On 9th May 1956, the Gower Peninsula became the first area in Britain to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Tintern Abbey was founded on 9th May 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow.

Tintern Abbey is situated on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in the village of Tintern, Monmouthshire. It was the first Cistercian Abbey in Wales and only the second in Britain and was run by monks from L'Aumône, in the diocese of Blois in France. It also provided work for local people who provided it with services and worked on its agricultural land.

1326 King Edward II stayed at the Abbey for two nights.

1349 The Abbey was reported as being short of labour, as a result of the Black Death that swept the country.

1405 Abbey properties were destroyed by the Welsh during the uprising of Owain Glyndwr.

1536 Abbot Wyche surrendered Tintern Abbey and all its estates to King Henry VIII's representatives as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with all valuables from the Abbey being sent Royal Treasury

1782 After the publication of the book Observations on the River Wye by the Reverend William Gilpin, it became fashionable to visit the wild picturesque Wye Valley and the Abbey, in particular, was regularly frequented by romantic tourists.

1798 William Wordsworth visited and composed his famous poem "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey".

1822 An access road was opened through the valley, before which the Abbey was mostly only accessible by river.

1901 The Abbey was bought by the crown and recognised as a monument of national importance.

1914 Major structural repairs were undertaken.

1984 The Abbey was taken over by Cadw.

Born this day 1918 in Llangefni, Anglesey

Sir John "Kyffin" Williams - widely respected landscape painter.

Born this day 1849 in Rhosllannerchrugog

James Sauvage - World-renowned baritone singer, who became friendly with David Lloyd George, after performing a personal concert Lloyd George's mother, who was very ill and unable to attend Sauvage's concert at the National Eisteddfod.

Sauvage, who from at the age of nine had worked at a local colliery, left for America at eighteen to find work in the Ohio coalfields. He soon came to the attention of a touring Welsh concert party, who he joined and with whom, he toured the USA. When the party returned to Wales, Sauvage came with them and soon embarked on a successful solo career. He later returned and settled in the USA, where he became Professor of Singing at Vassar College in New York.