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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/learnirish-com-a-complete-online-course
We received the following message today from Peter Stranney at LearnIrish.com . Peter studied Irish at postgraduate level in Aberystwyth University in Wales and is now spearheading a campaign to make vital online resources available to Irish language learners. We strongly urge all our members and supporters to circulate the indiegogo appeal ( linked below ) to anyone they know who is interested in preserving the Irish language. The campaign is looking for future students and subscribers and the rates are very reasonable. We at AmeriCymru would like to take this opportunity to wish LearnIrish.com every success with their fundraising campaign.
The Irish language is recognised as being one of the oldest written languages in the world but is classified by Unesco as being 'definitely endangered'. On average, a language dies every fortnight and it's predicted that half of the world's 7000 languages will die out within the next 100 years. LearnIrish.com aims to help make the Irish language and learning resources accessible to more people around the world.
If funded, LearnIrish.com hopes to deliver a comprehensive Irish language course complete with games and quizzes to monitor progress. They've set a goal of $7000, with two days into the campaign they've almost reached 20% of their target but need as much support as possible to make it to the end.
Funding options start at just $8 for 12 months' access. The develeper, Peter Stranney, has been learning Irish for over 7 years and recognises the difficulty faced by people who want to further their knowledge of the language. He studied Irish at postgraduate level in Aberystwyth and lived in the Welsh speaking village of P ontrhydfendigaid. He has a love of the Welsh language and culture and was inspired by seeing how strong the Welsh language was - his team mates would have to translate the half time talks when he played for P ontrhydfendigaid FC!
Peter aims to develop an online course which is easy to use and with a clear route for progression. He has native Irish speakers ready to help with the development of the course but just needs the funding to make it possible. He'll face an uphill struggle raising the money with just 23 days to go and another battle to deliver the course but he's no stranger to hard work.
Check out the campaign on indiegogo and help support this very worthy cause
A View of the Rheidol Valley.
The University town of Aberystwyth lies on the west coast of Wales, half way down Cardigan Bay. It is the only sizeable centre of population in between Caernarvon in North Wales, Carmarthen to the south or Shrewsbury over the border 70 miles to the east.
A trip on the Vale of Rheidol Railway would make a very good introduction to the Rheidol valley. It runs for about 6 miles along the bottom of the valley to Capel Bangor, then begins to climb the side of the valley for a further 6 miles to Devils Bridge. As soon as the train pulls of the station, buildings of the National Library of Wales and the University can be seen on the hill.
For the first half of the trip, the valley is broad and the fields are grazed by cattle, some of it parkland of the Gogerddan Mansion which is now IBERS. (Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, which has its routes in the old grassland and plant breeding centre and the old Welsh Agricultural college). The Aberystwyth show is normally held here at the start of June.
As soon as Capel Bangor is passed, the train heads into the trees at the side of the valley, passing the Rheidol Riding Stables and begins the long climb to Devils Bridge, the twists and turns in the tracks alternately mirror the meanders of the river and skirt around the foot of steep side valleys, such as the one at Aberffrwd where the lane climbs steeply to the main road 800 feet above.
The Vale of Rheidol Railway with Rheidol falls below and the Stag on the hillside above.
The meandering Rheidol Reservoir is the next major feature in the valley bottom which catches the outflow from the hydro-electric power station, above which a mine spoil heap can be seen in the shape of a Stag. At the head of the reservoir are the Rheidol falls and fish Ladder and above here the railway passes through some of the surface workings of Rheidol united mines which connect with surface workings of a mine once known as 'Silver Mountain' which can be seen beside the A4120 above. In all these workings are almost 1000 feet deep.
Above the Rheidol falls the valley bottom continues to narrow (as does the road) until the waste heaps of the Cwm Rheidol mine are seen on the north side of the valley, ore was once lifted from here by a rope way to the railway line to be taken to Aberystwyth for export. Below here is a popular spot to bathe in the river and a footbridge crosses a narrow gorge.
