1.
Welsh language
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Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army
Welsh language
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This tattered
Welsh Bible of 1620, in
Llanwnda church, is said to have been rescued from the hands of French invaders in 1797.
Welsh language
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The 1588 Welsh Bible
Welsh language
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Trilingual (Spanish, Welsh and English) sign in Argentina
2.
Ceredigion
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Ceredigion is a county in Mid Wales. In the Middle Ages, it was a minor kingdom also known for a time as Seisyllwg, following its Norman conquest, the name was anglicised to Cardigan and then Cardiganshire and it began to be administered as a county in 1282. The county had a population of 75,900 at the 2011 UK census and its largest town, Aberystwyth, is one of the two administrative centres, the other being Aberaeron. Aberystwyth houses Aberystwyth University, Bronglais Hospital and the National Library of Wales, the inland town of Lampeter houses part of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Ceredigion is considered to be a centre of Welsh culture and more than half the population speaks Welsh, the county is mainly rural with over 50 miles of coastline and a mountainous hinterland. The numerous sandy beaches, together with the long-distance Ceredigion Coast Path provide excellent views of Cardigan Bay, the economy became highly dependent on dairy farming and the rearing of livestock for the English market. Ceredigion has been inhabited since prehistoric times,170 hill forts and enclosures have been identified across the county, around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain, the area was between the realms of the Demetae and Ordovices. The Sarn Helen road ran through the territory, with forts at Bremia, following the Roman withdrawal, Irish raids and invasions were repulsed, supposedly by the forces under a northerner named Cunedda. The 9th-century History of the Britons attributed to Nennius records that Cuneddas son Ceredig settled the area around the Teifi in the 5th century. The territory supposedly remained a kingdom under his dynasty until its extinction upon the drowning of Gwgon ap Meurig c. 871, after which it was administered by Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd before passing to his son Cadell. Many pilgrims passed through Cardiganshire on their way to St Davids, some came by sea and made use of the churches at Mwnt and Penbryn, while others came by land seeking hospitality at such places as Strata Florida Abbey. Both the abbey and Llanbadarn Fawr were important monastic sites of scholarship, place names including ysbyty denote their association with pilgrims. In 1282, Edward I of England conquered the principality of Wales, one of thirteen traditional counties in Wales, Cardiganshire was also a vice-county. Cardiganshire was split into the five hundreds of Genaur-Glyn, Ilar, Moyddyn, Penarth, every community built its own chapel or meeting house, and Cardiganshire became one of the centres of Methodism in Wales with the Aeron Valley being at the centre of the revival. Cardigan was one of the ports of southern Wales, but its harbour silted in the mid-19th century. In the uplands, wheeled vehicles were rare in the 18th century, on the coast, trade in herrings and corn took place across the Irish Sea. In the 19th century, many of the rural poor emigrated to the New World from Cardigan, Aberystwyth became the main centre for the export of lead and Aberaeron and Newquay did brisk coastal trade. The building of the railway from Shrewsbury in the 1860s encouraged visitors and this area of the county of Dyfed became a district of Wales under the name Ceredigion in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and since 1996, has formed the county of Ceredigion
Ceredigion
3.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
Ordnance Survey National Grid
–
Grid square TF. The map shows
The Wash and the
North Sea, as well as places within the counties of
Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and
Norfolk.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
–
Geodesy
4.
Cardiff
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Cardiff is the capital and largest city in Wales and the eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is the chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media. The unitary authority areas mid-2011 population was estimated to be 346,100, the Cardiff metropolitan area makes up over a third of the total population of Wales, with a mid-2011 population estimate of about 1,100,000 people. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographics alternative tourist destinations, the city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan. Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities, the Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city. Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955, since the 1980s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly, sporting venues in the city include the Millennium Stadium, SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff International Sports Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park. The city was awarded the title of European City of Sport twice, due to its role in hosting major sporting events, first in 2009. The Millennium Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the opening event. Caerdydd derives from the earlier Welsh form Caerdyf, the change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f and dd, and was perhaps also driven by folk etymology. This sound change had probably first occurred in the Middle Ages, Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning the fort of the Taff. The fort probably refers to that established by the Romans, the anglicised form Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf, with the Welsh f borrowed as ff /f/, as also happens in Taff and Llandaff. As English does not have the vowel the final vowel has been borrowed as /ɪ/, although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as Professor Gwynedd Pierce. A group of five Bronze Age tumuli is at the summit of The Garth, four Iron Age hill fort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiffs present-day county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares. The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta that acted as border defences, the fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a settlement, or vicus, was established
Cardiff
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Clockwise from top left: The
Senedd,
Millennium Stadium, Norman keep of
Cardiff Castle,
Cardiff Bay,
Cardiff City Centre, clock tower of
City Hall and the
Welsh National War Memorial
Cardiff
–
The coat of arms of Cardiff
Cardiff
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The front wall of
Cardiff Castle, showing part of the original Roman fort from which the city probably derived its name.
Cardiff
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Tribes of Wales at the time of the Roman invasion. The modern English-Welsh border is also shown.
5.
Administrative divisions of Wales
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For local government purposes, Wales has since 1 April 1996 been divided into 22 single-tier principal areas. The elected councils of these areas are responsible for the provision of all government services, including education, social work, environmental protection. Below these there are also elected community councils to which responsibility for specific aspects of the application of local policy may be devolved. The Queen appoints a Lord Lieutenant to represent her in each of the eight preserved counties of Wales, subdivisions of Wales created for such purposes as the provision of police and emergency services and the organization of the National Health Service are made up of combinations of principal areas. There are six cities in total in Wales, in addition to the three areas with city status, the communities of Bangor, St Davids and St Asaph also have the status. City status is granted by letters patent, the status was, however, not officially recognised for many years. When city status was restored to St Davids in 1994, St Asaph town council submitted a petition for the same purpose, the petition was refused as, unlike St Davids, there was no evidence of any charter or letters patent in the past conferring the status. Applications for city status in competitions in 2000 and 2002 were unsuccessful, There are 22 principal areas in Wales. They came into being on 1 April 1996 by virtue of the Local Government Act 1994, eleven are named as counties, including the Cities and Counties of Cardiff and Swansea, and eleven are styled as county boroughs. In 2002 Newport was granted city status, and the county borough is now styled as the City of Newport, Welsh language forms are given in parentheses, except where there is no English equivalent. Locations of each council headquarters are indicated by yellow markers, the current names of certain unitary authority areas are different from those specified in the Local Government Act 1994. Elections planned for 2012 were delayed until 2013, the historic counties of Wales are ancient subdivisions of Wales, used for various functions for several hundred years. The oldest date from 1138 By 1066 the whole of England had been divided into counties, the first counties, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire, were established in the 1240s. In 1284 the Principality of Gwynedd was divided into three counties, Anglesey, Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire and this can be regarded as an arrangement imposed on Wales by the English during the last years of Prince Llywelyn II. Before the end of the century, Flintshire had also become a county, the formation of counties was completed under the Act of Union 1536, which created Pembrokeshire, Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, Radnorshire, Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire. These 13 counties were the main subdivisions of Wales from 1889 until the implementation in 1974 of the Local Government Act 1972. At the lowest level of subdivision in Wales are the communities. They may have elected community councils which perform a number of roles, such as providing local facilities, community councils are the equivalent of English parish councils
Administrative divisions of Wales
–
Wales
6.
Preserved counties of Wales
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The preserved counties of Wales are the current areas used in Wales for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty. They are based on the created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government. The Local Government Act 1994 abolished the eight ceremonial counties created by the Local Government Act 1972, however, it created the concept of preserved counties based on their areas, to be used for purposes such as Lieutenancy. The Defence Act 1842 – Lieutenants are those appointed to preserved counties, the Sea Fisheries Act 1967 – relevant portions of the sea shore shall be deemed to be within preserved counties. There were however two local government areas, Caerphilly and Conwy, split between preserved counties, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales were instructed by the National Assembly for Wales on 11 March 2002 to undertake a review of preserved county boundaries. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan was also to be re-aligned to reflect changes in local government boundaries. The Assembly accepted these proposals such that from 2 April 2003 each preserved county now encompasses between one and five local government areas. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2010 to reflect the 2009 local government boundary changes in the Vaynor area. The population figures are estimates for 2007 from the Office for National Statistics. Historic counties of Wales Local government in Wales Ceremonial counties of England Shires of Scotland
Preserved counties of Wales
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Gwent
7.
Dyfed
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Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974, as an amalgamation of the three pre-existing counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and it was abolished twenty-two years later, on 1 April 1996, when the three original counties were reinstated, Cardiganshire being renamed Ceredigion the following day. The name Dyfed is retained for ceremonial and other purposes. It is a rural county in southwestern Wales with a coastline on the Irish Sea. Dyfed is a county of Wales. The choice of the name Dyfed was based on the name given to the region once settled by the Irish Déisi. Modern Dyfed was formed from the counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and was divided into the following local government districts. The county town and administrative headquarters of Dyfed was Carmarthen whilst the largest settlement was Llanelli, other significant centres of population included Haverfordwest, Milford Haven and Aberystwyth. The Independents gained a majority and retained this at subsequent elections, at the 1977 election, Plaid Cymru gained some ground although not to the extent that was seen in parts of the South Wales valleys in that year. The name Dyfed was retained for such purely ceremonial purposes as the Lord Lieutenancy, Dyfed has a long coast on the Irish Sea to the west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It is bounded by the counties of Gwynedd to the north. Cardiganshire, the northernmost part of Dyfed, has a coastal strip. Further south in Cardiganshire the land is mountainous, and the River Teifi forms the border with Carmarthenshire for part of its length. Carmarthenshire, the part of Dyfed, is mostly hilly, except for the river valleys. Fforest Fawr and Black Mountain extend into the east of Carmarthenshire, the highest point in Carmarthenshire is Fan Brycheiniog,2,631 feet, on the border with Powys. The River Towy is the largest river and drains into the Bristol Channel, as do the River Loughor, the River Gwendraeth, Carmarthenshire has a long coastline which is deeply cut by the estuaries of the Loughor, Gwendraeth, Tywi and Taf. The south coast has many fishing villages and sandy beaches and the part around Llanelli. Pembrokeshire, the part of Dyfed, juts out into the Irish Sea and has a long, much indented
Dyfed
–
Dyfed shown as a preserved county since 2003
8.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
Countries of the United Kingdom
9.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
Wales
–
Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey
Wales
–
Flag
Wales
–
This article is about the country. For other uses, see
Wales (disambiguation).
Wales
–
Coin of
Magnus Maximus
10.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
11.
