakers starting weekend shifts at midnight and working until the small hours. The menu includes some of the same staples Betina's grandfather made working in a bakery in Copenhagen years ago. You can read more about the story behind Brod here.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Padel: The emerging racquet sport booming in Wales
The emerging racquet sport of padel is growing so fast that courts "will be full for the next 10-15 years", the national governing body for tennis has - a blend of tennis and squash - was invented in Mexico in 1969 but in recent years has grown in popularity, with an estimated 30 million players across the Cymru said it expected there would be 4,500 padel players in Wales by the end of 2025, and more than 6,000 by Wheatley, 64, from Cardiff, who has been playing the sport for more than four years, said he wished he had found it "20 years ago". "I was getting to an age where squash was becoming too much for me and my bones were aching," said Mr Wheatley."So I was looking to play tennis, and I'd been to Spain and I'd seen this game [padel] and I thought 'that would be lovely in the UK, but it's never going to happen'." Mr Wheatley said he bumped into a friend who told him about a padel court in Penarth that was open to non-members."He invited me along for a taster and it's just gone from there," he said."It's a fabulous game, it really is."It's got the element of squash in it with the ball coming off the glass at the back, and the tennis side of it as well."It's super sociable, and a game where you can just play some amazing shots. It's good fun, it's good exercise." What is padel? is a racquet sport that uses the same scoring conventions as lawn tennis but is played on courts around a third game is mainly played in the doubles format, with players using solid racquets with no strings. The courts are enclosed and, like in squash, players can bounce the ball off the balls are smaller than those used in tennis and players serve game was created by Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera and his wife Viviana as they enjoyed their holiday home in Las Brisas, a suburb of couple began throwing a ball at a wall, and Viviana quickly fell in love with the rudimentary version of the game.A court measuring 20m (65ft) long by 10m (32ft) wide was built out of cement, making it easy to maintain, with walls of up to four metres (13ft) on each side to prevent balls from escaping onto neighbouring sport soon caught on abroad, reaching Europe and the UK. In 1992 the British Paddle Association was formed and since then the sport has grown throughout Britain, In 2020 Tennis Wales was recognised as the national governing body for padel in are now county championships held in Wales and Tennis Wales hopes to host international competitions in the future. The sport is considered inclusive, open to people of all ages and abilities and played on a smaller Llewelyn, from Swansea, started playing after a court opened in the city."Me, my sister and a couple of friends thought 'let's give this a go', and we played, and we didn't get off for four hours because it was so much fun."We didn't know any rules, we didn't understand the glass, we were just whacking the ball back and forth and it was really fun, and then we started playing once a week."The 31-year-old has now been playing for a year and a half and said for her 30th birthday they went to Malaga and played all weekend."I think it's quite a fast game, so if you turn up you can just get into it."You don't have to serve like tennis, because I can't serve, so I couldn't hold my own in a tennis game."But with the underarm serve it's so easy to pick up and it's so much easier to find three other girls to play with."We used to play netball together, we couldn't find 14 girls but we could find three." There are around 17 padel courts in Wales at the moment. Four years ago there was only one, but now there are plans to double the current number to 32 by the end of has already started on a new padel court in Llandaff in Cardiff, one of the many new courts that have popped up in the capital city over the last few chair for Tennis Cymru, Hywel Lewis, said: "Growth is going to come down to the number of courts and venues because we can only get so many people on court at the moment."If you compare the number of courts we have to tennis or squash we're very much a minority sport at the moment."But in terms of participation it's such an engaging sport and so easy for everyone to get involved, I think that we'll fill the courts, however many courts get created, for the next 10 to 15 years at least."
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Freestyle footballer from Wales wins international award
A 12-year-old boy has received an international award for his freestyle football skills after teaching himself at home. James was named rising star of freestyle at the MadJam international championships in Madrid in April - going up against competitors who had received professional took up the sport just 18 months ago and has managed to break two Guinness World records within that mum, Yvonne Taylor, said he trained every day and watched YouTube videos as a source of inspiration, describing his self-motivation as "really impressive". However, it came at a price during his initial practice sessions - with a number of damaged ornaments from balls being kicked around the home in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan."After smashing a few things, she might have got a bit annoyed but she never really told me to stop," James told BBC Radio Wales' Breakfast."We've learned from that," his mum added."There are no more breakables in the house." James was one of the youngest involved at the competition, but went head to head with international players. Yvonne described the stage as his happy place and said he loved it while "he keeps pushing boundaries". "Typically he watches videos and copies them, finds new moves online and thinks of new moves himself," she added. James has always enjoyed watching skilful players, such as the likes of Argentine great Diego Maradona, but Yvonne said the family were not initially aware freestyle was a sport itself."There is no training available here," said Yvonne, adding that freestyle is typically popular in France, Spain and the Netherlands. But she said some great freestylers were from Wales, including 25-time Guinness World Record holder Ash Randall from Cardiff and "keepy-uppy king" Abbas Farid from Newport. In 2023, James was invited to a Cardiff City v Norwich City match to complete a Guinness World Record for the most shoulder rolls in a minute - completing 77 and breaking the previous record by is due to compete in more events this year, including Amsterdam, and James said he also wanted "to break more Guinness World Records".
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Penarth: Derelict Victorian hotel on most-endangered list
A Grade II listed hotel has been placed on a list of the 10 most endangered buildings in the Hotel in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, dated back to about 1865 as part of the Mercantile Marine Offices and played a central role in the town's industrial, maritime, and social the surrounding area's transformation into a thriving marina and past proposals for redevelopment, the hotel remains derelict. Now on sale for £2.25m, the Victorian Society, which compiled the list, said it may be the "final opportunity to restore a vital piece of Penarth's maritime and architectural heritage". Griff Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society, also expressed disbelief that the "handsome hotel" in a "posh and sought-after" area still awaits restoration. He said the "elegant" building was a valuable heritage asset in need of care. According to Mr Jones, Penarth's rise as a prosperous Victorian town began with the construction of its docks in 1865, which also helped it thrive as a seaside resort. Built at the same time, Marine Hotel served dock workers, tourists, and likely Allied forces during World War since the early 1980s, the once-grand Grade II listed building has remained derelict for over 40 years as previous redevelopment plans, including a £6m boutique hotel scheme, have failed to materialise. James Hughes, Director of the Victorian Society, said Marine Hotel is an "irreplaceable link to Penarth's proud dockside past". "After four decades of decay, this sale is a last chance to bring the building back from the brink and give it the future it deserves," he said.
