When Sandra Gee-Wing first moved to Crawshay Street fifty years ago, she could stand in her doorway and have an almost entirely uninterrupted view of Cardiff city centre. The railway line aside, the skyline was clear. The family home where Sandra - along with her husband Rob - brought up their children offered uninterrupted views "across town" as she calls it.
To her right was Penarth Road, far quieter than the thoroughfare we know today, and to her left was one of Cardiff's most well known institutions, Hancocks Brewery - soon to be taken over by Brains. With its protruding brick stack visible for miles around, Crawshay Street was the main artery to one of the city's treasures at the time, responsible for fuelling the drinkers of the capital and beyond.
The huge site, around 2.5 million square feet, became home to SA Brain, a name synonymous with Welsh heritage. More commonly known as Brains, its logo once proudly emblazoned across the chests of our national rugby team and its iconic red-brick chimney became the cornerstone of the city for some.
