Portal:Wales

The Wales Portal

Wales (Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] ^ⓘ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Located on the island of Great Britain, it is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021^[update], it had a population of 3.2 million. It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline. It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. Its capital and largest city is Cardiff.

A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales was completed by King Edward I of England in 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament (Welsh: senedd). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the late 19th and early 20th century by David Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament, formerly the National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters. (Full article...)

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The Talyllyn Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7.25 miles (11.67 km)^[1] from Tywyn^a on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage.^[2]^[3] Despite severe under-investment,^[4] the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.^[5]^[6]

Since preservation, the railway has operated as a tourist attraction, expanding its rolling stock through acquisition and an engineering programme to build new locomotives and carriages. In 1976, an extension was opened along the former mineral line from Abergynolwyn to the new station at Nant Gwernol. In 2001, the preservation society celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in 2005 a major rebuilding and extension of Tywyn Wharf station took place, including a much-expanded facility for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.

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Credit: Sodacan

Royal Badge of Wales

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Did you know...?

... that the grounds of St Ceinwen's Church, Cerrigceinwen, Wales, contain a spring once said to be able to "cure many diseases"?
... that the global stronghold of the primitive vetch species Vicia orobus is in central and northern Wales?
... that 2012 Olympic taekwondo competitor Jade Jones won Great Britain's first ever gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games?
... that the mineral collection of Lady Clive, a pioneer among female rock collectors, is one of the most important historic mineral collections at the National Museum Wales?

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Why am I the first Kinnock in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Why is Glenys the first woman in her family in a thousand generations to be able to get to university? Was it because our predecessors were thick? Does anybody really think that they didn't get what we had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? Of course not. It was because there was no platform upon which they could stand.

— Neil Kinnock, speech at the Welsh Labour Party conference, Llandudno, 15 May 1987.

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Caffo was a sixth-century Christian in Anglesey, north Wales, who is venerated as a saint and martyr. Little is known for certain about Caffo; his dates of birth and death are not given in the sources. He is said to have been one of the sons of St Caw, a king in northern Britain who lost his lands and sought safety with his family in Anglesey. Caffo was a companion of St Cybi, and is mentioned as carrying a red-hot coal in his clothes to Cybi without his clothes getting burnt. After leaving Cybi, Caffo was killed by shepherds in the south of Anglesey, possibly acting in retaliation for insults Caffo's brother had paid to the local ruler. The area of Caffo's death became known at some point as Llangaffo, and a church was established there: the Welsh word "llan" originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "-gaffo" is a modified form of the saint's name.

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The following are images from various Wales-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Medieval crwth instrument (from Culture of Wales)
Image 2Owain Glyndŵr painting by AC Michael (from Culture of Wales)
Image 3The Senedd (Welsh Parliament), Cardiff Bay. (from History of Wales)
Image 4Portrait of William Morgan. (from History of Wales)
Image 5A Plaid Cymru rally in Machynlleth in 1949, where the Parliament for Wales Campaign began (from History of Wales)
Image 6Red Dragon of Wales (from Culture of Wales)
Image 7Caradog by Thomas Prydderch. Caradog was leader of the north Walian Celtic tribe, the Ordovices, and led multiple Celtic tribes against the Romans. (from History of Wales)
Image 8Tom Jones performing with Janis Joplin in 1969 (from Culture of Wales)
Image 9Cawl, a Welsh dish of meat and vegetables (from Culture of Wales)
Image 10Two of the furnaces of the Blaenavon Ironworks (from History of Wales)
Image 11Big Pit, National Coal Museum. (from History of Wales)
Image 12Standard of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, King of Powys 1063-1075. (from History of Wales)
Image 13Harlech Castle was one of a series built by Edward I to consolidate his conquest. (from History of Wales)
Image 14Gravestone of King Cadfan ap Iago of Gwynedd (died c. 625) in Llangadwaladr church (from History of Wales)
Image 15Medieval map of Welsh realms (from History of Wales)
Image 16Facsimile of Part of Column 579 from the Red Book of Hergest (from Culture of Wales)
Image 17The Bard, 1774, by Thomas Jones (1742–1803) (from Culture of Wales)
Image 18Offa's Dyke (Clawdd Offa) Map. (from History of Wales)
Image 19Medieval kingdoms of Wales shown within the boundaries of the present day country of Wales and not inclusive of all (from History of Wales)
Image 20Dowlais Ironworks (1840) by George Childs (1798–1875) (from History of Wales)
Image 21Market Day in Old Wales by Sydney Curnow Vosper (1910) (from Culture of Wales)
Image 22Map of the Roman invasion of Wales (from History of Wales)
Image 23"Cymdeithas yr Iaith" (Society for the Language) bilingual road sign protest, 1972. (from History of Wales)
Image 24Britain in AD 500: The areas shaded pink on the map were inhabited by the Britons, here labelled Welsh. The pale blue areas in the east were controlled by Germanic tribes, while the pale green areas to the north were inhabited by the Gaels and Picts. (from History of Wales)
Image 25Statue of Owain Glyndŵr (c. 1354 or 1359 – c. 1416) at Cardiff City Hall
Image 26Owain Glyndŵr (from History of Wales)
Image 27Crempog - Anglesey style (from Culture of Wales)
Image 28Battle at Mametz Wood by Christopher Williams (1918), commissioned by Secretary of State for War at the time, David Lloyd George. (from History of Wales)
Image 29Opening of the Sixth Senedd in Cardiff in 2021 (from History of Wales)
Image 30King Hywel Dda depicted enthroned in a 13th-century manuscript (from History of Wales)
Image 31The Flag of Saint David (from Culture of Wales)
Image 32Bryn Celli Ddu, a late Neolithic chambered tomb on Anglesey

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