Wales

- General -

Wales (in Welsh: Cymru) lies in the most Westerly point of the Island of Great-Britain. Wales is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (Wales, England, Scotland en North Ireland). The total area of Wales is 20.807 km² and that it is about half as big as Holland and two-thirds the size of Belgium.
When you travel from North Wales to South Wales it is about 200 kilometres, and when you want to go from East Wales to West Wales then that is between 60 and 180 kilometres.
The total length of the Coast is about 1231 kilometres, where up to two-thirds are protected nature reserves.

On three sides of Wales is the sea; in the North the Irish Sea, in the South the Bristol Channel and in the West the St. George Channel and Cardigan Bay.
Anglesey is one of the Islands of Wales, and is connected by the Menai Bridge to the mainland.

The inhabitants of Wales are called Welsen

- History -

Prehistory
Wales was already inhabited from around 250,000 B.C. by small groups of people who came from the European mainland. At that time the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel did not exist. However, this had advantages as you could simply walk from Europe to this part of Great Britain. And there is proof that there were people at that time because archaeologists have found a cave in Pontnewydd, in the north of Clwyd, with objects from that period.

In a cave on Gower Island they found a skeleton of a Neanderthal man from 16,000 B.C. which according to researchers had been buried before the ice age started. The Neanderthals were hunters who lived in holes and they used stones tools, fire and buried their dead. In the ice age the largest part of Wales was covered with a flat low land ice. Then about 8000 B.C. the ice melted and the landscape returned, where in the course of time woods of conifers would grow. The climate became better and the first people after the ice age came to live in the coastal areas.
In the higher inland parts of Wales life for people was still impossible as there was still too much ice and also thick pine forests plus enormous rocks which were appearing out from melting glaciers. But there is also proof that people have been here. The proof has been among other things found on Gower-Island and in Dyfed. There were stones objects found and also weapons from that time. In the Neolithic Period (3000 B.C.) a massive transmigration took place in Europe with many people moving locations. A large number of people from Europe were drawn to the United Kingdom including Wales. They built simple houses and lived off agriculture and livestock-farming. The prehistoric monuments, such as gravestones (in Welsh they call it “Cromlechs”), come from that period. These cromlechs were only used in public cemeteries.

- The landscape -

North Wales
The largest part of North Wales consists of the mountainous landscape of Snowdonia which since 1951 has been a national park (214.159 hectors).
In this park is the highest point of Wales and England called Mount Snowdon (you say it like this in Welsh: Yr Wyddfa Fawr) and it is 1082 meters high. (Further information on the mount Snowdon finds you in the chapter ‘the mount Snowdon’).

The other mountains around Mount Snowdon are no higher than 900 meters; e.g. Cader Idris (892 meters high).

From Ogwen, in the North of Wales, you can climb many mountains such as Tryfan (917 meters high), Glyder Fach (995 meters high), Glyder Fawr (999 meters high) and a few high points of the Carneddau Range - Carnedd Dafydd (1044 meters high) and Carnedd Llewelyn (1062 meters high).
Running from Mount Snowdon there are many different valleys going towards the sea. Different rivers had in the Ice Age made these wide valleys or Delta’s, such as the Dwynyd, the Glaslyn, the Conwy, the Mawdach, the Dysynni and the Dovey.

The Island Anglesey and the Island Llyn are familiar because their beautiful coastline.

Mid-Wales
The middle of Wales is almost uninhabited and it is very green and hilly. In this area are the Cambrian Mountains, a Mountain Range running from North to South with steep slopes, deep elongated valleys and is partly forested, partly heath land and partly grassy plains. The highest point of the Cambrian Mountains is Aran Mawddwy at 905 meters high.

South Wales
The landscape of the South-Eastern Valleys is populated with many disused Coalmines and iron and steel plants. The rest of South Wales is regarded to have splendid natural beauty, with amongst others the savage, mountainous Brecon Beacons National Park (135,144 hectares big). In this park are treeless squares and long river valleys flowing from North to South and also in this area lies the Black Mountain (in Welsh: Mynydd Du) at a height of 802 meters.
In the South-West lies the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and with it’s beautiful rocky shoreline.

- Climate -

Wales has a moderate sea climate just like the Netherlands and Belgium. The average summer temperature in Wales is with 16 degrees a bit lower than in the Netherlands and Belgium. The average winter temperature is 5 degrees and in the mountains it freezes and there falls snow. Generally the winters in Wales are gentler than in the Netherlands and Belgium. And if you examine the total of the water in a year, there is more rain in Wales than what falls in the Netherlands or Belgium. Generally it is a little bit of rain or very much rain, that makes an outside activity (walk, with an engine that goes to the top on the Mount Snowdon) impossible to make. You can dress you’re self that you won’t have any problems of the little bit of rain, but against a lot of rain you have to put a raincoat on. In the summer anticyclones ensure the beautiful weather. It seems that the South of Wales gets more sun a year than the North. The mountain and high hillocks have their own climate. Generally it is cold and the wind blows very hard cold wind, even if it is in the valley warm there blows cold wind. If you go Mountain climbing you must take into account with all the circumstances, because there is a chance that a fog can arise. Unfortunately that happens regularly even if is hasn’t been on the news before. The best time to go on holiday in Wales is when it is dry and sonny, which is in the month of: the spring months May and June and in the months September and October.

