Transcript The curious facts about Wales

THE CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT WALES
Motto:
Cymru am byth (Wales for ever)
 National Day:
1 March
 Area :
20,779 sq km
 Population:
2,918,700
Flag:
 Red dragon on a green and white field.
General information
 Capital City:
Cardiff (Caerdydd)
 Major Cities:
Cardiff, Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport
(Casnewydd)
 Official Language:
English and Welsh
Nationality :Welsh and British
 Highest point:
Snowdon 1085 metres (3559 ft)
 Longest river:
Towy (Tywi) 103 km (64 miles)
 Largest Lake:
Bala (4.4 sq km)
 Official Animal
Dragon
Some interesting
North Wales
At 1085 metres high, Mount Snowdon is the
highest mountain in England and
Wales. Snowdonia National Park itself covers
an area of over 2000 square kilometres and
many people live within its boundaries.
It’s not the only attraction in the region
though. The castles built by King Edward I
(1272-1307) are a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
North Wales is easily reached from Liverpool
and Manchester airports or it’s a four – five
hour journey by car from Cardiff. Alternatively
there’s a direct flight from Cardiff to Anglesey
with Manx2 airways.
North East Wales
 The region’s Glyndwr
University offers over 150
programmes and has many links
with local industry including Toyota
and Tata Steel.
 They also have links with Airbus
UK. Their site in Broughton is one
of only two facilities in the world
capable of the manufacture of
wings for large civil aircraft.
St Asaph, in Denbighshire (a
community of 3,400 people)
was awarded city status as part of
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
celebrations in 2012.
Mid Wales
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Mid Wales hasn’t got large cities. Instead
there are small spa towns like Llandrindod
Wells, waterfalls, hills, lakes and sheep.
The lakes are mostly man made reservoirs,
built to supply water to English towns, but
they’re still pretty impressive. As a result,
the region is often referred to as Wales’ own
lake district.
We’ve also got some
impressive waterfalls. The highest one
being Pistyll Rhaeadr, which is higher than
Niagara Falls.
The seaside University town
of Aberystwyth is home to our National
Library. A visit here can help you trace your
Welsh ancestry. Or you could just
explore the thousands of books and digital
resources housed here.
South Wales
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Cheese – award winning cheese is
produced throughout south west
Wales.
 Castles – there are a few to choose
from, but a few favourites are the
town fort of Pembroke and the ruins
of Carreg Cennen where you can
Cardiff and South Eastexplore
Wales the dungeon by torchlight.
 Seals – the Pembrokeshire coast,
especially the offshore islands
of Skomer and Ramsey, is home to a
5000 strong colony of grey seals.
Lucky visitors may see dolphins and
porpoise too.
 Preseli Mountains – see where the
stones of Stonehenge came from.
Cardiff and South East Wales
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If you're travelling to Wales from London,
you’ll arrive in south east Wales in about two
to three hours, depending on whether you’re
on the train or in a car. Or you might arrive
directly at our International airport.
South east Wales is the most built up of our
regions. The majority of our population live
here and a large proportion of our industry is
based here. Our capital city Cardiff has a
population of approx. 320,000, although this
is said to swell by nearly 50,000 each day as
commuters enter the city.
But it’s not all industry. Cardiff is one of the
greenest cities in the UK, with many parks to
choose from including Bute Park in the city
centre. In less than an hour's drive it’s possible
to escape the city for the more rural setting of
theBrecon Beacons National Park,
the Glamorgan Heritage Coast or the Wye
Valley.
In 2011 Cardiff was chosen as one of the 10
best places in the world to visit during the
Summer by National Geographic magazine the only UK location to be featured.
Football
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You might very well think of rugby when it comes to Wales; but we also have quite a proud
history in football. The first ever substitution in a football game took place during a Wales v
Scotland game in 1889.
Wales have even played in the quarter finals of the Football World Cup - 1958 saw the likes of
Welsh legends such as John Charles, Ivor Allchurch and Alf Sherwood take on Brazil; we narrowly
lost 1-0 with the legendary Pele scoring the only goal.
In more recent times we’ve seen our Welsh teams Cardiff City and Swansea City competing at the
top levels. Swansea are currently a Premier League team and Cardiff, who are the only team to
have taken the FA cup out of England, will join Swansea in the Premier League next season.
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by
the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales, and the third
oldest national football association in the world.
Some of our home grown players have gone on to play for top Premier League clubs including
Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs, Cardiff City forward Craig Bellamy, Liverpool
midfielder Joe Allen, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Tottenham Hotspur
midfielder Gareth Bale.
Festivals and cultural events
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The Hay Festival
The world’s most famous literary and arts festival. When Bill Clinton came to
town he called it ‘the Woodstock of the mind’. Past programme events and
performances crossed literature with cabaret, cinema, circus, comedy,
environment, film, music, politics, science, screenwriting and visual arts.
Children's Festival Hay Fever runs alongside the Hay Festival every year.
Beyond the Border – the Wales International Story Telling Festival
An international festival celebrating oral tradition and bringing together
storytellers, poets and musicians from around the world. Beyond The Border
International Storytelling Festival is the largest event of its type in the UK.
National Eisteddfod of Wales
The Eisteddfod is a cultural, artistic festival; one of the largest festivals in Europe
alternating between south and north Wales, attracting over 170,000 visitors, and
7,000 competitors. Although competition based, it is a plethora of different arts
events - singing, literature, dance, theatre, rock music, and exhibitions. All
events and competitions on the Eisteddfod festival site are through the medium
of Welsh but translation facilities are readily available.
Food
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World famous Welsh Black
Beef and Welsh Mountain
lamb top menus in pubs
and restaurants all over
Wales
The Welsh Venison Centre,
in the heart of the Brecon
Beacons National Park is a
family firm that reflect the
new generation of farmers
with the highest standards
for animal welfare. They
produce premium quality
Middlewoood Welsh lamb
as well as venison and
have an onsite shop.
Food festivals
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Nearly every weekend, there's a food festival somewhere in Wales. There are
small local festivals as well as large international ones. We like the Cardiff
International Food & Drink Festival that attracts food producers and suppliers
from Cardiff’s twin towns of Nantes, Stuttgart and Hordland alongside Welsh
produce. There are lots of food festivals in Cardiff throughout the year.
Our most well known festival is The Abergavenny Food Festival. It takes place
every September and has been described as having "a wonderful energy and
individuality that no other food festival can recreate."
For the last 11 years Anglesey has played host to the Anglesey Oyster and
Welsh Produce Festival. Visitors are served with Welsh music, singing and
dance as well as the chance to eat a lot of oysters! For food festivals and events
in North Wales, see the Food orth Wales website.