As the train winds its way into Devils Bridge, the Rheidol valley is deep and lined with Oak woodlands, where it is thought that Red Squirrels and Pine Martens could exist. The valley turns a right angle to the north here, an example of the Geological phenomenon 'River capture'. Long ago, before the last Ice age, the upper reaches of the Rheidol were once the headwaters of the Teifi, which suffered losses to 2 rives cutting their gorges upstream under the ice.
Devils Bridge is known in Welsh as Pontarmynach, the 'Devils Bridge' was actually built by monks in 1087. This bridge supports the foundations of its replacement, built in about 1750, a bridge that was able to carry a carriage, and a modern bridge is now sitting above these. 2 spectacular walks start here to see the bridges, gorge and Waterfalls which William Wordsworth compared to Viamala in Switzerland. http://www.devilsbridgefalls.co.uk/index.php?page=109
North of Devils Bridge the Rheidol gorge heads for Ponterwyd where the upland country is more open and the upper Reservoirs of the Hydro scheme can be found.
Cambrian Safaris offers tours from Devils Bridge station to explore the upper reaches of the Rheidol valley and the surrounding hillsides from where there are stunning views back to the coast. It is possible to take a train from Aberystwyth at 10.30, arrive in Devils Bridge at 11.30, and enjoy a 4 hour tour and return in time for the train back to Aberystwyth at 4.15.
Born on this day 1910 in Oswestry
Dr. Robert Arthur Hughes, who was a medical missionary for the Presbyterian Church of Wales. He trained as a surgeon in London prior to working at the Welsh Mission Hospital in Shillong (the capital of the state of Assam in India), from 1939-1969, where under his direction, the hospital was able to employ more nurses than the rest of the hospitals in Assam combined. He also;
* Set up a travelling unit to dispense medicines and provide aid to the surrounding provinces.
* Worked on trying to get rid of malaria from the area.
* Introduced a treatment to alleviate pain from peptic ulcers.
* Introducing a rickets treatment in the infant population,
* Recognizing a protein calorie deficiency disorder called kwashiorkor in the Indian population,
* Founding the area’s first blood bank.
* Performing the first lower segment Caesarean section without antibiotics in India.
* Expanding educational training for medical and nursing organizations.
On 3rd December 1935, Felinfoel brewery produced Britain's first ever can of beer.
Felinfoel was the first brewery outside the USA to commercially can beer and it was to transform Britains alcohol buying habits. The cans were made from tinplate, produced in South Wales, which from the late 18th century until the early 20th dominated the world's production. So much so that in the early 1890s, 80% of all tinplate was produced in South Wales.
On 3rd December 2011, Shane Williams scored his 58th Test try in his final Welsh appearance, with the last move of the match against Australia. He scored his try with a celebratory somersault and was treated to a standing ovation at the final whistle.
Born on this day 1925 in Crynant, near Neath
Roy John - former Wales and Lions rugby international. John was capped 19 times for Wales and was a member of the 1950 and 1952 Grand Slam winning teams as well the Welsh side that beat New Zealand in 1953. In 1950 he was also selected for the Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, where his excellent ability in the line out as well as his swerve and dummy, earned him the nickname “The King”. John had a powerful standing leap and was reported to be able to leap up and grab the crossbar, which is 10 ft 6ins high.
On 3rd December 1984, the first McDonald's fast food restaurant in Wales opened in Cardiff.
* The McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, with approximately 68 million daily customers in 119 countries across 35,000 outlets, employing more than 1.7 million people.
* The company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald;
* In 2012, McDonald's Corporation had annual revenues of $27.5 billion, and profits of $5.5 billion.
Please join us in beautiful Niagara Falls, Ontario, for a very special weekend celebrating our Welsh heritage, music and culture.
This year we are very honoured to have the renowned
Bois y Castell
from the Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire, Wales as our guest choir, with their conductor, Nia Clwyd.
In addition, we will have all your usual favourites such as a welcome tea with harp entertainment, a traditional noson lawen with loads of talented participants, childrens activities, poetry reading, seminar , a banquet with a presentation of the annual Gold Award, concert afterglow and two glorious hymn singing sessions.
For more information please go to
www.ontariowelshfestival.ca or e-mail us at
publicity@ontariowelshfestival.ca or phone 613-725-2704
Download the flyer (.pdf) here or click on the image below.
