1st March is St David’s Day. Wales’ National Day.
St David is the patron Saint of Wales, who lived in the 6th Century, has a number of miracles attributed to him, including restoring the sight of a blind man, and bringing a child back to life. He is thought to have died on 1st March 589. Whilst not officially a public holiday (although there are regularly calls for it become a public holiday in Wales) it is still the day where all things Welsh are celebrated. Americans have 4th July. Australia has Australia Day. France has Bastille Day. Ireland has St Patricks Day. In Wales, we have St Davids Day.
To mark St Davids Day, we thought we would share somethings about Wales you may not know
St David
The smallest city in the UK is St David on the West Wales coast. St David is named after the Patron Saint of Wales, who establised a monastic colony there in the 6th Century. It is also home to the largest Cathedral in Wales.
Sheep
There are more in sheep in Wales than people. With a population of just over 3m people, but nearly 9m sheep, only New Zealand has a higher ratio of sheep to people in the world. Around 1/3 of all the sheep in the UK, are in the Welsh hills & mountains
Castles
Wales is famous for its Castles, and has alot of them. Including Caerphilly Castle, the 2nd largest Castle in the UK. Chepstow Castle, the oldest stone Castle in the UK. Caernarfon Castle, where King Charles III was invested as Prince of Wales. Harlech Castle, Beaumaris Castle & Conwy Castle, all UNESCO World Heritage Sites along with Caernarfon Castle. Cardiff Castle, built on 2000 year old Roman Foundations.
With over 600 castles, there are more castles in Wales per square mile than any other country in the world. In Wales, you are never far from a Castle
The Principality stadium
Sitting proudly in Cardiff City Centre is the 74,500 capacity Principality Stadium. When it opened in 1999, it was the largest stadium in the world with a retractable roof. 26 years later, and it is still one of the largest stadiums by capacity with a retractable roof in the world.
MOuntains
Wales is famous for its mountains. Most of the country is covered in Mountains created by glaciers during the last ice age. Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon) in Eryri (Snowdonia) in North Wales is over 1,000m high and is the tallest mountain in England & Wales. Pen-y-Fan in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) stands 886m high and is the tallest mountin in the UK, south of Snowdonia. The Cambria Mountain Range stretches through Mid Wales, with several mountains over 700m tall. Most of Wales is covered by the mountains of Eryri, Bannau Brycheiniog and The Cambria Mountain Range
Protected Landscape
Wales has three national parks. Eryri, Bannau Brycheiniog and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. There are also 5 designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Gower AONB (the first AONB in the UK), Llyn AONB, Anglesey AONB, Wye Valley AONB, Clwydian Range & Dee Valley AONB. These 8 areas mean that nearly 30% of the country is protected landscape. A further 5 areas are under proposal to be designated either AONB or National Park Status, including the Cambria Mountain Range. There are also proposals to expand Clwydian Range & Dee Valley AONB create a 4th National Park in Wales. If these propsals eventually happen, Wales could become one of the most protected countrys in the world
coal, copper & Slate
Alongside Mountains, Sheep & Castles, Wales is most famous for Coal. The South Wales Coalfield was the largest in the UK until 1925, and at its peak, was one of the largest in the world. The coal was shipped all over the world, and resulted in Cardiff becoming one of the largest docks in the world. South Wales didnt just provide Coal to the world, it was also the centre of the copper industry for 200 years. At its peak, in 19th Century, around 90% of the Copper in the world was smelted in Swansea. At the same time, North Wales was the centre of the Slate industry. At the end of the 19th Century Penrhyn Quarry in North Wales, was the largest slate quarry in the world, and around 1/3 of the Worlds slate came from North Wales
Welsh Language
To somone not familiar with Welsh, (and to be honest to some who are) the words can just look like a random collection of nonsensical letters, akin to someone tipping a scrabble board on the floor. Welsh comes from the ancient language Brythonic and bears very little resemblance to English. Even so far as using a different alphabet. The Welsh alphabet has 29 letters, as opposed to the English 26 letters. In Welsh, ch, dd, ff, ll, ph, rh and th are all single letters. Where as the letters, k, q, v, x and z do not appear in the Welsh alphabet. This can make it hard for non-Welsh speakers to pronounce alot of Welsh words, as they try to pronounce the letters as they would in English, when often they are pronounced completely differently
mail order
These days you can get almost anything you want without leaving your house. Thanks to the likes of Amazon, purchasing something and having it delivered to your home is the norm. Jeff Bezo owes his billions to a Welshman though, without whom Amazon may not exist. In 1861, Sir Pryce Jones started the worlds first mail order company in Newton, Mid Wales. Allowing customers to order various items from a catalogue, often for next day delivery
Welsh impact
For a small country, Wales often punches well above its weight on a global scale. The Capital, Cardiff, has a population of less than 400,000 people, and hosted the UEFA Champions League Final in 2017. The smallest city, ever to host the biggest club game in world football. Gareth Bale, from Cardiff, became the world most expensive player when he moved to Real Madrid in 2013. Geraint Thomas, also from Cardiff, won the Tour de France in 2018. Joe Calzaghe, from Newbridge South Wales, is one of only 15 boxers to retire undefeated, winning all 46 of his bouts. Colin Jackson, also from Cardiff, held the world record for the 110m hurdles for 13 years. Authors Dylan Thomas, Roald Dahl & Ken Follet are all Welsh. Singers Shirly Bassey, Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyle, Charlotte Church, Katherine Jenkins, and Shakin Stevens are all Welsh. Actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones, Micheal Sheen, Richard Burton, Rhys Ifans, Iwan Rheon, Tarron Egerton, Timothy Dalton & Christian Bale all come from Wales. This is by no means an exhaustive list of people from Wales who have made an impact on the global scale by any stretch of the imagination
Welsh Dragon
Wales is one of just three countries that have a Dragon on their flag. The other two are Bhutan & Malta. Without a doubt Y Ddraig y Goch (The Red Dragon) is the best one. Many people in Wales identify with the Dragon and use it as a source for inspiration, often to compete against the odds, or overcome adversity