Postcodes in the United Kingdom
–
Postal codes used in the United Kingdom are known as postcodes. They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been devised by the GPO, a full postcode is known as a postcode unit and designates an area with a number of addresses or a single major delivery point. For example, the postcode of the University of Roehampton in London is SW15 5PU, the postcode of GCHQ is GL51 0EX, where GL signifies the postal town of Gloucester. The postal town refers to an area and does not relate to a specific town. GL51 is one of the postcodes for the town of Cheltenham which is where GCHQ is located, the London post town covers 40% of Greater London. On inception it was divided into ten districts, EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W. The S and NE sectors were later abolished and these divisions changed little, usually only changed for operational efficiency. Some older road signs in Hackney still indicate the North East sector/district, following the successful introduction of postal districts in London, the system was extended to other large towns and cities. Liverpool was divided into Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western districts in 1864/65, in 1917 Dublin – then still part of the United Kingdom – was divided into numbered postal districts. These continue in use in a form by An Post. In 1923 Glasgow was divided in a way to London. In January 1932 the Postmaster General approved the designation of some urban areas into numbered districts. In November 1934 the Post Office announced the introduction of numbered districts in every town in the United Kingdom large enough to justify it. Pamphlets were issued to each householder and business in ten areas notifying them of the number of the district in which their premises lay, the pamphlets included a map of the districts, and copies were made available at local head post offices. The public were invited to include the district number in the address at the head of letters. A publicity campaign in the following year encouraged the use of the district numbers, the slogan for the campaign was For speed and certainty always use a postal district number on your letters and notepaper. A poster was fixed to every box in the affected areas bearing the number of the district. Every post office in the district was also to display this information
Postcodes in the United Kingdom
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Street name signs on Birdbrook Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, showing old "Birmingham 22" (top) and modern "B44" postcodes.
Postcodes in the United Kingdom
12.
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom
–
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom are administered by the UK governments Office of Communications. For this purpose Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, since 28 April 2001, almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code. All mobile telephone numbers have 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code, regions with shorter area codes, typically large cities, permit the allocation of more telephone numbers as the local number portion has more digits. Local customer numbers are four to eight figures long, the total number of digits is ten, but in a very few areas the total may be nine digits. The area code is referred to as an STD or a dialling code in the UK. The code allocated to the largest population is for London, the code allocated to the largest area is for all of Northern Ireland. The UK Numbering Plan also applies to three British Crown dependencies—Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man—even though they are not part of the UK itself. Possible number formats for UK telephone numbers are as follows, Number ranges starting 01 can have NSN length as 10 or 9 digits, the 0800 range can have NSN length as 10,9 or 7 digits. The 0845 range can have NSN length as 10 or 7 digits, the 0500 range has NSN length as 9 digits only. There are no numbers in the UK with an NSN length of 8 digits. Geographic telephone numbers in the UK always have nine or ten digits, four-digit area codes have either six-digit subscriber numbers or a mix of five- and six-digit subscriber numbers. Xxxxxx This is the used by most areas. It has an area code and a six digit subscriber number. These area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. Just short of 581 areas use this format, and the area range from 01200 to 01998. A small number of areas also have a few subscriber numbers that have only five digits. That is, almost all area codes now have only six digit local numbers, six of the four-digit area codes are known as mixed areas as they share those four digits with the twelve five-digit area codes. The numbers therefore have only nine digits after the initial zero trunk code and these area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom
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Location of the United Kingdom (dark green)
13.
Fire services in the United Kingdom
–
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty fire and rescue services, many FRS were previously known as brigades or county fire services, but almost all now use the standard terminology. They are distinct from and governed by an authority, which is the legislative, public and administrative body. Fire authorities in England and Wales, and therefore fire and rescue services, Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire and rescue services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments. The total budget for services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion. The devolved government in Scotland has an agency, HMFSI Scotland. This Act provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain,1947, Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed entirely in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire,1959, Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act, it dealt with pensions, staffing arrangements and provision of services by other authorities. It was repealed in England and Wales along with the 1947 Act,1999, Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In 2002, there was a series of fire strikes. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the action still ongoing. Bains report ultimately led to a change in the relating to firefighting. 2002, Independent Review of the Fire Service published 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, generally only applying to England and it came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises,2006, The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the National Assembly for Wales powers to pass laws on Fire, promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation. But does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries, There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association. The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons select committee, in June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office, Fire Control On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman and Cllr James Pearson from the Local Government Association, also giving evidence Matt Wrack from the Fire Brigades Union and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association
Fire services in the United Kingdom
–
A fire engine of the
London Fire Brigade, the second-largest service in the country after the
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Fire services in the United Kingdom
–
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service in action
Fire services in the United Kingdom
–
A 1951 Dennis P12 fire appliance belonging to the
Wiltshire Fire Brigade
Fire services in the United Kingdom
–
Fire on
West Pier in
Brighton, England
14.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
–
Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status. The NHS commissions most emergency services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which gradually merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary contract for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England. The service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was established in 1995 by parliamentary order, and serves the whole of Northern Ireland. The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust was established on 1 April 1998, there is a large market for private and voluntary ambulance services, with the sector being worth £800m to the UK economy in 2012. This places the voluntary providers in direct competition with private services, expenditure on private ambulances in England increased from £37m in 2011−12 to £67. 5m in 2013/4, rising in London from £796,000 to more than £8. 8m. In 2014−15, these 10 ambulance services spent £57.6 million on 333,329 callouts of private or voluntary services - an increase of 156% since 2010−11, in 2013, the CQC found 97% of private ambulance services to be providing good care. These private, registered services are represented by the Independent Ambulance Association, there are also a number of unregistered services operating, who do not provide ambulance transport, but only provide response on an event site. These firms are not regulated, and are not subject to the checks as the registered providers, although they may operate similar vehicles. There are a number of ambulance providers, sometimes known as Voluntary Aid Services or Voluntary Aid Societies, with the main ones being the British Red Cross. The history of the ambulance services pre-dates any government organised service. As they are in competition for work with the private ambulance providers. Voluntary organisations have also provided cover for the public when unionised NHS ambulance trust staff have taken industrial action, there are a number of smaller voluntary ambulance organisations, fulfilling specific purposes, such as Hatzola who provide emergency medical services to the orthodox Jewish community in some cities. These have however run into difficulties due to use of vehicles not legally recognised as ambulances, all emergency medical services in the UK are subject to a range of legal and regulatory requirements, and in many cases are also monitored for performance. This framework is largely statutory in nature, being mandated by government through a range of primary and secondary legislation and this requires all providers to register, to meet certain standards of quality, and to submit to inspection of those standards
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
–
A
Mercedes Sprinter ambulance of the
South Western Ambulance Service responds to an emergency call
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
–
The
London Air Ambulance in action
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
–
A paramedic's motorcycle in Birmingham
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
–
Device of the
Scottish Ambulance Service
15.
Welsh Ambulance Service
–
The Welsh Ambulance Service, formally the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, is the national ambulance service for Wales and one of the three NHS trusts in the country. It was established on 1 April 1998 and has 2,500 staff providing ambulance, the Welsh Ambulance Services headquarters is located at H. M. Stanley Hospital, St Asaph, Denbighshire. The service is divided into three regions, Central and West Region – based at Ty Maes Y Gruffudd, Cefn Coed Hospital, Cockett. The Welsh Ambulance Service provides, Emergency Medical Services - This service responds to emergency 999 calls, a standard crew combination for this service would normally consist of a Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician. However double Paramedic / double Technician crews are not uncommon, as of 2013, the majority of the EMS fleet consists of Wilker Mercedes Benz 519 Sprinter Ambulances, And Honda CRV / Ford Focus Rapid Response Vehicles. Helicopter Emergency Medical Service - Wales is served by three helicopters operated by Wales Air Ambulance, each helicopter crew consists of a pilot and two critical care Paramedics. The service is charity funded and operated by Bond Air Services but carries the Welsh ambulance service trust logo, equipment, as of 2012, all three aircraft operated by the charity are Eurocopter EC135s Patient Care Services - This service deals with the planned care aspect of ambulance work. PCS staff usually provide transport between home and healthcare facilities or some inter-hospital transfers, NHS Direct Wales supports EMS Operations by providing clinically triage for Green 3 calls that are deemed suitable. More than 45% of 999 calls have a disposition of not requiring 999 conveyance, in addition during times of escalation other calls deemed suitable are triaged. Community First Responders - CFRs are volunteers from the community trained in basic first aid, oxygen administration and they are used by the ambulance service mostly in rural areas to provide basic care, such as Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation before an EMS crew arrives. As CFRs are usually sent to local calls in specified communities, they often arrive before an EMS ambulance crew, even without the use of blue lights. Whilst most CFR teams are the responsibility of WAST, a number of teams are made up of regular divisions from St John Ambulance in Wales although this does not give them any exemptions. In 2012 a strategic review of the service was commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government and was conducted by Professor Siobhan McClelland, national Health Service NHS Direct Wales Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Direct Wales
Welsh Ambulance Service
–
A Welsh Ambulance Service ambulance
Welsh Ambulance Service
–
Contents
Welsh Ambulance Service
–
Wales Air Ambulance
16.
Wales (European Parliament constituency)
–
Wales is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 4 MEPs using the method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency corresponds to the boundaries of Wales, one of the four countries of the United Kingdom and it was formed as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, replacing a number of single-member constituencies. These were Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East, elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won
Wales (European Parliament constituency)
–
Location among the 2014 constituencies
17.
List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
–
There are 650 constituencies in the United Kingdom, each electing a single Member of Parliament to the House of Commons every five years. Voting last took place in all 650 of those constituencies at the United Kingdom general election on 7 May 2015, in addition there is the constituency of the Speaker, which by tradition does not belong to any party. The number of seats rose from 646 at the 2005 general election after proposals made by the commissions for England, Wales. Constituencies in Scotland remained unchanged, as the Boundary Commission for Scotland had completed a review just before the 2005 general election, for the 2013 review this was primarily the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011. The Sainte-Laguë formula method is used to form groups of seats split between the four parts of the United Kingdom and the English Regions, the electorate figures given in the second column of the tables below are those used by the commissions during their reviews. These electorate figures date from the start of the review in each country, England, February 2000, Scotland, June 2001, Wales, December 2002, and Northern Ireland, May 2003. Of the 650 seats listed below,533 are in England,59 in Scotland,40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland, Scotland – No changes from 2005 election. Wales – Number of seats unchanged, three seats were abolished and three were created, Aberconwy, Arfon, and Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Northern Ireland – No extra or fewer seats allocated. England, North Yorkshire, Hampshire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Norfolk, Essex, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, isle of Wight maintained its status as one constituency, the largest by electorate. The City of York was divided into two seats, neither overlapping part of North Yorkshire, North London, Birmingham and the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear and South Yorkshire lost a seat each. Herefordshire and Worcestershire, to reflect their full reinstatement as separate counties, were considered in separate reviews, bath, Bristol and Somerset underwent arguably the most significant changes to reflect the abolition of Avon. Updated electorate figures from December 2010 have been added for the English, lists of electoral districts by nation Boundary Commission for N. I. Fifth Periodical Report – Parliamentary Constituencies of Northern Ireland
List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
–
United Kingdom
18.
Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)
–
Ceredigion, formerly Cardiganshire, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1536, the boundaries have remained unchanged for nearly five centuries. The county constituency was enlarged in 1983 with the addition of part of Pembrokeshire, being renamed Ceredigion, in 1997 it reverted to its former boundaries, being renamed Ceredigion. The Ceredigion Welsh Assembly constituency was created with the boundaries in 1999. The boundaries of this constituency mirror almost exactly those of the county of Ceredigion, under proposed constituency boundary changes announced in September 2016, ahead of the next general election, the seats boundaries will be extended. Ceredigion, formerly known by the version of its name as Cardiganshire, was first enfranchised in 1536 when King Henry VIII incorporated Wales within England. The county was one member, who was to be elected by each person who owned property of a sufficient value. In addition the inhabitants of Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Adpar and Lampeter were given the right to elect one MP between them, with the vote restricted to the Freemen. From 1832 the Reform Act changed the system so that householders of homes worth over £10 were enfranchised in the boroughs. The county saw more influence of the Powell family of Nanteos who were Conservatives, by agreement between the two, neither challenged the others domination and so elections were almost always unopposed. In the 1841 election there was a deal of confusion in the borough constituency. The poll books for Aberystwyth were either lost or stolen and never reached the returning officer, other than an 1855 byelection victory by 12 votes, the Conservatives never won the borough. The county saw its first contest in the 1859 general election when two Conservatives fought for the seat. In 1865 the sitting MP stood down and there was a contest between two Liberals, won by Sir Thomas Lloyd, Bt. who defeated a Gladstonian opponent, David Davies, Llandinam. Lloyd transferred to the borough in the 1868 election when the seat was captured by Swansea industrialist and this election is often regarded as a landmark when tenant farmers apparently refused to follow patterns of age-old deference and vote in line with the wishes of their landlords. Following this election there were allegations of intimidation by Conservative landlords, in reality, however, Richards victory owed much to the support of the powerful Pryse family of Gogerddan. There were close contests for the county thereafter, on a slightly widened franchise, in a redistribution of seats for the 1885 general election, the borough constituency was abolished and absorbed into the county. This brought into the county seat the more radical politics of urban voters in the boroughs of Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Lampeter and Adpar
Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)
–
Vaughan-Davies
Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)
–
Boundary of Ceredigion in Wales.
Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)
–
Ernest Evans
Ceredigion (UK Parliament constituency)
–
Hopkin Morris
19.
Welsh Assembly
–
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, the Assembly was created by the Government of Wales Act 1998, which followed a referendum in 1997. The Assembly had no powers to initiate primary legislation until limited law-making powers were gained through the Government of Wales Act 2006, the council had 27 members nominated by local authorities in Wales, the University of Wales, National Eisteddfod Council and the Welsh Tourist Board. A post of Minister of Welsh Affairs was created in 1951 and the post of Secretary of State for Wales, the establishment of the Welsh Office effectively created the basis for the territorial governance of Wales. The Royal Commission on the Constitution was set up in 1969 by Harold Wilsons Labour Government to investigate the possibility of devolution for Scotland and Wales. Its recommendations formed the basis of the 1974 White Paper Democracy and Devolution, proposals for Scotland and Wales, however, voters rejected the proposals by a majority of four to one in a referendum held in 1979. After the 1997 general election, the new Labour Government argued that an Assembly would be more accountable than the Welsh Office. For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom by a Secretary of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster. A second referendum was held on 18 September 1997 in which approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales by a majority of 559,419 votes. The following year the Government of Wales Act was passed by the United Kingdom parliament, the Richard Commission reported in March 2004. It recommended that the National Assembly should have powers to legislate in certain areas and it also recommended changing the electoral system to the single transferable vote which would produce greater proportionality. In so doing, the Government rejected many of the cross party Richard Commissions recommendations and this has attracted criticism from opposition parties and others. The Government of Wales Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 25 July 2006 and it conferred on the Assembly legislative powers similar to other devolved legislatures through the ability to pass Assembly Measures concerning matters that are devolved. Requests for further legislative powers made through legislative competence requests were subject to the veto of the Secretary of State for Wales, the Act reformed the assembly to a parliamentary-type structure, establishing the Welsh Government as an entity separate from, but accountable to the National Assembly. It enables the Assembly to legislate within its devolved fields, the Act also reforms the Assemblys electoral system. It prevents individuals from standing as candidates in both constituency and regional seats and this aspect of the act was subject to a great deal of criticism, most notably from the Electoral Commission. Plaid Cymru, the Official Opposition in the National Assembly from 1999–2007, many commentators have also criticised the Labour Partys allegedly partisan attempt to alter the electoral system. By preventing regional Assembly Members from standing in constituency seats the party has accused of changing the rules to protect constituency representatives
Welsh Assembly
Welsh Assembly
–
National Assembly for Wales Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru
Welsh Assembly
–
The
Senedd, home to the National Assembly for Wales
20.
Ceredigion (Assembly constituency)
–
Ceredigion is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member by the first past the post method of election and it has been represented since its creation in 1999 by Plaid Cymrus Elin Jones, who has been Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly since 2016. The area of the constituency is similar to that of the county of Ceredigion, the constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Ceredigion Westminster constituency. It is a Dyfed constituency, one of five constituencies covering, and entirely within, the other four Dyfed constituencies are Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Llanelli and Preseli Pembrokeshire. They are all within the Mid and West Wales electoral region, boundaries changed for the 2007 Assembly election. Ceredigion remained one of five Dyfed constituencies and one of eight constituencies in the Mid, the other four Dyfed constituencies are, again, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Llanelli and Preseli Pembrokeshire. They are all within the Mid and West Wales electoral region, for Westminster purposes, the same new constituency boundaries became effective for the 2010 United Kingdom general election. In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes, the first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voters constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the dHondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation
Ceredigion (Assembly constituency)
–
Ceredigion
21.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
22.
Confluence
–
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. The term is used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water. A one-mile portion of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans accommodates the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada is at the confluence of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario. The junction of the Green River and Colorado River forms the heart of Canyonlands National Park in Utahs Canyon Country, the Sangam, near Allahabad, India, where the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna meet to create one of the holiest places in Hinduism. The Ohio River is formed by the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, located in Pittsburgh, the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers in Three Forks, Montana form the confluence of the Missouri River, one of the longest rivers in the United States. Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is at the confluence of the Gombak River and the Klang River. Passau known also as the Dreiflüssestadt, because the Danube River is joined there by the Inn River from the South, manaus, Brazil is on the Rio Negro near its confluence with the Amazon. It is the port and a hub for the regions extensive river system. Osijek, Croatia, is on the bank of the river Drava 25 km upstream of its confluence with the Danube. Belgrade, the capital of Serbia lies at the confluence of the Sava, the Hochelaga Archipelago, including the island and city of Montreal, is located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River in Quebec, Canada. Winnipeg, Canada, is at the confluence of the Red River, the area is referred to as The Forks by locals, and has been an important trade location for over 6000 years. The confluence of the rivers Danube and Morava in Devín on the border between Slovakia and Austria, triangle of Three Emperors, former tripoint in Europe. Cairo, Illinois, in the United States, where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River, St. Louis, Missouri, is built just south of the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River. Lyon, France is located on the confluence of the Saône and Rhone rivers, lytton, British Columbia, Canada, is located at the confluence of the muddy Fraser River and the clearer Thompson River. The confluence between the Franklin River and Gordon River in south-western Tasmania The confluence of the Snake and Columbia River at the Tri-Cities of Washington, the confluence of the rivers Pivka and Rak is one of the largest subterranean confluences in Europe. The confluence at Lokoja, Nigeria, where the Niger and Benue rivers merge, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, located at the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. This merging point is the beginning of the Nile, columbus, Ohio, in the United States is at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. Luang Prabang in Laos is at the confluence of the Mekong, River Kabul and River Swat at Attock, in Pakistan
Confluence
–
Confluence of rivers, the
Mosel flows into the
Rhine at
Koblenz. The name "Koblenz" itself has its origin in the Latin name "Confluentes"
Confluence
–
Confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda Rivers to produce the Ganges at
Devprayag,
India. Note the swirl of sediment from the Alaknanda.
Confluence
–
Confluence of the
Danube (light blue) and the
Morava (dark blue) in
Devín on the border between
Austria and
Slovakia.
Confluence
–
The confluence of the
Rio Negro (black) and the
Rio Solimões (turbid) near
Manaus, Brazil.
23.
River Ystwyth
–
The Ystwyth is a river in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the river is 20.5 miles. Its catchment area covers 75 square miles and its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of Plynlimon on the border of Ceredigion and Powys in the Cambrian Mountains. The river flows westwards before draining into Cardigan Bay at Aberystwyth where it shares the harbour with the River Rheidol. The Ystwyth valley is now populated with only a few towns and villages such as Ysbyty Ystwyth, Cwm Ystwyth, Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Llanilar. In previous centuries, however, the Ystwyth valley was relatively densely populated due to its mineral wealth, silver, lead and zinc have been mined in the valley since Roman times, an activity that reached its peak in the 18th century. The largest of the many mines was Cwm Ystwyth Mine. It is reputed that the age at death of the miners in Cwm Ystwyth was 32. There is no active mining in the Ystwyth valley today. The River still carries elevated levels of lead, zinc and silver in its water, mostly due to seepage from abandoned mine tailings, at the Frongoch Mine near Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Natural Resources Wales has introduced a new technique for reducing the pollution. Water is drawn away from the mine in a leat to a wetland area, a similar approach is being used at Cwm Rheidol mine, near Aberystwyth. These remedies are considered important because the area supports a variety of wildlife, as well as bringing anglers. Green, John, Afon Ystwyth, The Story of a River, ISBN 0-9513909-7-X Media related to Afon Ystwyth at Wikimedia Commons
River Ystwyth
–
River Ystwyth near
Trawsgoed
24.
Afon Rheidol
–
The Afon Rheidol is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the river is 19 miles. Its catchment area covers 189 km2 and receives an annual rainfall of 1015 mm. The Rheidol rises in the headwaters of the Nant y Moch reservoir on the flanks of Plynlimon, near the sources of the Wye. It then flows south through the village of Ponterwyd on the main Aberystwyth to Rhayader road, at its confluence with the Mynach, it descends one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Wales at Pontarfynach. Below these waterfalls, the passes the abandoned workings of the Cwm Rheidol lead mine. This mine, together with other metal mines in the valley, has been a source of extreme metal pollution of the river right down to the sea. Management of the waters still draining from the mine is by the use of constructed wetlands, previous management includes a limestone filter bed, installed in the 1960s, which is now redundant. The filter bed is still in place and can be seen from the road, the remainder of the meandering course of the river is through an ever-widening valley before discharging to the sea through Aberystwyth. The catchment of the Rheidol is dominated by the western maritime exposure of this part of Wales, rainfall levels are high and ecosystems reflect both high rainfall and the acidic nature of the underlying rocks. Upland Molinia spp. grassland is common growing on deep deposits of peat, within the valleys, dense and ancient oak forests with rich understoreys of ferns, mosses and lichens are common. In the valley bottom, glacial and alluvial deposits have been worked by man into a relatively low intensive agriculture, metal mining dominated the economy of the Rheidol valley for many centuries. Mining has now replaced by farming, forestry and tourism. There are a number of tourist attractions in the Rheidol valley and these include the Devils Bridge waterfalls where three bridges, each built over the previous, span the top of a most spectacular waterfall. Between Devils Bridge and Aberystwyth runs a narrow-gauge steam railway - the Vale of Rheidol Railway and this was originally built to ship metal ore from the mines but now provides a very popular tourist route into the top end of the Rheidol valley. A large stag shape on the wall is a scheduled ancient monument and is one of two stags hill figures in the United Kingdom, the other being at Mormond Hill in Scotland. But it is in fact a lead mining waste feature which resembles a stag and is not a true hill figure. The spoil from the Gelli mine was initially poured down the side to form the head
Afon Rheidol
–
Nant y Moch Dam
Afon Rheidol
–
The Rheidol near
Capel Bangor in spring
Afon Rheidol
–
North Wales
25.
