Penarth

Penarth ( pen-ARTH, Welsh: [pɛnˈarθ]) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately three miles (five kilometres) south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a seaside resort in the Cardiff Urban Area, and the second largest town in the Vale of Glamorgan, next only to the administrative centre of Barry. During the Victorian era Penarth was a highly popular holiday destination, promoted nationally as "The Garden by the Sea", and was packed by visitors from the Midlands and the West Country as well as day trippers from the South Wales valleys, mostly arriving by train. Today, the town, with its traditional seafront, continues to be a regular summer holiday destination (predominantly for older visitors), but their numbers are much lower than was common from Victorian times until the 1960s, when cheap overseas package holidays were introduced. Although the number of holiday visitors has greatly declined, the town retains a substantial retired population, representing over 24% of residents, but Penarth is now predominantly a dormitory town for Cardiff commuters. The town's population was recorded as 20,396 in the 2001 United Kingdom census. The built-up area had a population of 27,226, but this figure does not include nearby suburb Dinas Powys. The town retains extensive surviving Victorian and Edwardian architecture in many traditional parts of the town.