- Rivers, Lakes and Channels -

Wales has many rivers and lakes. The longest rivers are the Dee, the Severn and the Wye that flow alongside the English border. The Severn is even one of the longest rivers to be found in the whole of England and Wales. The largest lake in Wales is the Bala Lake (in Welsh Llyn Tegid), which lies in the North of Wales and is more than 6 kilometres long.
Wales also has many ice cold mountain lakes; in Snowdonia almost 250.

Many lakes in Wales are actually artificial and are water reservoirs. Within the lake area of Mid-Wales are 5 water reservoirs. The original four were built to serve the city of Birmingham, which is almost 120 kilometres of the east. The fifth water reservoir was added in 1952. If you combine all five water reservoirs into one reservoir you will have one more than 14 kilometres long and containing more than 10 million litres!

- Language -

Since 1976 Wales is officially bilingual. 99% of all the people that live in Wales speak English, with 18, 7% also speaking Welsh. The Welsh and Gaelic languages that some people speak are part of the Celtic language (Gaelic is the language that they speak in Ireland and Scotland and in some parts of the West of England).
The Welsh language is more than 2000 years old and it has been a written language for more than 1400 years old. In the last 100 years the use of the Welsh language has declined and many people have stopped teaching their children Welsh.

In 1891 more than 54% of the population spoke Welsh, in 1921 it was only 29%, in 1981 18.9% and now there are only 18.7% Welsh speakers. However if you want to learn Welsh it is not as difficult as it looks or you can hear.

- The population of Wales -

It seems nice to start our chapter of the population of Wales with the National Anthem of Wales which was written 1856 by 2 weavers from Pontypridd.

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annywyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri.
Ei gwrolryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

Gwlad, Gwlad, Pleidiol wyf i’m gwlad.
Tra mor yn fur I’r bur hoff bau,
O bydded I’r hen iaith barhau

The translation: The old country of my ancestors is my tender,
Country of poem and singers, boasted men.
To be brave warriors, large patriots,
They lost their blood for freedom.

My country, my country, I my country has been devoted,
Where the sea is a wall for this pure, beautiful country,
Should the old language existence


Wales has 2.8 million inhabitants and with almost 80% living in the south of Wales, in the counties of Glamorgan and Gwent. Here lie the large cities of Wales: Cardiff (275,000 inhabitants), Swansea (178,000 inhabitants) and Newport (110,000 inhabitants). That the cities are this large is due to the industrial revolution (see the chapter on Cardiff) when these important port cities grew in size.

Economy
Until the industrial revolution the Welsh were mainly employed in agriculture, livestock-farming and fishing. Nowadays many farmers rent rooms to tourists in the summer months because in this way they can get some extra money.
Farming livestock such as Sheep and Cattle is becoming always more difficult because the farmers are getting less subsidies every year. Wales has a lot to thank at the tourism. More and more holiday makers visit annually this part of the United Kingdom and more and more Welsh urn their bread. Wales has also much to thank to the mine construction industry. A lot of coals became really useful. Those coals were especially used as fuel for the ovens. Later a lot of iron - and steel plants were built in the area of the mining area. Channels and rails was build to bring substances to the port cities. From there ores were transported to a large number of countries. More than a century later people got cheaper ores from America (import) and moved iron - and steel plants to the port cities.

In the years 30 of this century it went badly with coal mining and iron - and steel plants and was in South-Wales 30% of the population unemployed. But then the Second World War came. Because Germany needed war material there was for the iron - and steel plants in a lot of work. After the Second World War the British government wanted new factories build and there was very large amounts money to be spent. The 1950s went very good, but in the 1960s it went to bad that a number of coal mining had to close. Also with the steel industry it went badly in that time… very badly. Then the companies of North-America, Europe and Japan came to Wales. In that time only 1 on the 5 inhabitants of Wales still worked for a Welsh company. In short, the economy in Wales is not going good and there is especially in the big cities high unemployment.

- Cardiff -

Cardiff (in Welsh Caerdydd) is the capital of Wales. It is an important port city and has a population of about 275,000. Cardiff lays on the river the Taff and is the trade centre for South and Mid-Wales.

