The animals of the animal wall at Cardiff CastleBy Sara John
Welcome to the Animals of the Castle Wall in Cardiff. You may not know this, but the Animals you see guarding the Castle and Bute Park have names, backgrounds, friends, enemies, partners and responsibilities. You, only see the Animals in the bright light of day. They watch people passing but, they must remain still. “Remain still like carved stone statues”, they were told long long ago. “But at night when all is still and dark and quiet enough to hear the fog horns at the coast, you can do as you wish”. After dark is when their adventures begin. Now Meet The Animals LYNDA the Lioness had always wanted to be a hairdresser. When she was just a cub she would wash and set her father’s fine golden mane. Then brush it out and spray on lacquer she had found in someone’s shopping bag left overnight on a bench in the nearby park. She failed to get an apprenticeship at a hairdressers (for ladies) but they kindly suggested to her mother that she might be more suited to pet grooming. So, she qualified and worked for some years with poodles and their many hairdos, and taildos and pawdos. In the end she became very stressed and some poodle people recognised an element of risk in having a troubled and highly strung (her mother said her problems with nerve troubles came from her father’s side of the family) lioness trimming their small dog’s coat. Customers would say when booking, “any time, any day, but NOT with Lynda”. In the end she left and took time to recover. Her parents took her to Bute Park in Cardiff one lovely autumn day and she knew, the open spaces, and the company of other animals and all the shops close by, specially Matalan, were where she wanted to be. NICHOLLS the Lynx is from London. He had trained in a very famous sculptor’s studio and watched avidly the work going on there. Nicholls tended to keep himself to himself but was friendly and slightly sporty. He was mad about Frisbies but always needed someone to throw them for him. He had his eye on Lynda, the lioness who had been pet groomer/poodle dresser as she was dainty and pretty but he needed to check on line about mixed marriages and the risks associated with entering into such an arrangement. And how to extract himself without any risks, to life, limb, tail and his savings in the Post Office, should they not be compatible, after all.
LIONEL the leopard is very clever. He reads a lot and takes the Telegraph, daily, because it has always had a reputation for excellent foreign news coverage. When he awakes each night at midnight (well, midnight by City Hall clock that is, leopards do not wear wristwatches, they think they are less than feline, the watches that is, they, themselves are super feline), he gets up, stretches and follows his own secret route into the Library, near John Lewis, in town, and frequently borrows a book. He does not have a reader’s ticket but seems, so far, to be getting away, not with murder which is a long established family trait but with reading a lot. He has given up on finding any smart jackets for himself in John Lewis, they stock nothing in his size with sufficient spots to suit him.
14 CARDIFF TIMES
SYONARA the seal is a beautiful grey seal who was born off the west coast of Scotland. It was the area best known for the folk tales of ‘Selkies’ who are said to be creatures neither seal nor human who can come on land, at will, slip out of their sealskins and spend time with their land family. At night, if they wish they can go back down to the sea, slip out of their land clothes and back into their sealskins and swim off to their “Ain folk”. The females are well known for their ability to sing and make music. When Syonara was young and at seal school she told too many people about this, and her family feared for her safety: it was said she was making it all up and frightening the younger seals. Her parents thought it best, when she was old enough, for her to follow a group of seals swimming south to warmer waters. Arrangements were made and on her journey, she passed by Dumfries, Blackpool, Conway, Menai Straits, Aberystwyth, St Davids,—“No” said the older seals who were guarding her on behalf of her family back in Scotland, “not far enough yet, but not much further”. Past Swansea, Port Talbot and at last Cardiff was in sight. The guardian seals explained that she would be escorted by older local seals who would ensure her safety and would take her on the last part of her journey up the famous River Taff and on to the Castle in Cardiff where she would be most welcome. She made a lot of friends on her journey south, all promised to keep in touch and her safe arrival in Cardiff would be transmitted