Cardiganshire
–
Ceredigion is a county in Mid Wales. In the Middle Ages, it was a minor kingdom also known for a time as Seisyllwg, following its Norman conquest, the name was anglicised to Cardigan and then Cardiganshire and it began to be administered as a county in 1282. The county had a population of 75,900 at the 2011 UK census and its largest town, Aberystwyth, is one of the two administrative centres, the other being Aberaeron. Aberystwyth houses Aberystwyth University, Bronglais Hospital and the National Library of Wales, the inland town of Lampeter houses part of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Ceredigion is considered to be a centre of Welsh culture and more than half the population speaks Welsh, the county is mainly rural with over 50 miles of coastline and a mountainous hinterland. The numerous sandy beaches, together with the long-distance Ceredigion Coast Path provide excellent views of Cardigan Bay, the economy became highly dependent on dairy farming and the rearing of livestock for the English market. Ceredigion has been inhabited since prehistoric times,170 hill forts and enclosures have been identified across the county, around the time of the Roman invasion of Britain, the area was between the realms of the Demetae and Ordovices. The Sarn Helen road ran through the territory, with forts at Bremia, following the Roman withdrawal, Irish raids and invasions were repulsed, supposedly by the forces under a northerner named Cunedda. The 9th-century History of the Britons attributed to Nennius records that Cuneddas son Ceredig settled the area around the Teifi in the 5th century. The territory supposedly remained a kingdom under his dynasty until its extinction upon the drowning of Gwgon ap Meurig c. 871, after which it was administered by Rhodri Mawr of Gwynedd before passing to his son Cadell. Many pilgrims passed through Cardiganshire on their way to St Davids, some came by sea and made use of the churches at Mwnt and Penbryn, while others came by land seeking hospitality at such places as Strata Florida Abbey. Both the abbey and Llanbadarn Fawr were important monastic sites of scholarship, place names including ysbyty denote their association with pilgrims. In 1282, Edward I of England conquered the principality of Wales, one of thirteen traditional counties in Wales, Cardiganshire was also a vice-county. Cardiganshire was split into the five hundreds of Genaur-Glyn, Ilar, Moyddyn, Penarth, every community built its own chapel or meeting house, and Cardiganshire became one of the centres of Methodism in Wales with the Aeron Valley being at the centre of the revival. Cardigan was one of the ports of southern Wales, but its harbour silted in the mid-19th century. In the uplands, wheeled vehicles were rare in the 18th century, on the coast, trade in herrings and corn took place across the Irish Sea. In the 19th century, many of the rural poor emigrated to the New World from Cardigan, Aberystwyth became the main centre for the export of lead and Aberaeron and Newquay did brisk coastal trade. The building of the railway from Shrewsbury in the 1860s encouraged visitors and this area of the county of Dyfed became a district of Wales under the name Ceredigion in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and since 1996, has formed the county of Ceredigion
Cardiganshire
–
Ceredigion
26.
Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion
–
Llanbadarn Fawr is an urbanised village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is located on the outskirts of Aberystwyth situated next to Penparcau and it forms the eastern part of the continually built-up area of Aberystwyth. It holds two electoral wards, Padarn and Sulien which elect a Ceredigion County Councillor each and several Llanbadarn Fawr Community Councillors, at the 2001 census its population as a community was recorded at 2,899, increasing to 3,380 at the 2011 census. Llanbadarn Fawr is named after the church of Padarn, and dates from the sixth century and it predates Aberystwyth, whose castle was originally named after Llanbadarn. Padarn United F. C. play their football in the Cambrian Tyres League, in the spring, summer and autumn months the village has train services provided by The Vale of Rheidol Railway to Devils Bridge, Capel Bangor and Aberystwyth. Much of the community falls within the electoral wards named Llandbadarn-Fawr-Padarn, the total population of these wards is 3,380 Tradition has it that the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym was born within Llanbadarn Fawr parish, as it stood in the fourteenth century, at Brogynin, Penrhyn-coch. He wrote about the church in his poem The Girls of Llanbadarn. This church can still be visited today, Llanbadarn Fawr Community Council website www. geograph. co. uk, photos of Lanbadarn Fawr and surrounding area
Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion
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Llanbadarn Fawr Parish Church dedicated to St Padarn; the current church dates from 1257.
Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion
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Llanbadern-Vawr by Gastineau, Henry G in 1830
Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion
Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion
27.
Swansea
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Swansea, officially known as the City and County of Swansea, is a coastal city and county in Wales. It is the second largest city in Wales after Cardiff, Swansea lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan and the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county includes the Gower Peninsula. According to its council, the City and County of Swansea had a population of 241,300 in 2014. During its 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was a key centre of the copper industry, archaeological finds are mostly confined to the Gower Peninsula, and include items from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. The Romans reached the area, as did the Norsemen, Swansea is thought to have developed as a Viking trading post. Its English name may be derived from Sveinns island – the reference to an island may refer to a bank at the mouth of the river Tawe, an alternative explanation is that the name derives from the Norse name Sweyn and ey, which can mean inlet. This explanation supports the tradition that the city was founded by the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard, the name is pronounced Swans-y /ˈswɒnzi/), not Swan-sea. The charter gave Swansea the status of a borough, granting the townsmen, a second charter was granted in 1215 by King John. In this charter, the name appears as Sweyneshe, the town seal which is believed to date from this period names the town as Sweyse. Following the Norman Conquest, a marcher lordship was created under the title of Gower and it included land around Swansea Bay as far as the River Tawe, the manor of Kilvey beyond the Tawe, and the peninsula itself. Swansea was designated chief town of the lordship and received a borough charter some time between 1158 and 1184, the port of Swansea initially traded in wine, hides, wool, cloth and later in coal. Smelters were operating by 1720 and proliferated, following this, more coal mines were opened and smelters were opened and flourished. Over the next century and a half, works were established to process arsenic, zinc and tin and to create tinplate, the city expanded rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and was termed Copperopolis. However, the census understated Swanseas true size, as much of the area lay outside the contemporary boundaries of the borough. Swanseas population was overtaken by Merthyr in 1821 and by Cardiff in 1881. Through the 20th century, heavy industries in the town declined, leaving the Lower Swansea Valley filled with derelict works, the Lower Swansea Valley Scheme reclaimed much of the land. The present Enterprise Zone was the result and, of the original docks, only those outside the city continue to work as docks, North Dock is now Parc Tawe
Swansea
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Coat of arms
Swansea
Swansea
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Swansea Castle.
Swansea
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East view of the Yniscedwyn crane anthracite iron works, near Swansea c.1845
28.
Shrewsbury
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Shrewsbury SHROOZ-bree is the county town of Shropshire, England. It is on the River Severn and has a population of approximately 72,000. and is nicknamed the heart of shropshire. Shrewsbury is a town whose centre has a largely unaltered medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings. The town has historically been a centre for the wool trade, horticulture remains popular, and the Shrewsbury Flower Show is one of the largest horticultural events in England. The A5 and A49 trunk roads cross near to the town and its later Welsh name Amwythig means fortified place. Over the ages, the important town has been the site of many conflicts. The Angles, under King Offa of Mercia, took possession in 778, nearby is the village of Wroxeter,5 miles to the south-east. This was once the site of Viroconium, the fourth largest cantonal capital in Roman Britain, as Caer Guricon it is a possible alternative for the Dark Age seat of the Kingdom of Powys. The importance of the Shrewsbury area in the Roman era was underlined with the discovery of the Shrewsbury Hoard in 2009, Shrewsburys known history commences in the Early Middle Ages, having been founded c.800 AD. It is believed that Anglo-Saxon Shrewsbury was most probably a settlement fortified through the use of earthworks comprising a ditch and rampart, There is evidence to show that by the beginning of the 900s, Shrewsbury was home to a mint. The Welsh besieged it in 1069, but were repelled by William the Conqueror, Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William, and built Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, taking the title of Earl. He founded Shrewsbury Abbey as a Benedictine monastery in 1083, the 3rd Earl, Robert of Bellême, was deposed in 1102 and the title forfeited, in consequence of rebelling against Henry I and joining the Duke of Normandys invasion of English in 1101. In 1138, King Stephen successfully besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the known as the Anarchy. It was in the late Middle Ages when the town was at its height of commercial importance. This was mainly due to the trade, a major industry at the time, with the rest of Britain and Europe, especially with the River Severn. The Shrewsbury Drapers Company dominated the trade in Welsh wool for many years, Shrewsburys monastic gathering was disbanded with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as such the Abbey was closed in 1540. However, it is believed that Henry VIII thereafter intended to make Shrewsbury a cathedral city after the formation of the Church of England, but the citizens of the town declined the offer. Despite this, Shrewsbury thrived throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, largely due to the towns fortuitous location, as a resultant a number of grand edifices, including the Irelands Mansion and Drapers Hall, were constructed
Shrewsbury
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Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
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Typical
Tudor and
Georgian architecture on Butcher Row.
Shrewsbury
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Shrewsbury Castle was the traditional seat of the borough council and was used, as such, for councillors' meetings until 1981.
Shrewsbury
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Ireland's Mansion circa 1900; at the eastern end of Shrewsbury High Street, the building was built in 1596 for wealthy wool trader Robert Ireland. Still extant.
29.
Shropshire
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Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a unitary authority since 1998. The county has many towns, including Whitchurch in the north, Newport north-east of Telford. The Ironbridge Gorge area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, covering Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, there are other historic industrial sites in the county, such as at Shrewsbury, Broseley, Snailbeach and Highley, as well as the Shropshire Union Canal. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers about a quarter of the county, Shropshire is one of Englands most rural and sparsely populated counties, with a population density of 136/km2. The Wrekin is one of the most famous landmarks in the county, though the highest hills are the Clee Hills, Stiperstones. Wenlock Edge is another significant geographical and geological landmark, the River Severn, Great Britains longest river, runs through the county, exiting into Worcestershire via the Severn Valley. Shropshire is landlocked and with an area of 3,487 square kilometres is Englands largest inland county, the county flower is the round-leaved sundew. The area was part of the lands of the Cornovii. This was a tribal Celtic iron age kingdom and their capital in pre-Roman times was probably a hill fort on the Wrekin. Ptolemys 2nd century Geography names one of their towns as being Viroconium Cornoviorum, after the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, known in Welsh poetry as the Paradise of Powys. It was annexed to the Angle kingdom of Mercia by King Offa in the 8th century, in subsequent centuries, the area suffered repeated Danish invasion, and fortresses were built at Bridgnorth and Chirbury. Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including Ludlow Castle, the western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the Diocese of Hereford. The county contains a number of historically significant towns, including Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, additionally, the area around Coalbrookdale in the county is seen as highly significant, as it is regarded as one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. The village of Edgmond, near Newport, is the location of the lowest recorded temperature in England, the origin of the name Shropshire is the Old English Scrobbesbyrigscīr, which means Shrewsburyshire. The name may, therefore, be derived indirectly from a name such as Scrope. Salop is an old name for Shropshire, historically used as a form for post or telegrams
Shropshire
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Section of
Offa's Dyke near the Shropshire town of
Clun, constructed after the Saxon annexation of the area in the 8th century AD.
Shropshire
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Flag
Shropshire
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The Iron Bridge at
Ironbridge.
Shropshire
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The
River Severn, seen here in
Shrewsbury, is the primary watercourse in the county.
30.
