A Tea Room is Brewing

Introducing '_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tea Rooms'

Bute Park is in amazing hands

You may say that I am biased as I am soon to directly benefit from the restoration of this stunning historic park land with the chance to turn my dream into a living reality. I hope that if you have gleaned anything from this blog it is that I am honest and open.

I have found all those connected with Bute Park, both working there daily and assisting in the careful and considered restoration, to be professional, passionate, intelligent, considered, leaders and doers. You will not find people more concerned with the welfare of the park itself, for the benefit of the users now and for those of the future. This is not some faceless bureaucracy, but a live and exciting family who have gone over and above their work remit donating hours upon hours of their own time to breathe life into community projects they help create and believe in.

If you have been to the Park recently hopefully you will have experienced this yourself too, if not Spring is a perfect time to visit and you should definitely go and see the new Education Centre!

I turned to this family for inspiration for a name to bestow on this new use for an historic building opening its doors for the first time to the public. My own ideas along with those from the custodians of the Park have been at the forefront of my mind for weeks.

Giving Birth

I have heard that deciding a name for your child can be difficult.
Do you wait until after the birth, look at your child, live with it, try and understand its personality?
Do you even know someone who was born without a name?

I believe that the greatest compliment for naming may be to inherit a family name or to bestow a title upon the next generation that has great personal resonance. With this in mind a wonderful name soon came to mind along with a superb opportunity to inform and educate today's park visitors about its history.

The Pettigrew Family

Many people know the Title of 'Marquess of Bute' and many people know the famous architect of Cardiff Castle, William Burges, but arguably less popularly well known for his contribution to Bute Park is Mr Andrew Pettigrew.

Andrew Pettigrew and his three sons William Wallace (‘WW'), Hugh and Andrew Alexander (‘AA') all contributed to a legacy of public owned gardens and parkland in Cardiff that is second to none in the UK.

Andrew Pettigrew (1833-1903) was Head Gardener to the Marquess of Bute at Cardiff Castle between 1873 and 1903. Originally from Ayrshire, he and his family moved to Cardiff from Dumfries House in Ayr, another Bute property, to work with the Third Marquess of Bute and William Burges on the layout of the Castle Grounds at Cardiff (re-named Bute Park in 1947 when it was gifted to the city along with the Castle and Sophia Gardens by the fifth Marquess of Bute).

The Marquess, who also came from Scotland, made all his money by sending coal and iron from the South Wales Valleys all around the world. What we now know as Cardiff was then a collection of small villages before the Marquess created a busy port, where hundreds of ships sailed every day. Cardiff became the largest coal exporting port in the world.

Many people came to live in Cardiff and it soon became a large city, but many of them lived in crowded houses with poor facilities and no gardens or space to relax and play in. The city needed parks and gardens.

So the Marquess and other Cardiff landowners gave land to the people of the city, so that they could have pleasant places to walk, to sit and listen to bands playing, to play or to watch sport such as bowls and cricket.

Introducing 'Pettigrew Tea Rooms'

In homage to his superb work in developing Bute Park into the recognisable space that thousands of visitors enjoy today, I feel it is appropriate to commemorate Mr Andrew Pettigrew's work by naming this business 'Pettigrew Tea Rooms'. I am passionate about sharing the history of this man, his family and the lasting legacy of their work with new and future generations visiting Bute Park and Arboretum.

Now for your say...

I have maintained from the start of this project that you would be involved. I value your thoughts and opinions. So now I turn over to you lovely people one of the biggest decisions I face. This is a traditional Tea Rooms and the Logo will be in pride of place on the menus, website and throughout. Please make your choice wisely.

Option a.)

Option B.)

Option C.)

Place Your Vote...

Public OpinionPoll Results

P.s. constructive criticism is great and always welcome, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then come and sit next to me.

Pettigrew Tea Rooms - Bi-Lingual Website Under Construction Coming Soon

Thank you. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates and maybe maybe maybe a competition some time soon...

David