30/09/2026
Do you remember Charlie?
Cardiff did you know...? for years, one of Cardiff’s most unforgettable characters was a man known simply as Charlie, or to many locals, Charlie Money in the Air.
He became a familiar sight around the city centre and the old docks area, often surrounded by a remarkable pack of dogs. Some people remember seeing ten, twelve or even around fifteen with him at a time, some walking alongside him and others riding in the pram or cart he pushed through the streets.
Charlie was known for taking in stray and unwanted dogs and making sure they were cared for. People who remember him often say the same thing. His dogs were friendly, healthy and well fed, and it was obvious how much they meant to him.
He was regularly seen buying large amounts of bread for them, and one detail that many Cardiff people still remember is the way he carried his money around in an old bread bag, often filled with 1p and 2p coins.
He was also well known around Bute Street and the old Custom House, back when the docks had a very different character to the Cardiff Bay we know today.
But it was where Charlie lived that gave him the nickname that stuck. He lived high up in Nelson House, near London Square, and local children remember him throwing loose change from his window for them to collect below.
Coins would come raining down from above, and sometimes teddy bears too. That is how Charlie Money in the Air became part of Cardiff folklore.
As he got older and his mobility became more difficult, people remember him using a wheelchair, but the dogs were still there. Wherever Charlie went, they went with him.
That is perhaps what people remember most. He may have been eccentric, but behind it all was a man with a huge affection for animals and a habit of looking after the ones nobody else wanted.
After his death, it was widely remembered that Charlie left his money to the PDSA, a final gesture that seemed entirely in keeping with the way he had lived.
A man with a pram full of dogs, a bread bag full of copper coins. Children waiting below Nelson House for money to fall from the sky. And one of those unmistakable Cardiff characters who became part of the city simply by being himself.
Do you remember Charlie?
Did you see him around town, Bute Street or Nelson House? Were you one of the children who remembers the coins coming down from above? Share your memories below.