Wrexham
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Wrexham is the largest town in north Wales and an administrative, commercial, retail and educational centre. Wrexham is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley alongside the border with England, historically part of Denbighshire, the town became part of Clwyd in 1974 and since 1996 has been the centre of the Wrexham County Borough. At the 2011 Census, Wrexham had a population of 61,603, human activity in the Wrexham area dates back to the Mesolithic period. By the early Middle Bronze Age the area had developed into a centre for an innovative metalworking industry, a Roman civilian settlement was located in the Plas Coch area of Wrexham and excavations have revealed evidence of agriculture and trade with the wider Roman world. By the end of the 6th century AD, the area was being contested between the Celtic-speaking inhabitants and the English-speaking invaders advancing from the east, the origins of the name Wrexham may possibly be traced back to this period. Renewed Welsh and Viking attacks led to a reduction in Anglo-Saxon power in north Wales from the early 10th century, following the Welsh reconquest of the area during the 11th century, Wrexham formed part of the native Welsh lordship of Maelor. During the 12th century the lordship was disputed between the Welsh and the English. The first recorded reference to the town in 1161 is to a Norman motte and bailey castle at Wristlesham which was founded in the Erddig area around 1150 by Hugh de Avranches. However, by the early 13th century Wrexham was undisputedly in the hands of the Welsh house of Powys Fadog, stability under the princes of Powys enabled Wrexham to develop as a trading town and administrative centre of one of the two commotes making up the Lordship. Following the loss of Welsh independence on the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282, Wrexham became part of the semi-independent Marcher lordship of Bromfield and Yale. From 1327 onwards, the town is referred to as a villa mercatoria and by 1391 Wrexham was wealthy enough for a bard, jester, juggler, dancer and goldsmith to earn their living there. At the beginning of the 15th century, the local gentry, local poet Glyn Gutor Glyn wrote of Sion ap Madog, the great-nephew of Owain Glyndŵr, as Alecsander i Wrecsam. In the mid 15th century, the church was gutted by fire. The main part of the current church was built in the late 15th, the Acts of Union passed during the reign of Henry VIII brought the lordship into the full system of English administration and law. It became part of the new shire of Denbighshire in 1536, the economic character remained predominantly agricultural into the 17th century but there were workshops of weavers, smiths, nailers as well as dye houses. A grammar school was established in 1603 by Alderman Valentine Broughton of Chester, during the English Civil War, Wrexham was on the side of the Royalists, as most Welsh gentry supported the King, but local landowner Sir Thomas Myddelton, owner of Chirk Castle, supported Parliament. The Industrial Revolution began in Wrexham in 1762 when the entrepreneur John Wilkinson, known as Iron Mad Wilkinson, wilkinsons steam engines enabled a peak of production at Minera Lead Mines on the outskirts of Wrexham. Wrexham was also known for its industry, by the 18th century there were a number of skinners and tanners in the town
Wrexham
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St Giles' Church, Wrexham
Wrexham
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Front page of the earliest surviving copy of the Welsh newspaper Wrexham Guardian; 2 January 1875
Wrexham
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The King's Mill
Wrexham
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Bersham Ironworks in 2007
31.
Cardigan Bay
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Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales, Cardigan Bay has numerous beaches, and a unique marine life. Smaller coastal villages include Cwmtydu, Nanternis and Llangrannog, major rivers flowing into the bay include the Afon Glaslyn, Teifi, Rheidol, Dyfi, Aeron, Dysynni, and Mawddach. Until the early 20th century, Cardigan Bay supported a strong maritime industry. Cardigan is located at the mouth of the River Teifi – hence the Welsh name, Aberteifi, and at the turn of the 19th century, at this time more than 300 ships were registered at Cardigan—seven times as many as Cardiff, and three times as many as Swansea. The central and northern areas of the Bay are the location of the legendary Cantrer Gwaelod, due to climate change and rising sea levels, the forest was buried under layers of peat, sand and saltwater. The Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation was set up to preserve the wildlife in the area. Other mammals, such as whales, Rissos dolphins and common dolphins, together with many species of sea birds, such as puffin. Since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Bay has been invaded by spider crabs, not a seafood normally consumed by British people, since 2010 the local fishermen have supplied the Michelin-starred restaurants of Raymond Blanc. A military testing range was first established in Cardigan Bay during the Second World War, the range is controlled from a main operating base located near Aberporth, known as MOD Aberporth. Historically, the Range has played a significant part in the development, today the Ministry of Defence range within Cardigan Bay provides a large secure safety area for the testing of air launched weapons and unmanned aerial systems. The Range is a significant employer in the West Wales area, the staff also work closely with the local communities to foster good relationships, which are vital to ensure the successful operation of the Range. The Range Danger Area covers some 6,500 km2 of Cardigan Bay from sea level to unlimited height, to supplement the safe operation of the Range, there are a number of small outposts located on the edge of Cardigan Bay and the Llŷn Peninsula. These outposts contain equipment that enables the Range to effectively assess the performance of weapons, qinetiq operates the Cardigan Bay/Aberporth Range on behalf of the MOD under the terms of a Long Term Partnering Agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to deliver defence test, evaluation and training services to ensure air launched weapon systems, associated sub-systems and UAS are safe
Cardigan Bay
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Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
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Map showing Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay
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Sunset over Cardigan Bay from Gwbert
32.
Borth
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Borth is a coastal village 7 miles north of Aberystwyth in the county of Ceredigion, Mid Wales. It lies on the Ceredigion Coast Path, the population was 1,523 in 2001. Borth has a beach and is a holiday seaside resort. There is a hostel in the village and caravan and camping sites nearby. An ancient submerged forest is visible at low tide along the beach, radiocarbon dating suggests these trees died about 1500 BC. This submerged forest is also associated with the legend of Cantrer Gwaelod, the long distance footpath the Dyfi Valley Way passes through the village. The towns main railway station is served by the Cambrian Line. The station building houses a museum displaying community and railway historical artifacts, Borth is also the location of the Borth Animalarium and Borth & Ynyslas Golf Club. The Borth inshore lifeboat station was established in 1966 and is located at the end of the beach. The villages war memorial, situated above a cliff south of the beach, was destroyed by lightning on 21 March 1983 and had to be rebuilt, in 2008 and 2009 Borth hosted the Square Festival. In 2011 works commenced on the first phase of the £12 million coastal protection scheme along the Borth to Ynyslas coastline, an electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south-easterly to Geneur Glyn The total population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 2,078, according to both the 1991 and 2001 censuses, 43% of the residents of Borth are Welsh-speakers. Nancy Bonds award-winning childrens novel A String in the Harp is set in Borth and the surrounding countryside. Borth, Borth bog, and the Borth railway station form the backdrop to the storyline in Season 1, Episode 4 of Y Gwyll, transmitted on S4C in 2013. The first councillor elected was the Rev. Enoch Watkin James, Brynderwen, from the 1970s until his death in 2001, Borth was represented on Ceredigion District Council and, latterly, Ceredigion County Council, by Tom Raw-Rees. Borth is also the name of a ward on the current Ceredigion County Council, which covers the communities of Borth and Llandre
Borth
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Borth with
Cors Fochno, the
River Dyfi estuary and
Aberdyfi in the background
Borth
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Submerged forest remains, March 2008
Borth
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Borth sunset, November 2006
Borth
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Borth Beach in the summer of 2007
33.
Ynyslas
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Ynyslas is a small Welsh village about 1.5 miles north of Borth and 8 miles north of Aberystwyth, within the county of Ceredigion. It is sandwiched between a sandy beach in Cardigan Bay and the beach in the Dyfi Estuary. The area between the sea and the beach is made up of the Ynyslas Sand Dunes which are part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve and home to many rare plants. The sands of the beach can be driven onto and parked upon. The nature reserve has a centre with toilets and a small shop. At the start of some BBC1 programmes it shows people flying kites on sand dunes, the northern end of the Ceredigion Coast Path extends to the Dyfi Estuary National Nature Reserve at Ynyslas. The Dyfi National Nature Reserve and the Ynyslas Sand Dunes are situated where mouth of Afon Leri joins the Dyfi Estuary at Ynyslas, cors Fochno is situated to the east beyond the Afon Leri. At low tide the remains of an ancient submerged forest with stumps of petrified oak, pine, birch, willow, from 1867 Ynyslas had a railway station on the Cambrian Railways, with sidings serving the riverside wharves. The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway proposed to create a line to the wharves in the 1890s. Ynyslas railway station was closed by the London Midland Region of British Railways on 14 June 1965, Borth Rowing Club stores its boat at, and launches from the Ynyslas Boatyard on the banks of the Afon Leri. The 18 hole golf course at the Borth & Ynyslas Golf Club stretches from Borth to Ynyslas, the beach is ideal for windsurfing, surfing and kiting both on the seafront and in the estuary. Ynyslas was the home of the Aberystwyth Beach Cricket Society, under the name the Ynyslas Oval
Ynyslas
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Submerged forest stumps exposed on Borth sands near Ynyslas at low tide
Ynyslas
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Ynyslas Sand Dunes, June 2008
34.
Aberdyfi
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Aberdyfi, or Aberdovey is a village and community on the north side of the estuary of the River Dyfi in Gwynedd, on the west coast of Wales. The village was founded around the harbour and shipbuilding industry, but is now best known as a resort with a high quality beach. Penhelig, with its own station, is the eastern part of the town. Aberdyfi is a popular tourist attraction, with many returning holidaymakers, especially from the areas of England, such as the West Midlands. A relatively large proportion of houses in the village are now holiday homes, the town is located within the Snowdonia National Park. In the 2011 census,38. 5% of the population of Aberdyfi ward identified themselves as Welsh, local tradition suggests that the Romans established a track into Aberdyfi as part of the military occupation of Wales around AD78. The strategic location in mid-Wales was the site of conferences between north and south Wales princes in 540,1140, and for the Council of Aberdyfi in 1216. The hill in the centre of Aberdyfi, Pen-y-Bryn, has claimed to be the site of fortifications in the 1150s. The site of Aberdyfi Castle however is said to be at the motte earthworks further up the river near Glandyfi. During the Spanish Armada of 1597, a Spanish ship, the Bear of Amsterdam missed her objective at Milford Haven and she was unable to leave for 10 days because of the wind and could not be boarded as no suitable boats were available. An attempt to burn her was frustrated by winds and when she did leave she ended up being captured by a waiting English fleet off the Cornish coast, in the 1700s, the village grew with the appearance of several of the inns still in current use. Copper was mined in the present Copperhill Street, and lead in Penhelig, an electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches inland along the A494 road and includes Pennal community, the total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 1,282. In the 1800s, Aberdyfi was at its peak as a port, major exports were slate and oak bark. Ship building was based in seven shipyards in Penhelig where 45 sailing ships were built between 1840 and 1880, the railway came to Aberdyfi in 1863 built by the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway. The first train was ferried across the River Dyfi, as the line to Dovey Junction, due to public demand, this section had to use a long tunnel behind Aberdyfi, and further major earthworks and tunnels were needed along the bank of the river. This line, which part of the Cambrian Railways. A jetty was built in 1887, with lines connecting it with the wharf
Aberdyfi
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View of Aberdyfi from Penhelig.
Aberdyfi
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Aberdyfi, 1860
Aberdyfi
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Crowds on shore at Aberdyfi watching the regatta circa 1885
35.