On 2nd December 1868, the Whigs who under William Gladstone, had begun referring to themselves as Liberals, won the general election and became the dominant political party in Wales.
A brief history of the Liberal party, with specific reference to Wales;
1885 - In the general election held on 24th November 1885, the Liberals had a candidate in every Welsh constituency, winning 30 out of 34.
1887 - Gladstone, with the support of the Welsh Liberals, attempted to convince Parliament to accept Irish Home Rule. The proposal split the national party and Parliament rejected the measure.
1897 - The Liberal Council for Wales, who campaigned for Home Rule for Wales, was founded by David Lloyd George,
1902 - Lloyd George led a successful rebellion by the Liberal-run Welsh councils, whose refusal to implement the Conservative's hated Education Act made him a Liberal hero.
From 1905 until 1922, Welsh Liberals held some of the most senior political positions in government.
1906 - The Welsh Liberals reached their highest point, when 35 out of the 36 Welsh seats, returned a Liberal MP.
1908 - Liberal Prime Minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman died and was replaced by Herbert Asquith who appointed Lloyd George as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lloyd George, who had been a long opponent of the Poor Law in Britain, introduced the old age pension for people over seventy.
1909 - Lloyd George announced what became known as the People's Budget. In which, people on lower incomes were to pay lower taxes. After a long struggle with the House of Lords, he finally got his budget through parliament.
1910 - The Welsh Liberals fought the election using the slogan “The Liberals always deliver more than the Tories promise”.
1911 - Lloyd George's next reform was the National Insurance Act, which gave the British working classes the first contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment.
1913 - Lloyd George underwent a parliamentary inquiry into the claims of corruption involving shares in Marconi and although he had profited directly from the policies of the government, it was decided that he was not been guilty of corruption.
1915 - 1916 - After the outbreak of the war, the Conservatives began to question Asquith's abilities as a war leader and Lloyd George agreed to collaborate with the Conservatives, to remove Asquith from power. The coalition government led by Lloyd George gave the Welsh Liberal Party its first ever prime minister, but in Wales, there was much disagreement over whether or not to support the coalition.
1918 - After the war, Lloyd George wanted to bring in more reforms, but was frustrated the Conservative members of the coalition and eventually ousted from power.
During the 1920s, the Labour Party replaced the Liberals as the voice of opposition to the Conservatives and the Liberals went into decline, so much so that by 1926, Lloyd George was seen by the Liberals as a villain who was destroying their party.
1945 - In the year of the death of David Lloyd George, Welsh Liberals had just seven MPs and two of these, Gwilym and Megan Lloyd George, both the children of Lloyd George, defected to the Conservative and Labour parties, respectively.
1966 - Emlyn Hooson, set about rebuilding the Welsh Liberal Party establishing the Welsh Liberal party as a separate state party within the Liberal Party's federal structure.
1979 - The Welsh Liberals suffered from the Lib-Lab pact and support for the failed devolution referendum resulted in a poor election for the Liberals with over half of the 28 seats it contested losing their deposit.
1981 - The Liberals allied with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and it looked for a time as if the long-awaited post-war Liberal revival would occur in Wales.
1988 - The Liberals merged with the SDP to form the Liberal Democrats, but the new party’s fortune plummeted.
2001 - 2003 - The party were in a coalition with the Welsh Labour Party in the Welsh National Assembly, but this had no impact on the Welsh Liberal Democrats electoral fortunes as they remained stuck on six Assembly seats post 2003.
2010 The Liberal Democrats entered a Westminster coalition with the Conservatives.
This was one of five times in the last century that the village of Aber on the North Wales coast has experienced temperatures above 17C, during December or January.
The "foehn effect", occurs when southerly or southwesterly winds carrying damp air are forced upwards to go over the Welsh mountains and deposit the moisture as rain. The now drier winds then descend the other side of the mountain and are warmed by compression. Sometimes these winds reach sea level, bringing the warm dry air with them.
Michael Daniel Jones (2 March 1822 – 2 December 1898) - As a founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, Jones is recognised as the first to advocate a political solution to defending Welsh identity and, therefore, is seen as one of the most significant forerunners of Welsh nationalism.
