{"id":57867,"date":"2021-12-20T23:31:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T23:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=57867"},"modified":"2021-12-20T23:31:27","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T23:31:27","slug":"life-and-litter-the-meandering-story-of-cardiffs-main-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2021\/12\/20\/life-and-litter-the-meandering-story-of-cardiffs-main-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Life and litter: The meandering story of Cardiff’s main river"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Taff once ran black with coal dust. Now it is an “unbelievable\u201d home to wildlife in the heart of Cardiff, but we all have a role to play in keeping it that way<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

“IN the 50s and 60s, there were no fish. You would get eels in there but basically absolutely nothing could live in there. It was just black with the washings from the collieries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron Moore tells me this as we walk along the Taff while on a litter pick with Cardiff Rivers Group. I am here to interview members of the group, but I have been told I have to do an hour\u2019s worth of litter picking first. Ron is 72 and has been wading out into the river with the group for the last four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The river today is unrecognisable as the black river from the 50s and 60s. Since then, the collieries have all closed down and the Taff no longer even flows into estuary water, but into the freshwater lake created by the Cardiff Bay Barrage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Taff has recovered tremendously after the effects of the industrial revolution,\u201d said a spokesperson for Natural Resources Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always striving to make improvements to water quality – working with water companies, industry and communities to reduce the pollutants which enter the river.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowning achievement of the clean-up was the return of salmon to the Taff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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