Tywyn
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Tywyn, formerly Towyn, is a town and seaside resort on the Cardigan Bay coast of southern Gwynedd, Wales, and also the largest town in the south. It was previously in the county of Merionethshire. It is famous as the location of the Cadfan Stone, a cross with the earliest known example of written Welsh. The name derives from the Welsh tywyn, extensive sand dunes are still to be found to the north and south of the town, the place-name element tywyn is found in many other parts of Wales, most notably Towyn near Abergele. The town is referred to in Welsh as Tywyn Meirionnydd. In English, during the late 19th century and until the middle of the 20th century, the church contains some early material. The towns historic centre lies about a kilometre from the beach, in the second half of the 19th century the town expanded considerably, mainly towards the sea. To the north of the town lie the salt marshes of Morfa Tywyn and Morfa Gwyllt, beyond which lie the Broad Water lagoon. To the north-east lie the rich farmland of Bro Dysynni and the village of Bryn-crug, to the south towards Aberdyfi is the mouth of the Afon Dyffryn Gwyn and Penllyn Marshes. The Tywyn coastal defence scheme, a £7, at the time of the 2001 census,40. 5% of the population were recorded as Welsh speakers. By the 2011 census this had decreased to 37. 5% and these relatively high figures reflect the fact that both Welsh and English are used as the medium of instruction in Ysgol Penybryn, the towns primary school. An Estyn inspection report in 2010 noted that about 11% of the children at the school came from homes where Welsh was the main language. The towns Welsh dialect has several features, with one Victorian observer stating that three languages were spoken there, English, Welsh and Tywynaeg. During the 1860s, in the towns British School, a Welsh stick was used to children who were caught speaking Welsh. Yet Welsh was the dominant language in Tywyn until the middle of the 20th century, Tywyn is now a very anglicized town, with the majority of its population being born in England according to the 2011 UK census. Likewise, slightly more respondents claimed an English-only identity than a Welsh-only identity, improved transport links during the 19th century increased Tywyns appeal as a tourist destination. During the early decades of the century, a creek of the river Dysynni allowed ships to approach the northern fringes. The railway arrived in the mid-1860s, and had a significant effect on the town, Tywyn railway station opened in 1863
Tywyn
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Tywyn High Street
Tywyn
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St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn
Tywyn
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Panorama of Tywyn from a hill to the East of the town, taken in July 2012
36.
Dolgellau
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Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of Merionethshire before that became a part of the county of Gwynedd, Dolgellau is the main base for climbers of Cader Idris. The site of Dolgellau was, in the pre-Roman Celtic period, part of the lands of the Ordovices. Although a few Roman coins from the reigns of Emperors Hadrian and Trajan have been found near Dolgellau, there are, however, three hill forts in the vicinity of Dolgellau, of uncertain origin. A church was built in the 12th century, although Cymer Abbey, founded in 1198 in nearby Llanelltyd, Dolgellau gained in importance from this period onwards, and was mentioned in the Survey of Merioneth ordered by Edward I. In 1404 it was the location of a council of chiefs under Owain Glyndŵr, after a visit by George Fox in 1657, many inhabitants of Dolgellau converted to Quakerism. Persecution led a number of them to emigrate to Pennsylvania in 1686, under the leadership of Rowland Ellis. The Pennsylvanian town of Bryn Mawr, home to a womens liberal arts college, is named after Elliss farm near Dolgellau. The woollen industry was long of the greatest importance to the economy, by the end of the 18th century. The industry declined in the first half of the 19th century, another important contributor to the local economy was tanning, which continued into the 1980s in Dolgellau, though on a much reduced scale. The town was the centre of a gold rush in the 19th century. At one time the gold mines employed over 500 workers. Clogau St. Davids mine in Bontddu and Gwynfynydd mine in Ganllwyd have supplied gold for many royal weddings. Dolgellau was the county town of Merionethshire until 1974 when, following the Local Government Act of 1972, it became the centre of Meirionnydd. This was abolished in 1996 by the Local Government Act 1994, today, the economy of Dolgellau relies chiefly on tourism, although agriculture still plays a role, a farmers market is held in the town centre on the third Sunday of every month. It is believed that Dolgellau Cricket Club, founded in 1869 by Frederick Temple, is one of the oldest cricket clubs in Wales, for nearly a century Dolgellau was the home of Dr Williams School, a pioneering girls secondary school. This was funded from the legacy of Daniel Williams the Welsh nonconformist of the 17th/18th century. The name of the town is of uncertain origin, although dôl is Welsh for meadow or dale, and gelli means grove or spinney and this would seem to be the most likely derivation, giving the translation Grove Meadow
Dolgellau
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A Sketch of Dolgellau, 1840
Dolgellau
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Cymer Abbey
Dolgellau
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Bridge over River Mawddach at Llanelltyd
Dolgellau
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The Centre of Dolgellau - Eldon Square/Y Stryd Fawr
37.
Porthmadog
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Porthmadog, known locally as Port, and since 1974, rendered into Welsh from its former Anglicised form, Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies 5 miles east of Criccieth,11 miles south west of Blaenau Ffestiniog,25 miles north of Dolgellau and 20 miles south of Caernarfon, the community had a population of 4,185. The town developed in the 19th century as a port exporting slate to England and around the world, since the decline of the slate industry it has become an important shopping centre for the surrounding area and a popular tourist destination. It has easy access to the Snowdonia National Park and is the terminus of the Ffestiniog Railway, in 1987 the National Eisteddfod was held in Porthmadog. The community includes the villages of Borth-y-Gest, Morfa Bychan. Porthmadog came into existence after William Madocks built a sea wall, the diversion of the Afon Glaslyn caused it to scour out a new natural harbour which had a deep enough draught for small ocean-going sailing ships, and the first public wharves were built in 1825. In the second half of the 19th century Porthmadog was a flourishing port, the rapidly expanding cities of England needed high quality roofing slate, which was transported to the new port by tramway from the quarries in Ffestiniog and Llanfrothen. A number of shipbuilders were active at this time, and were well known for the three-masted schooners known as Western Ocean Yachts. By 1841 the trackway across the land had been straightened out and was to be developed as Stryd Fawr. Along this street were a range of shops and public houses, a mineral railway to Tremadog ran along what was to become Heol Madog. To the north was an area where foundries, timber saw mills, slate works. The 19th century wharves still survive, but the slate warehouses have been replaced by apartments. The earliest documented references to the name Port Madoc are in the 1830s, coinciding with the opening of the Ffestiniog Railway, the first Ordnance Survey map to use the name was published in 1838. The name derives from the founder William Madocks, though there is a belief that it is named after the folklore character Madog ab Owain Gwynedd who also gives his name to Ynys Fadog. The town was officially called Portmadoc until 1974, when it was renamed with the Welsh spelling, ynyscynhaiarn was a civil parish in the cantref of Eifionydd. In 1858 a local board of health was established under the provisions of the Public Health Act 1848, under the Local Government Act 1894 the local board became an urban district, which by 1902 had changed its name to Portmadoc. In 1934 part of the area was transferred to Dolbenmaen, and an area was taken in from Treflys
Porthmadog
–
Porthmadog Harbour was developed to export
slate
Porthmadog
–
In 1811
William Madocks built a sea wall, the Cob to reclaim
Traeth Mawr for agriculture.
Porthmadog
–
Tremadog is a
planned settlement built by
William Madocks on land reclaimed from
Traeth Mawr.
Porthmadog
–
The
Ffestiniog Railway, opened in 1836, was built to transport
slate from
Ffestiniog to the new port at Porthmadog.
38.
Caernarfon
–
Caernarfon is a royal town, community, and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,615. It lies along the A487 road, on the shore of the Menai Strait. The city of Bangor is 8.6 miles to the north-east, Carnarvon and Caernarvon are Anglicised spellings that were superseded in 1926 and 1974, respectively. The villages of Bontnewydd and Caeathro are close by, abundant natural resources in and around the Menai Straits enabled human habitation in prehistoric Britain. The Ordovices, a Celtic tribe, lived in the region during the known as Roman Britain. The Roman fort Segontium was established around AD80 to subjugate the Ordovices during the Roman conquest of Britain, the Romans occupied the region until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 382, after which Caernarfon became part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. In the late 11th century, William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle at Caernarfon as part of the Norman invasion of Wales. He was unsuccessful, and Wales remained independent until around 1283, in the 13th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, ruler of Gwynedd, refused to pay homage to Edward I of England, prompting the English conquest of Gwynedd. This was followed by the construction of Caernarfon Castle, one of the largest and most imposing fortifications built by the English in Wales. The ascent of the House of Tudor to the throne of England eased hostilities between the English and resulted in Caernarfon Castle falling into a state of disrepair. The city has flourished, leading to its status as a major tourist centre and seat of Gwynedd Council, with a thriving harbour, Caernarfon has expanded beyond its medieval walls and experienced heavy suburbanisation. Its population includes the largest percentage of Welsh-speaking citizens anywhere in Wales, the status of Royal Borough was granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963 and amended to Royal Town in 1974. The castle and town walls are part of a World Heritage Site described as the Castles, the present city of Caernarfon grew up around and owes its name to its Norman and Edwardian fortifications. The earlier British and Romano-British settlement at Segontium was named for the nearby Afon Seiont, the work states that the inscribed tomb of Constantius the Emperor was still present in the 9th century. The medieval romance about Maximus and Elen, Macsens Dream, calls her home Caer Aber Sein, the Norman motte was erected apart from the existing settlement and came to be known as y gaer yn Arfon, the fortress in Arfon. A1221 charter by Llywelyn the Great to the canons of Penmon priory on Anglesey mentions Kaerinarfon, in 1283, King Edward I completed his conquest of Wales which he secured by a chain of castles and walled towns. The construction of a new stone Caernarfon Castle seems to have started as soon as the campaign had finished, edwards architect, James of St. George, may well have modelled the castle on the walls of Constantinople, possibly being aware of the towns legendary associations. Edwards fourth son, Edward of Caernarfon, later Edward II of England, was born at the castle in April 1284, Caernarfon was constituted a borough in 1284 by charter of Edward I
Caernarfon
–
Caernarfon from
Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon
–
A north-west view of Caernarvon Castle. 1749
Caernarfon
–
Carnarvon Castle - from Coed Helen. 1854
39.
Bangor, Gwynedd
–
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd unitary authority, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest city in Wales, historically in Caernarfonshire, it is a university city with a population of 18,808 at the 2011 census, including around 10,500 students at Bangor University and including Pentir community. It is one of six places classed as a city in Wales. According to the 2001 census,46. 6% of the non-student resident population speak Welsh, which is low for Gwynedd but despite this, the language keeps a high profile in the city. The origins of the city back to the founding of a monastic establishment on the site of Bangor Cathedral by the Celtic saint Deiniol in the early 6th century AD. Bangor itself is an old Welsh word for a wattled enclosure, the present cathedral is a somewhat more recent building and has been extensively modified throughout the centuries. While the building itself is not the oldest, and certainly not the biggest, another claim to fame is that Bangor allegedly has the longest High Street in Wales and the United Kingdom. Friars School was founded as a grammar school in 1557. In 1877, the former HMS Clio became a ship, moored on the Menai Strait at Bangor. Closed after the end of hostilities of World War I, she was sold for scrap, during World War II, parts of the BBC evacuated to Bangor during the worst of the Blitz. Bangor lies on the coast of North Wales near the Menai Strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd unitary authority, the combined population of the two amounts to 22,184 people. Bangor Mountain lies to the east of the part of the city. Bangor Mountain casts a shadow across the High Street, Glan Adda and Hirael areas, another ridge rises to the north of the High Street, dividing the city centre from the south shore of the Menai Strait, this area is known as Upper Bangor. Bangor has two rivers within its boundaries, Port Penrhyn was an important port in the 19th century, exporting the slates produced at the Penrhyn Quarry. Bangor lies at the end of the North Wales Path. It is also on routes 5,8 and 85 of the National Cycle Network, Bangor railway station, which serves the city, is located on the North Wales Coast Line from Crewe and Chester to Holyhead. The A55 runs immediately to the south of Bangor, providing transport to Holyhead in the west. The nearest airport with international flights is Liverpool John Lennon Airport,83 miles away by road, classical music is performed regularly in Bangor, with concerts given in the Powis and Prichard-Jones Halls as part of the universitys Music at Bangor concert series
Bangor, Gwynedd
–
Bangor pier with swans on the Menai Strait and the shores of Angelsey beyond
Bangor, Gwynedd
–
Ysbyty Gwynedd
Bangor, Gwynedd
–
An image of the Bangor Chain Bridge constructed in 1820 connecting Bangor with Angelsy
Bangor, Gwynedd
–
A market day in Bangor, 1856
40.