Congregationalist minister, principal of Bala Congregational College and one of the fathers of modern Welsh nationalism, Jones is best remembered as a founder of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia known as Y Wladfa. His idea of a Welsh speaking colony or "little Wales beyond Wales", had come to him after he had spent some years in the United States, where he observed that Welsh speaking immigrants assimilated very quickly compared with other peoples and often lost much of their Welsh identity. Patagonia was chosen and Jones recruited settlers and provided the financing, it was chosen for its isolation and the Argentines' apparently generous offer of 100 square miles of land along the Chubut River (pictured) in exchange for settling the still-unconquered land of Patagonia for Argentina. Other countries that had been considered were Australia, New Zealand and Palestine.
Born on this day 1941 in Holywell
Mike England - former Wales soccer international, captain and manager.
Mike England won 44 Welsh caps and won the inaugural 1972 UEFA Cup with Spurs.
He managed Wales 1979 to 1987, but was deeply affected by the death of the Scottish manager Jock Stein, following a 1986 World Cup qualifying match between Wales and Scotland and retired from football shortly afterwards to manage a nursing home in North Wales.
On 2nd December 1876, Cardiff RFC played its first match, against Newport at Wentloog Marshes.
The club had come into existence on 22nd September 1876 as an amalgamation of the local Glamorgan and Wanderers clubs. The initial strip of a black shirt with a white skull and crossbones was deemed inappropriate, so the club adopted the black and blue striped kit of Cambridge University, which Thomas William Rees, a student at Cambridge, had brought back with him.
In 1881 won the South Wales Challenge Cup and later that year was one eleven clubs that formed the Welsh Rugby Union in Neath. Over the years, Cardiff has beaten South Africa, New Zealand and Australia and in 1991 were runners-up of the inaugural Heineken Cup competition.
On 1st December 1865, Llandrindod Wells was linked to the rail network for the first time
The history of Llandrindod is heavily connected beneficial effects of the local waters and although these would have been known as far back as Roman times, the development of the town only took place after the arrival of the railway in 1865, when it became a fashionable Victorian tourist destination.
The first attempt at developing the mainly agricultural area was in 1749 when a Mr Grosvenor built a large hotel on the banks of the present lake. This venture, however, was unsuccessful as the hotel acquired a dubious reputation and closed shortly after 1787.
Then the railway arrived, bringing visitors from London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham and the town took off, with hotels and apartments springing up to cater for the approximated 80,000 visitors that visited the town every year.
The depression that followed the First World War and the popularity of seaside holidays saw a dramatic decline in the number of visitors to the town. But in recent years, the town has again started to see the visitor numbers increase.
On 1st December 1835, John Owen, mayor of Newport, cut the first sod as construction began on Newport Docks.
However, despite its initial success, it soon became apparent that the dock was too small to deal with the rapidly increasing trade and in 1868 work began on the Alexandra Dock, which opened in 1875. This along with the downturn in trade in the 1920’s led to the Town Dock being closed in October 1930.
On 1st December 1860, an explosion at the Black Vein Colliery at Risca killed more than 140 men and boys as well as 28 pit ponies. They called this pit, the Death Pit because the methane gas was so bad, causing regular explosions and killing so many.
There is a Memorial Stone to the 50 men & boys who were unclaimed or unidentified on the hillside on the opposite side of the valley, which was donated by Lord Tredegar.
Today is the feast day of Saint Tudwal
Saint Tudwal - Born c. 528 is said to be a son of Heol Mawr and brought up in Lydstep (nr Tenby), from where he travelled to Ireland to learn the scriptures, before becoming a hermit on what is now called Saint Tudwal's Island East, which is off the Llyn Peninsula. Later, Tudwal travelled to Brittany and settled in Lan Pabu, where he founded a monastery under the patronage of his cousin, King Deroch of Domnonee.
Tudwal was later made Bishop of Treguier on the insistence of Childebert I, King of the Franks and is considered one of the seven founder saints of Brittany. In iconography, Tudwal is shown as a bishop holding a dragon, now the symbol of Treguier.
