THERE is no smoke without fire for a local historian looking to brush up on his family tree.
Genealogy enthusiast and former steam train fireman Graham Williams, 63, is appealing to the descendants of a family of chimney sweeps to come forward and help him with his research.
Mr Williams, chair of the Canton Historical Society, thinks he may have distant relatives in Roath who are descended from his great-great-grandparents, who were Charles Elliott’s family of chimney sweeps.
He said: ”There’s lots of Elliotts in Roath and they are all descendants of these …

Children from schools across Cardiff visited their local libraries this week to celebrate World Book Day.

And these year five pupils from St Paul’s Church in Wales Primary School, Grangetown, were one of 19 groups set loose in Grangetown Library, Havelock Place.

When given the challenge to go belly dancing I couldn’t help but scoff a little. This was going to be a piece of cake. Whenever I have seen belly dancing in restaurants or on holiday I have always thought how easy it looked. Surely it is just a case of shaking your hips, waving your arms above your head and showing your belly a bit. Oh, how wrong I was.

The owner of a popular Cardiff shop has announced it will close down to go online-only.
Irene Parow, of Rich and Rare on Cowbridge Road East, said she will continue to run the business through the internet after 13 successful years in Canton’s main shopping street.
The shop, which specialises in holy communion dresses and christening gowns, attracts customers from all over the world and holds regular fashion shows and exhibitions.
Ms Parow, 58, said the shop will probably close its doors at the end of May and operate solely through its website.
She …

Palestinian olives were on the menu in Cardiff today as part of Fairtrade Fortnight.
Speakers from Oxfam and the Palestinian Farmers Union addressed shoppers in ethical store Fair Do’s in Canton and told them they were helping 9,000 farmers in Palestine by purchasing olives and olive oil from the Middle East.
Thomas Cazalis, co-ordinator of the union’s olive oil programme, said the industry was vital for the farmers. He said: “There is a meaning beyond the product itself. It’s a question of dignity for the farmers and opening the world to these …

The Schiavo family are offering home made Sicilian food at great prices. Inside, there are a handful of solid wooden tables, a bar along the window for Sunday’s peoplewatchers and Italian music playing.

LOCAL residents are “up in arms” about plans to hold two major concerts in a 10-day period at Cardiff City Stadium this summer.

Welsh band Stereophonics are playing a sell-out show in the 32,000 seater venue on June 5, while an announcement about the act or date for the second show has not yet been made.

But Canton councillor Ramesh Patel has accused Cardiff City football club of “moving the goalposts” on an agreement not to hold concerts at the Leckwith Road ground.

A WAR of words has broken out after a Cardiff greengrocer said officials were not doing enough to stop anti-social behaviour which has left all the windows of her shop smashed.

But a local councillor and the police have rejected the claims, saying they were not made aware of the issue.

DESPITE police initiatives to tackle illegal street musicians, one Cardiff busker is not singing off the same hymn sheet after she was spotted playing an accordion just across the road from a police station.

A young woman played the instrument for at least two hours opposite Somerfield in Cowbridge Road East, just a stone’s throw from Canton police station last Saturday.

A FRUSTRATED single mum is having to watch her garden disappear into a huge ditch she has been lobbying Cardiff Council to fill for nearly 10 years.

39-year-old dental nurse Jacky Pemberton first noticed the vast former railway cutting when she moved into her house in Powderham Drive, Grangetown, in 1995. Next week she will have been campaigning to have it filled for 10 years.

A Cardiff church is holding a jumble sale tomorrow morning to raise funds for its redevelopment.
Wesley Methodist Church in Canton is raising money to build a youth centre and pay for its new coffee shop with the bring-and-buy event in the church hall on Nottingham Street between 10am and 11am.
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Organiser Diana Murray said: “We’re going to try a new thing by opening the coffee shop on Saturday too so we hope people will come down and stay for a cup of tea and a bit of cake.”