Comins Coch, Ceredigion
–
Comins Coch is a small village in Ceredigion, Wales to the northeast of Aberystwyth. There are approximately 300 residents living in the village, there is a primary school, a phone box and a post box. There is a school called Ysgol Comins Coch or Comins Coch Primary School. In the school there are approximately 170 pupils, the current headteacher is called Mr. Tom Fanning
Comins Coch, Ceredigion
–
Comins Coch
41.
Bow Street, Ceredigion
–
Bow Street is a large village in the Tirymynach district of Ceredigion, Wales, approximately 3.5 miles north-east of Aberystwyth. As well as Bow Street itself, it is now considered to include the neighbouring smaller village of Pen-y-garn. All three places stretch in a narrow strip along the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth road, the. The population of the Community, Tirymynach in 2011 was 1,901. It may be that the choice of name was influenced by the fact that the road actually bend slightly at this point. Interestingly there are two lanes in the village which are also known locally by English names, these being Cock and Hen Street. In his seminal work on Cardiganshire placenames, Iwan Wmffre suggests that a name for Bow Street may have been Rhyd-y-castell. The name Nantyfallen was also extended to refer to those cottages running up the slope from the brook towards Cross Street. Occasionally in Welsh writing the name Bow Street is spelt as Bwstryd, Bow Street had a railway station on the Cambrian Coast Line until it closed in 1965 under the Beeching axe. Plans for the station to be reinstated were published in July 2016, a road leads down to Llandre and Borth on the coast. To the south is Comins Coch and to the east, Plas Gogerddan, from a junction in the village runs the mountain road to Rhayader. In the early hours of 28 November 2006, the village was struck by a tornado and this caused structural damage to more than 20 houses, as well as uprooting trees, and damaging power-lines, caravans and a railway bridge. Some papers caught up in the tornado were found a later,20 miles away in the village of Corris. Tom Macdonald, journalist and novelist J. T. Rees, musician and composer Macdonald, ISBN 0-333-17975-71891 First Ed. 6” Ordnance Survey Map showing Bow Street www. geograph. co. uk, photos of Bow Street and surrounding area
Bow Street, Ceredigion
–
Bow Street, looking south towards
Aberystwyth with the houses of Nantyfallen on the left
Bow Street, Ceredigion
–
Bow Street station in 1962
42.
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
–
Tal-y-bont is a village in north Ceredigion, Wales. It is located on the A487 main road, about halfway between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth, the village stands on the Afon Leri and Afon Ceulan riversides in the area of Genaur Glyn, at the foot of Ceulan Maes-mawr. There are many old silver and lead mines and woollen mills surrounding the village, many of the houses, for example the pharmacy, are listed buildings and therefore maintain many of their original features such as sash windows. There were only 35 houses in Tal-y-bont in 1835, the majority were thatched roof cottages, at one point there were 15 shops, a garage, two banks and three Nonconformist chapels in the village. The Tabernacl was built in 1812, Eglwys Dewi Sant was built in 1909, the Memorial Hall was officially opened on 6 August 1924 in remembrance of those who died during the First World War. Since 1966 the village has been home to Y Lolfa printers and publishers, which is a local employer, as well as to a garage, a pharmacy, a hairdressers. There are two pubs in Tal-y-bont, Y Llew Gwyn and Y Llew Du, the Tal-y-bont annual agricultural show has been held in the Black Lions old fields for several decades
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
–
Tal-y-bont and beyond, looking across to the
Dyfi estuary.
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
–
Cattle fair in Tal-y-bont circa 1885
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
–
Tal-y-bont pharmacy, a listed building and an example of the sash windows in the village
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
–
Tabernacl, Tal-y-bont
43.
Machynlleth
–
Machynlleth, sometimes referred to colloquially as Mach, is a market town and community in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487, at the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,147. Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵrs Welsh Parliament in 1404, however, it has never held any official recognition as a capital. It applied for city status in 2000 and 2002, but was unsuccessful and it is twinned with Belleville, Michigan. Machynlleth hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1937 and 1981, there is a long history of human activity in the Machynlleth area. In the late-1990s, radiocarbon dating showed that mining was taking place in the Early Bronze Age. There are legends of a fertile plain, the Cantrer Gwaelod. The Romans settled in the area, they built a small Roman fort at Pennal four miles west of Machynlleth, one of the earliest written references to Machynlleth is the Royal charter granted in 1291 by Edward I to Owen de la Pole, Lord of Powys. This gave him the right to hold a market at Machynlleth every Wednesday for ever, the Wednesday market is still a busy and popular day in Machynlleth 700 years later. The Royal House, which stands on the corner of the Garsiwn, is another of the houses that can still be seen today. According to local tradition, Dafydd Gam, a Welsh ally of the English kings, was imprisoned here from 1404 to 1412 for attempting to assassinate Owain Glyndŵr. After his release by Glyndŵr, ransomed Gam fought alongside Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt and is named amongst the dead in Shakespeares Henry V, the name Royal House undoubtedly refers to the tradition that Charles I stayed at the house in 1643. The weekly market and biannual fair thrived, and in 1613 drew complaints from other towns whose trading in cloth was being severely affected. The Dyfi Bridge was first mentioned in 1533, by Geoffrey Hughes, Citizen, by 1601 Dyfi bridge in the Hundred of Mochunleth was reported to be insufficient, and the current one was built in 1805 for £250. Fenton describes it in 1809 as A noble erection of five large arches, the piers are narrow and over each cut-water is a pilaster, a common feature of the 18th century. On 29 November 1644, a Civil War battle took place near Dyfi Bridge between Oliver Cromwells New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle, a great many were killed and the nearby manor house Mathafarn was burnt down on the same day. Many houses in Machynlleth occupied by Royalists were also burned down, the disappearance of April Jones in October 2012 received a large amount of coverage in the UK media. Mary Cornelia, the daughter of local landowner Sir John Edwards married Viscount Seaham and he became Earl Vane on the death of his father and the fifth Marquess on the death of his half-brother
Machynlleth
–
The Clock Tower
Machynlleth
–
Machynlleth Clock tower, circa 1885.
Machynlleth
–
The building said to be Owain Glyndŵr's 1404 Parliament House
44.
Welshpool
–
Welshpool is a town in Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire, but currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys. The town is 4 miles from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn, Welshpool is the fourth largest town in Powys. In English it was known as Pool but its name was changed to Welshpool in 1835 to distinguish it from the English town of Poole. It has a population of 6,664, contains much Georgian architecture and is just north of Powis Castle. St Cynfelin is reputed to be the founder of two churches in the town, St Marys and St Cynfelins, during the age of the saints in Wales in the 5th and 6th centuries. The parish of Welshpool roughly coincides with the medieval commote of Ystrad Marchell in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys. The Long Mountain, which plays as a backdrop to most of Welshpool, Welshpool served briefly as the capital of Powys Wenwynwyn or South Powys after its prince was forced to flee the traditional Welsh royal site at Mathrafal in 1212. After 1284 Powys Wenwynwyn ceased to exist, the town was devastated by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr in 1400 at the start of his rebellion against the English king Henry IV. Today, the waymarked long-distance footpath and National Trail, Glyndŵrs Way runs through the town, in 1411 the priest at the church St Marys was Adam of Usk. St Marys Church is a Grade I listed building, the original church dated from about 1250, there are remains of this church in the lower courses of the church tower. The nave was rebuilt in the 16th century, and the building was substantially restored in 1871. The 15th century chancel ceiling may have come from Strata Marcella Abbey, about five miles away, a memorial in the church commemorates Bishop William Morgan, translator of the Bible into Welsh, who was the vicar from 1575 to 1579. The Mermaid Inn,28 High Street, was probably an early 16th century merchant’s house. The timber-ramed building has long storehouse or wing to the rear,1890, by Frank H. Shayler, architect, of Shrewsbury. Early illustrations of the show that prior to this it had a thatched roof. There is a passage to side with heavy box-framing in square panels, with brick infill exposed in side elevation, the frontage was exposed by Shayler to show decorative timber work on the upper storey. An Inn by the 19th century when it was owned by a family named Sparrow, as of 2015, it is the home of the towns Womens Institute. Welshpool railway station is on the Cambrian Line and is served by Arriva Trains Wales, the town is also the starting point of the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, a narrow-gauge heritage railway popular with tourists, with its terminus station at Raven Square
Welshpool
–
Welshpool Town Hall
Welshpool
–
Mermaid Inn, Welshpool
Welshpool
–
Welshpool Cockpit
45.
Oswestry
–
Oswestry, one of the UKs oldest border settlements, is the largest market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483, the town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Oswestry until that was abolished under local government reorganisation with effect from 1 April 2009. Oswestry is the third largest town in Shropshire, following Telford, the 2011 Census recorded the population of the civil parish as 17,105 and the urban area as 16,660. The town is five miles from the Welsh border, and has a mixed Welsh and English heritage and it is the home of the Shropshire libraries Welsh Collection. Oswestry is the largest settlement within the Oswestry Uplands, a natural area. It has also known as, or recorded in historical documents as, Album Monasterium, Blancminster, Blankmouster, Blancmustier, Croes Oswallt, Oswaldestre. The site is also named Caer Ogyrfan or The City of Gogyrfan, the Battle of Maserfield is thought to have been fought there in 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Penda of Mercia and Oswald of Northumbria. Oswald was killed in battle and was dismembered, according to legend, one of his arms was carried to an ash tree by a raven. Thus it is believed that the name of the site is derived from a reference to Oswalds Tree, the spring, Oswalds Well, is supposed to have originated where the bird dropped the arm from the tree. Offas Dyke runs nearby to the west, the Domesday Book records a castle being built by Rainald, a Norman Sheriff of Shropshire, Loeuvre – see Oswestry Castle. Alans duties to the Crown included supervision of the Welsh border and he also founded Sporle Priory in Norfolk. He married Ada or Adeline, daughter of Ernulf de Hesdin and their eldest son William FitzAlan was made High Sheriff of Shropshire by King Stephen in 1137. He married a niece of Robert of Gloucester, the town has many Welsh language street and place names and the towns name in Welsh is Croesoswallt, meaning Oswalds Cross. It eventually became known as Oswalds Tree in English, from which its current English name is probably derived, the town changed hands between the English and the Welsh a number of times during the Middle Ages. In 1149 the castle was captured by Madog ap Maredudd during The Anarchy, occasionally in the 13th century it is referred to in official records as Blancmuster or Blancmostre, meaning White Minster. The castle was reduced to a pile of rocks during the English Civil War, in 1190 the town was granted the right to hold a market each Wednesday. With the weekly influx of Welsh farmers the townsfolk were often bilingual, after the foot and mouth outbreak in the late 1960s the animal market was moved out of the town centre. In the 1990s, a statue of a shepherd and sheep was installed in the square as a memorial to the history of the market site
Oswestry
–
Oswestry Marketplace
Oswestry
–
Oswestry – Historic buildings in the town centre, October 2008. Timber framed building in foreground is Llwyd Mansion.