On 1st December 2005, the village of Ystradfellte in the Brecon Beacons was the last in Wales to be connected to mains electricity.
Ystradfellte is chiefly known in Welsh history for being the spot where the Welsh nobleman and rebel leader Llywelyn Bren surrendered at the conclusion of his revolt of 1316. Llywelyn, who gave himself up on the condition that his men be spared, was put to death in 1318 at Cardiff. The village is popular with tourists for hillwalking or to visit the nearby waterfalls and caves, such as Porth yr Ogof, the biggest cave entrance in Wales.
Gerald of Wales made his first visit to Rome on November 30th 1199
Gerald of Wales (c. 1146 – c. 1223), also known as Gerallt Gymro or Giraldus Cambrensis, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler. Born at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire, he was of mixed Norman and Welsh descent. His father, William FitzOdo de Barry, was one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons in Wales and his mother Angharad was a first cousin of Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord Rhys.
Gerald became a royal clerk and in 1185 was chosen to accompany the future King John on an expedition to Ireland. He wrote an account of this journey and followed it with an account of Henry's conquest of Ireland.
Gerald was consequently selected to accompany Baldwin, the Archbishop of Canterbury on a tour of Wales in 1188, the purpose being to recruit for the Third Crusade. The 'Itinerarium Cambriae' (1191), an account of that journey, and the ' Descriptio Cambriae' (1194) remain valuable historical documents, significant for their descriptions of Welsh and Norman culture.
Born on this day 1945 in Brecon
Roger Glover - bass guitar player, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the bassist for the hard rock band Deep Purple. More recently, Glover has developed a solo career and has produced five albums to date.
Born on this day 1852 in Llangernyw, Conwy.
Sir Henry Jones - philosopher and academic.
Henry Jones studied at Bangor Normal College, then on deciding to enter the Presbyterian ministry, he went to the University of Glasgow and later studied in Oxford and Germany. He was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Wales and the 'penny rate' for education. Jones was knighted in 1912.
The new covered market hall at Builth Wells was opened on 30th November 1877.
Despite being an increasingly prosperous Spa town, in the 1870's, Builth – the main market town in the area – had no covered market hall, with farm produce being sold from stalls amongst the High Street livestock market.
In 1876, John Davies formed a limited company to construct a building which would combine market hall, assembly rooms and concert hall.
The Assembly Rooms could seat 500; at street level was a row of shops, and the market hall was at river level.
The building was opened with a grand ceremony attended by a large and fashionable crowd including 'a good sprinkling of the aristocracy of the neighbourhood.' The celebrations included concerts to raise funds for the clock that was to adorn the Hall's spire.
In November 1916, Christopher Williams visited the scene of the Welsh losses at Mametz Wood during World War I and later painted his famous "The Welsh at Mametz Wood" at the request of David Lloyd George.
Today is the feast day of Saint Sadwrn Farchog (the Knight), deemed by some scholars to be St. Giles, the saint who brought Christianity to England
Sadwrn was born c.485 in Brittany and was a brother of Illtud. He relinquished a military career to follow his brother's religious mission in Wales. He founded the church of Llansadwrn in Carmarthenshire and then lived as a hermit on Anglesey; a church dedicated to him stands on the site of his cell. Sadwrn is buried at All Saints' Church near Northampton.
Born on this day 1973 in Cardiff,
Ryan Giggs - Wales soccer international.
Giggs first played for Manchester United during the 1990-91 season and made over 1000 competitive appearances. He is the most decorated player in English football history and was the first player to win two consecutive PFA Young Player of the Year awards (1992 and 1993) He also won the PFA Player of the Year award in 2009.
On 29 Nov 1644, a battle took place near Dyfi Bridge, in which Sir Thomas Myddleton of Chirk Castle, commander of the Parliamentary army, was victorious. Many Royalist supporters were killed and their houses in Machynlleth burned down.
Stradey Park was the home of Llanelli RFC from the first game on Saturday 29 November 1879 when Llanelli played Neath in the Welsh Challenge Cup, until the last ever game on 24 October 2008, an EDF Energy Cup match between the Scarlets and Bristol. A new stadium, Parc y Scarlets, was built on the eastern outskirts of Llanelli, which opened on 15 November 2008. Stradey Park was demolished in 2010, to be replaced with housing.
