The capital of Wales may seem like an unusual place to find anything labelled “Norwegian”, yet the Norwegian Church at Cardiff Bay is locally recognized as one of the city’s historic landmarks.  The building is in fact a reminder of how Norway was once linked to South Wales. In the 1860s, the British coal industry was thriving, and Cardiff was one of the country’s major ports for exporting coal.  Large amounts of the coal were transported on Norwegian ships, and this meant that many Norwegian sailors eventually ended up living in some of Wales’s port cities, including Cardiff.  However, these sailors had spiritual and cultural needs that were not met by the local churches and other institutions.  When the priest Lars Ofterdal arrived in Cardiff in 1866, he commenced the first church services for the Norwegian immigrants in the area, but he also proceeded to organize the construction of a new church for his congregation.  The Norwegian Church was built at Cardiff Bay’s West Dock in…