Oswestry
–
Old Oswestry
Oswestry
–
Parish Church of St Oswald
46.
Ponterwyd
–
Ponterwyd is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies in the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales, approximately 12 miles east of Aberystwyth on the A44 road, ponterwyds rich history is evident throughout the village. At the villages heart lies Yr Hen Bont, a single arch late 18th-century stone bridge. Buildings in Ponterwyd range in date from the Georgian period to the 1980s, the village is the home of Nant-yr-Arian, a Forestry Commission centre where up to 150 red kites are fed daily. The village pub, The George Borrow Hotel, is named after writer George Borrow who traveled Wales on foot in the 1860s, Ponterwyd travel guide from Wikivoyage www. geograph. co. uk, photos of Penterwyd and surrounding area
Ponterwyd
–
The old chapel, Ponterwyd
47.
Llangurig
–
Llangurig is a village in Powys, Wales, lying on the River Wye. The A470 trunk road passes through the village as do the National Cycle Route 8, the 15th century parish church located in the village is dedicated to Saint Curig, its reputed founder, and is a grade II* listed building. There are also two small chapels, the village has been home for many decades to a craft shop as well as two public houses, a number of bed and breakfasts and a small village shop and Post Office. The manor house, Clochfaen Hall, was designed by architect William Arthur Smith Benson, Llangurig had a small primary school until 2008. In January 2003 the school had only 19 pupils but fought a campaign against closure by the local council. The school eventually closed at the end of the 2008 academic year, the village holds an annual agricultural show and sheepdog trials in August. During the Victorian era, Llangurig nearly had a railway service, the Llangurig branch is noted in trivia as being the shortest lived working branch line in the UK, receiving precisely one train. The M&MR intended to connect the two settlements with a route across Wales, to enable the industrialised Northwest to access the port in Milford Haven. The MWR was authorized to build its line by act of parliament in 1859, the M&M was likewise authorized in 1860. The M&MR and MWR were to pay 5% per annum on construction costs, also the three companies were to pay equal shares of interest and running costs for the new station at Llanidloes. These charges were eventually to prove crippling for the M&MR, the Llangurig branch was fully built, and a single goods train ran along its length, at which point the L&NR invoiced the M&MR for the cost of the joint station at Llanidloes. The branch service was terminated, being wholly unprofitable without through traffic. The M&MR continued to pay for the cost of the joint station they could not reach, by 1864 the M&MR had changed its plans for crossing the Pumlumon range, and hence stopped all work west of Llangurig. 1866 was a year, including the collapse of the London Bank Overend, Gurney and Company. By 1876 MWR had still failed to build the new route, in 1882 the M&MHR started to dismantle the Llangurig branch, lifting 1.5 miles of the essentially unused track for maintenance purposes elsewhere. A large part of the route east of Llangurig is marked on current OS maps as dismantled railway, some earthworks and tunnel headings survive from the original M&MR scheme west of Llangurig, as can Llangurig station
Llangurig
–
Llangurig village
Llangurig
–
The Llangurig branch line as built
48.
Llanidloes
–
Llanidloes is a town on the A470 and B4518 roads in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire, Wales. The population in 2011 was 2,929, of whom 15% could speak Welsh and it is the first town on the River Severn, counting from the source. The towns Member of Parliament is the Conservative Glyn Davies and its Assembly Member is Conservative Russell George, the town is close to the large dam and reservoir Llyn Clywedog. There is a mountain road connecting Machynlleth and Llanidloes. The Sarn Sabrina Walk – a 25-mile circular walk from Llanidloes to the source of the Severn, in 2007 the Semi Sabrina, a 12-mile circular walk, was added. The Hafren Forest is also used for car rallies such as Rally GB, Llanidloes takes its name from the early 7th century Celtic Saint Idloes, after whom its parish church is named. It was then part of the cantref of Arwystli, in 1280 Llanidloes received a market charter from the King and the benefit of Edwardian town planning and earthwork defences. The present-day street plan follows the 13th century grid layout and he suggested that the medieval castle with its bailey lay immediately to the south in the area of Mount Street. However, the positioning of the Castle and earthen bank defences needs to be verified by archaeological evidence. The town prospered and was granted borough status at about this time, revival after the Glyndwr uprising was slow, but there were 59 taxpayers in 1545. The following centuries saw the growth of weaving and flannel production and this was essentially a cottage industry, and the local products were sent to market in Shrewsbury. But the new technology was far from profitable, and the system led to increasing unrest. Newtown, connected to the Montgomeryshire Canal in 1819, soon became the centre of the industry in Wales with the opening of its Flannel Exchange in 1832. Some owners, particularly Thomas Jones, who owned the Cambrian and Spring Mills, struggled to promote the Llanidloes flannel industry, lead mining became the more profitable industry from 1865, when rich deposits were discovered at the Van mines. By 1876, the mines were among the most productive in the world, important too was the towns iron foundry, established in 1851. This second phase of prosperity is reflected in the townscape, most notably in the proliferation of fine chapels. Commercial success is reflected by the many fine shopfronts that survive from the part of the 19th century. But again decline set in, printing and tanning gained in importance, little has changed since then, except the building of houses, including a Garden Suburb and a new school
Llanidloes
–
Llanidloes
Llanidloes
–
The Clywedog Dam on the
Llyn Clywedog
Llanidloes
–
Sion Chapel, Llanidloes
Llanidloes
–
Old Market Hall
49.
Newtown, Powys
–
Newtown is the largest town in the county of Powys, Wales. It had a population of 12,783 in 2001, falling to 11,357 at the 2011 census, the Robert Owen Museum is across the road, occupying the ground floor of the council offices. Newtown is also the home of Theatr Hafren and of Oriel Davies, a public gallery. Newtown was founded at the end of the 13th century when Edward I of England commissioned Roger de Montgomerie to construct a centre for the hamlet of Llanfair-yng-Nghedewain. It was situated near the ford on the River Severn, below the Long Bridge and this gave Newtown its original Welsh name. He seized Llywelyns lands and granted them to the Mortimers and they transferred the administration of the cantref of Cedewain and the commote of Ceri from Dolforwyn Castle to the new settlement at Newtown. The town grew in the 18th and 19th centuries around the textile and flannel industry, in 1838, the town saw Wales first Chartist demonstration. The Cambrian Mills, which opened in 1856, were the first steam-driven mills in Newtown, the mill complex was beside the canal terminus on the east bank of the Severn. They expanded to become the largest Welsh woollen mills, however, by the end of the 19th century the mills in Newtown were no longer competitive with those in the north of England. There was a fire in 1910, and another in 1912. After the Cambrian Mills closed, Newtown was no longer an important woollen industrial centre, the town was designated as a new town in 1967. It saw a population growth as companies and people settled. Newtown hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1965, Newtown is about 8 miles from the Wales-England border, in the narrow valley of the river Severn which restricts development north and south of the town. Newtown is surrounded by small villages often referenced as the Newtown area, the Newtown post town area, including surrounding villages, has a population approaching 16,000. These villages include Aberhafesp, Adfa, Bettws Cedewain, Bwlch-y-ffridd, Cefn-gwyn, Dolfor, Glanmule, Kerry, Llanllwchaiarn, Llanwyddelan, Mochdre, New Mills, Pentre, Rhydlydan, Sarn and Tregynon. Built by Pryce Pryce-Jones, the Pryce Jones Royal Welsh Warehouse remains the tallest building in Newtown, the two towering structures housed the worlds first mail order service depot. Bear Lanes, the main shopping centre, has a Tudor-style entrance. The building was once a hotel, The Bear, which contributes to the centres appearance today, a statue of Robert Owen was erected in 1956 in a small park off Shortbridge Street and Gas Street
Newtown, Powys
–
Newtown town centre
Newtown, Powys
–
The Baptist Chapel
50.
Telford
–
Telford /ˈtɛlfərd/ is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about 13 miles east of Shrewsbury, and 30 miles north west of Birmingham. With an estimated population of 170,300 in 2010 and around 155,000 in Telford itself, Telford is the largest town in Shropshire and it is named after civil engineer Thomas Telford, who engineered many road and rail projects in Shropshire. The town was put together in the 1960s and 1970s as a new town on previously industrial and agricultural land and smaller towns. Like other planned towns of the era, Telford was created from the merger of other, smaller settlements, most notably the towns of Wellington, Oakengates, many of the New Towns newer inhabitants were originally from Birmingham or Wolverhampton. Telford Shopping Centre, a shopping mall, was constructed at the new towns geographical centre. The M54 motorway was completed in 1983, improving the road links with the West Midlands conurbation. On Telfords southern boundaries is the Ironbridge Gorge, a scenic tourist destination, the town advertises itself as The Birthplace of Industry, due to it having Coalbrookdale and other places in the Ironbridge Gorge area, within its boundary. These areas are internationally recognised as being important to the Industrial Revolution, early settlement in the area was thought to be on the land that sloped up from the Weald Moors towards the line along which the Roman Watling Street was built. Farmland surrounded three large estates in the 10th century, namely Wellington, Wrockwardine and Lilleshall, from the 13th century there was urban development in Wellington and Madeley, where Wenlock Priory founded a new town. Six monastic houses, founded in the 11th and 12th centuries, had interests in the areas economic growth. They collectively acquired almost half of the area, and profited from coal and ironstone mines, the New Town was first designated on 16 January 1963 as Dawley New Town, covering 9,100 acres of Dawley, Wenlock, Oakengates, Wellington Rural District and Shifnal Rural District. Development started, guided by the Dawley New Town Development Corporation, initial planning and design concepts for Dawley New Town were produced by the Birmingham-based John Madin Design Group. The Minister proposed an extension of 12,000 acres in 1968, which saw objections and this Order also renamed the new town Telford, after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford who, in 1787, became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire. Other suggested names at the time were Dawelloak and Wrekin Forest City, Telford was now 25 years old and was firmly established as one of the most important towns in the region. In 1983, after fierce opposition and three public enquiries, the M54 motorway was completed, connecting the town to the M6, other major roads are the A5, A518 and A442, which is commonly known as the Eastern Primary or EP, and is officially branded Queensway. Many of the new residents were originally from the West Midlands conurbation. The vast majority of the council house tenants in Telford were rehoused from inner city Birmingham. g, the new towns residents who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s earned the unwanted nickname overspill from people living in the existing towns and villages. The reason for expansion is that the original centre was only ever a shopping place with no real heart
Telford
–
The Town Centre viewed from the western end of
Telford Shopping Centre, with the blue Telford Plaza buildings in the distance.
Telford
–
Sunnycroft near Wellington
Telford
–
The
Beatties department store at the west end of
Telford Shopping Centre, which was renamed
House of Fraser in early 2007.
Aberystwyth
Hesse, 
Germany
Brittany, 
France[64]
Argentina[65]
Ireland