The ground hosted many memorable games, including Llanelli's defeat of Australia in 1967 and the All Blacks in 1972, as well as being the venue in 1893 of Wales' first ever Triple Crown. A distinctive feature of the ground was the scarlet saucepans placed on each goalpost to represent Llanelli being a major tin plating centre, as well as to exemplify the traditional club anthem, "Sosban Fach."
Owain ap Gruffydd c. 1100 – 28 November 1170) was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death. He was a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule and the first native prince to adopt the title Prince of the Welsh. He is known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from the king of Powys of the same name, who was known as "Owain Cyfeiliog".
1132 - His elder brother Cadwallon was killed, leaving Owain as his father's heir.
1136 - Owain and his brother Cadwaladr won a major victory over the Normans near Cardigan and annexed Ceredigion into their father's territory.
1137 - Gruffydd, his father, died and Owain inherited the well-established kingdom but had to share it with Cadwaladr.
1143 - Cadwaladr was implicated in a murder and Owain stripped him of his lands in north Ceredigion. Owain now ruled alone over most of north Wales.
1150 - Owain captured Rhuddlan and was victorious in battle at Coleshill against Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys and Earl Ranulf of Chester.
1154 - Henry II became King of England.
1155 - A further quarrel with his brother led to Cadwaladr being driven into exile, King Henry II giving him lands in Shropshire.
1157 - Henry invaded Gwynedd with the support of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys and Cadwaladr. Henry's forces ravaged eastern Gwynedd and destroyed many churches, whilst Owain's men ambushed the royal army at Ewloe in a narrow, wooded valley, routing it completely with King Henry himself narrowly avoiding capture. However, Owain was eventually forced to come to terms with Henry, being obliged to surrender Rhuddlan.
1160 - Madog ap Maredudd died, enabling Owain to regain territory in Powys.
1165 - King Henry again invaded Gwynedd in 1165, and was met by an alliance of all the Welsh princes, with Owain as the undisputed leader. The Welsh weather forced Henry to retreat. In fury, Henry mutilated Welsh hostages, including two of Owain's sons.
1167 - Owain regained his eastern conquests, recapturing Rhuddlan and Prestatyn Castles.
Owain died in 1170 and was buried in Bangor Cathedral.
Carry on up the Khyber, released on this day 1968 was partially filmed in Wales.
Scenes were filmed below the summit of Snowdon, with the Watkin Path representing the Khyber Pass. In September 2005, a plaque was unveiled in Snowdonia to mark the spot where the film was shot.
Born on this day 1964 in London to Welsh parents,
Sian Williams - journalist and current affairs presenter. She is best known as a co-presenter of BBC Breakfast and the BBC News at Six. Williams spent over a decade reporting and editing news programmes with BBC Radio, before moving into television news.
During BBC Cymru Wales TV series Coming Home, Williams discovered that she was the first member of her family to have been born outside Wales in the 350 years of her known family history. She said, "I think it's not about where you're born, it's about where generations of your family come from. I can now proudly say I'm Welsh, it doesn't matter that I was born in Paddington, I'm Welsh, yes I am, and very proud of it too."
Portmeirion is a popular tourist village on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in Gwynedd. It was designed and built between 1925 and 1975 by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between in the style of an Italian village.
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis wanted to evoke the atmosphere of the Mediterranean and particularly that of the village of Portofino.
Portmeirion has served as the location for many films and television dramas, most famously as The Village in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, which became a cult classic. Fans continue to visit Portmeirion, which hosts annual Prisoner conventions.
The Owain Glyndŵr Society was founded in November 1996 to mark the six-hundredth anniversary of Owain Glyndwr's revolt in September 1400. On September 16th 2000, the exact anniversary, a memorial stone was unveiled in Machynlleth, the town where Glyndwr held his Parliament. The inscription on the stone reads;
'Owain Glyndŵr instigated the Welsh Revolt against the rule of Henry IV of England. Although initially successful, the uprising was eventually put down Glyndŵr was last seen in 1412 and was never captured'
.
