Cefn Onn Park went through a lot to become the breathtaking place it is today.
The Grade II listed country park, set in a valley on Cardiff's northern boundary above Lisvane, has become well known for its collection of native and exotic trees.
Every year, thousands of visitors enjoy the park's stunning scenery, relaxing atmosphere, and abundant wildlife.
But few people have heard the tragic story behind Cefn Onn.
The park was designed by the former general manager of the Rhymney and Taff Vale railway, Ernest Prosser.
According to Welsh historian and author Peter Finch, Prosser bought Cwm Farm and much of what is now Llanishen Golf Club and the park became his own personal project.
He also purchased a large slice of the woods of Wern Fawr, the part of it that was known as the Dingle.
In the early 1900s, Cyncoed, Llanishen and Lisvane were no more than villages, and the area where Cefn Onn stands today was "deep country".
In Finch's book, Real Cardiff: The Flourishing City, he describes how Prosser dammed a tributary of Nant Fawr to create a pond for use as a swimming pool.
But Prosser’s ideas for the park soon changed when his son Cecil contracted tuberculosis.
His son's sickness inspired the estate-owning country gentleman to build a great house to go with the pond.
Historian Mr Finch said: "A century back [TB] was usually fatal. The cure, if such could be obtained, involved fresh air and sunlight. Copious amounts.
"Prosser constructed what was later to be converted into the park’s summerhouse in an attempt to help his son convalesce."
The house would consist of two rooms, balcony and veranda but Peter explains how this was “all to no avail" as Cecil died in 1922.
This deeply affected Prosser, who is said to have lost the will to go on and retired from the railways. He eventually retreated to a lonely life in a dark house on Fidlas Road.
The uncompleted estate was left in the hands of a gardener named Tommy Jenkins.
The summerhouse can still be seen at the park now, with a flight of stone steps leading up to the small, unfinished, stone structure.
Taken from a leaflet produced by Friends of Cefn Onn, it was Tommy Jenkins who laid out the majority of the gardens, plants and the pond at the top of the park.
When Ernest Prosser died in 1933, the estate was put up for sale.
Cardiff Corporation bought the 169 acres for £7,500. The Parks Committee named the estate Parc Cefn Onn.
Cefn Onn's handover took place in 1944 when the Second World War was not quite finished.
Finch described the park’s development as “nothing short of a miracle” as Cardiff had sustained substantial bomb damage and the country was short of resources.
The committee went on to plant exotic and rare flowers including rhododendron and azalea, improved the trails, preserved oak and beech woodland, created a picnic field and added public outbuildings – toilets, cafes, shelters.