In 76 A.D. the Romans built by the River Taff a simple fort and remains of that fort are now still visible near the outside walls of Cardiff Castle. It has not been possible to confirm that before the Roman’s arrived if people lived here. Archaeologists have examined the site but nothing has been found to indicate an earlier occupation. At the end of the 11th century the Normans built a wooden castle on the place of the Roman fort, and that was replaced 2 centuries later by a castle built of stone.

In the period until the industrial revolution Cardiff was still a small town with only about 1000 inhabitants. But in the next 180 years Cardiff grew considerably. That came about because the port started to transport more and more coal. Welshmen called it the black gold because the coal that was produced brought them much money. This black gold was won in the valleys of Rhonda, Aberdare, Merthyr and Rhymney and transported by rail or the by boat on the Glamorganshire canal to Cardiff. Because the city experienced such an enormous increase at the end of the 19th century, there are now many buildings still standing from that time. In 1956, Cardiff became official capital Wales.

Curiosities
The City Hall is one of the most beautiful buildings in the Cardiff Civic Centre. You can recognise City Hall by its 60 meter high clock bell tower, with on the cupola a dragon. That dragon is the national symbol of Wales. On the first level in the so-called marble room there are statues of the legendary heroes: Owain Glyndwr, Llewelyn the Last and Harri Tudor. But there is also a statue of Saint-David, the patron saint of Wales. Furthermore there are beautiful rooms such as the Council Chamber and Assembly Hall. Also, it is possible to get a tour of City Hall which can be arranged by the Receptionist.
The shopping area lies about 5 minutes walk in southerly direction from the Civic Centre. The most important shopping street is Queen Street on which both sides you can find a number of beautiful galleries. In this street Queen Street you can also find Saint David's Hall, where concerts are performed the whole year round.

- The Mount Snowdon -

We want to tell you something about the Mount Snowdon because Bas has been on holiday to Wales and because it is the highest mountain of Wales. It is not the highest mountain in Great Britain which is Ben Nevis (1344 meters high) in Scotland. The Snowdon is a mountain with 5 peaks. The mountain landscape of Snowdonia is very rough and steep. Unfortunately you often cannot see the top because of the clouds which frequently cover the mountain. Especially in the months of October until April there is very much snow and it is very cold. In the summer months it can also be cold with very strong winds at the top of the Mount Snowdon. The area around the Snowdon is very infertile. Here and there you see what rough grass which is only for the sheep. On Mount Snowdon you can find many rare flowers and plants and there are very dark places were flowers and plants grow and where it is impossible for people to get to the Snowdon Lily.

You can choose to make a trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway which starts in Llanberis and this is the easiest way to get to the summit of the Mount Snowdon. The track was laid in 1894 and the first train drove on 8th April 1896 towards the summit, but had an accident. For a complete year the track couldn’t be used because there were people at the work to adapt the rails and take all of the broken parts away. But luckily this accident was the first and the only accident that has so far happened on this railway.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway has in total 7 steam and 3 diesel engines and the train takes an hour to get to the summit. Because it is very steep it is only possible for one train can go to the top at a time. The first part goes along a valley with rough grass, with herds of sheep are grazing and where also a river flows. There are also small farms and sheds made of broken stone. Alongside the railway track lays a walking path where people can walk to the top or if they have got a good condition then they can run to the summit. When you get to station Halfway the train stops and fills up his water reservoir and then proceeds further on rails which run even more steeply to the summit. The train next travels alongside on a very windy path, which is called the Cap path because in former days a lot of people lost their cap there because the wind blew it off. The wagons then had still open roof’s.

Once you have arrived at the summit you will get 30 minutes to walk around as it is compulsory that you return to Llanberis with the same train. In bad weather, mist or storm the trains do not run. And if in March or October snow lies on Mount Snowdon the train will not go further than station Clogwyn, which lies about three quarters of the way up the mountain. You must always take it into account that is always cold on the Mount Snowdon. Even if the down in the valley at Llanberis it is warm it will be cold when you get to the summit.

- After word -

Er is zeer veel tijd in gestoken om dit werkstuk in elkaar te flansen. Er is ook veel moeite voor gedaan en… het resultaat mag er zijn!

Bas: Ik vond het heel leuk om dit werkstuk te maken (ik vind het altijd leuk om werkstukken te maken). Maar dit keer vond ik het extra leuk omdat er een goede samenwerking was.

Nicholas: Ik vond het ook wel leuk om dit werkstuk te maken. Alleen was het best wel lastig om sommige woorden te vertalen maar, met een beetje hulp van m´n ouders heb ik het toch voor mekaar gekregen.

Bronnenlijst
Wij hebben verschillende bronnen gebruikt:

- Reishandboek WALES
- Google.nl voor afbeeldingen en wat informatie