Contributions . . .

This is another contribution through the eyes of a child, by way of a painting from my granddaughter Miss Cerys Carder, aged 5 years. She asked me why I was spending so much time working on the website. I explained to her that next year there was a very important birthday for the docks (June 2015). The docks would be 150 years old! "That's older than you Grandad" an observation which was gratefully received!

Cerys visited Penarth in June 2014 with her Mum, Dad and Grandma to see Auntie Judith whilst Grandad stayed at home and looked after Auntie Angel, the cat, because I was poorly. She played in the sand on Barry Island and was a Princess in a fairy-tale castle, Castell Goch. After a lovely lunch at the Pilot Inn, they all walked down to the marina and Daddy took some photos on his mobile phone and posted some on Twitter. She said that the houses on the side of the marina "looked silly" and she remembered the old pictures on the website when there were "real ships" there.

I asked her what she would like to do most if she was in charge of the birthday party for the docks and I told her about the important guests having their breakfast in a big tent by the side of the dock with lots of speeches and that big guns had been fired on the hillside. So . . . . . there should be a big tent with food and sweets, and they could do tricks in the water with boats, and there would be lots of big guns. She paused for a moment and then said "but speeches would be boring." Then she said that it would be good to have a fairground there with loads of rides for children and things to play with; and, when it got dark, they could have a big fireworks show "just like bonfire night."

I asked her to paint the fireworks display and this is what she painted on paper, although there were some fireworks that went astray and landed on my office desk and her new dress! Nice one Cerys; so now the whole world knows what is required to please her. Sorted!