27th November 2004 was the opening weekend of the Wales Millennium Centre (Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) in Cardiff Bay.
The Centre comprises a large auditorium and two smaller performance areas, with shops, bars and restaurants. It houses the Welsh National Orchestra and the Welsh National Opera, as well as dance and theatre companies.
The iconic domed roof is inscribed with two lines of poetry by Welsh poet Gwyneth Lewis. The Welsh version is 'Creu Gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais awen,' translated as "Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration". The English reads 'In These Stones Horizons Sing.'
The Great Storm of 27th November 1703 was the most severe storm ever recorded in Southern Britain, with 120-mph wind causing widespread damage.
* In Wales, there was major damage to Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.
* At sea, many ships were wrecked, with about 1,500 seamen killed.
* The Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed, killing six occupants.
* 4,000 oak trees were lost in the New Forest alone.
* HMS Association was blown from Harwich to Gothenburg in Sweden.
* The roof was blown off Westminster Abbey.
* Queen Anne had to shelter in the cellar of St. James's Palace.
* At Wells, Bishop Richard Kidder was killed when two chimney stacks in the palace fell on his bed as he slept.
St Davids Cathedral
Dewi Sant is thought to have been born c.487 and died 1st March 589. David's mother Non was a nun at Ty Gwyn (Whitesands Bay) who was allegedly raped by Prince Sandde of Ceredigion. Non named her son, Dewidd, but he was commonly called Dewi. David is an Anglicised version.
David undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Saints Teilo and Padarn, where they are said to have been consecrated bishops. On his return he founded the monastery of Mynyw (St. Davids), which became a centre of learning, attracting many pupils from many different areas. King Constantine of Cornwall became a monk at Mynyw, as did St. Aeddan from Ireland. David's order was strict, reputedly based on that of Egyptian monks. The brothers ate only one meal a day of bread with vegetables and salt, and they drank only water. They were a silent order and their days were filled with prayer and hard manual labour. They kept bees and cared for many pilgrims and travellers. David himself ate only bread and herbs and drank only water, becoming known as Dewi Dyfyrwr (David the Waterman) and as a self-imposed penance, he would sometimes recite Scripture while standing up to his neck in a lake of cold water. Despite his ascetic lifestyle and meagre diet, he was apparently tall and physically strong.
Between 645 and 1097, the community was attacked many times by raiders, including the Vikings and many of the Bishops were murdered by raiders and marauders.
1081 - William the Conquerer visited St David's to pray, recognising it as a holy a place.
1090 - The scholar, Rhigyfarch wrote his “Life of David."
1123 - Pope Calixtus II granted a Papal privilege making St. Davids a centre of pilgrimage, decreeing that “Two pilgrimages to St David's is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem."
1171 - King Henry II's visit saw the following of David increase – and the need for a larger Cathedral.
1540 - During The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII, the body of Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, was brought from Carmarthen to be entombed in front of the High Altar.
1649 - 1658 - During the Puritan Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, the Cathedral was all but destroyed by Cromwell’s forces, and the lead stripped from the Bishop’s Palace roof.
1793 - The Welsh architect John Nash was commissioned to restore the West Front, to repair the damage done one hundred and fifty years previously.
1862-70 - Within a century the Nash West Front had become unstable, and the whole building was restored by George Gilbert Scott.
1995 - The British Government re-instated the title of "city" to St Davids.
The Worm's Head promontory, so named by Viking settlers because of its sea-serpent shape, is the westernmost point of the Gower peninsula. The island is joined to the mainland by a rocky causeway which is only exposed at low tide.
The young Dylan Thomas fell asleep on the Inner Head and missed the tide:
"I stayed on that Worm from dusk to midnight, sitting on that top grass, frightened to go further in because of the rats and because of things I am ashamed to be frightened of. Then the tips of the reef began to poke out of the water and, perilously, I climbed along them to the shore."
The Outer Head is a breeding ground for Herring Gulls, Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes, with the occasional appearance of Puffins.
The Outer Head is also home to Worm's Head Cave, a natural blow hole which emits loud booming sounds, giving rise to a local saying - "The old Worm's blowing, time for a boat to be going".
