Colchester Avenue

The western residential end of the road dates back to 1911 when the first house plans for the road were submitted. The eastern end of the road is much later and started with the power station and light industry and education but is nowadays more retail and modern residential in nature.

Aerial view before Colchester Ave and the concrete cooling towers were constructed (Pic credit – Coflein)
Colchester Avenue Industrial Estate with the cooling towers of Roath Power Station behind. Colchester Avenue itself runs on the left hand side with Newport Road at the top of the picture. Pic probably from ~1950s.
SWELEC (South Wales Electricity) Office with meter workshop and domestic appliance repair workshop behind. After that Cabletel moved in and were subsequently swallowed up by NTL.
Colchester Avenue in around 1972. Taken from about the bottom end of Barons Court Road. Amazing to think that I don’t think anything in this picture remains. The Shell petrol station, called Godfreys petrol station, is where the Co-op now is. Behind is the SELEC electricity offices.
Cardiff Motor Company closed in Jan 2019, which was in the old Shell petrol station.
Co-op, opening May 2025 on the site of the old petrol station and Three Brewers

Three Brewers

The Three Brewers was set slightly set back off Colchester Avenue (CF23 9AL) opposite Hammond Way. The pub and probably dated back to the early-1970s.  The pub was set on two floors with the ground floor being a traditional bar with pool, darts and TV screens for watching sport and the upper floor being more a dining area.  Visitors were sometimes left wondering why there are only two brewers on the pub sign – sure there’s a story behind that somewhere. Closed down in July 2019, demolition underway Nov 2020. (More history of pubs in the area can be found on our Pubs and Clubs page)

Three Brewers, Colchester Avenue, Penylan, Cardiff
Colchester Avenue Shops 2008 (photo credit – Google Streetview). Vanity Hair Studio closed ~2010 and became NJB carpets, now Penylan Carpets. Grooms closed in 2023 and the shop is now home of Beans to Coffee shop. Penylan News closed in 2023.
1 Colchester Avenue, Penylan, Cardiff, childhood home of Owain Arwel Hughes and where he proposed to his future wife Jean.

The land on which Colchester Avenue is largely built was owned by General William Mark Wood who also owned the Lambourne Estate in Essex.  It is thought that the naming of Colchester Avenue may be a nod to him.  And the naming of the newer Ipswich Road and Norwich Road followed on. The hole in that theory however the eastern end of Colchester Avenue which was built first is on land owned by Lord Tredegar.