1st-8th August. 

The National Eisteddfod of Wales, begins today in Meifod, near Welshpool.  The Eisteddfod alternates every year between North and South and is the most important cultural event of Wales.

The 1st of August is the day Lleu Llaw Gyffes,  Lord of Gwynedd is celebrated. 

Illegitimate, nameless, rejected by his mother, cuckolded and betrayed by his wife and murdered by his neighbour,  Lleu Llaw Gyffes  may seem an unlikely folk hero. However, his perseverance against odds seemingly stacked against him, his resilience, and his ability to bounce back every time, even from death, make him enduringly appealing to readers of the Mabinogi.  

This is his story:   

Arianrhod, the high-born niece of the great magician Math fab Mathonwy and sister to Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, claimed to be a virgin. However, her lack of chastity was revealed when she gave birth to Dylan, and to his twin, an unnamed male child whose existence was concealed by his uncle, Gwydion.  Some years later, Gwydion presented the boy to his mother, who flew into a rage at this unwelcome reminder of her shameful loss of virginity. She placed a 'tynged' or curse on the child that he would forever remain nameless unless she herself would name him, something that she, of course, never intended to do.  After considering the problem for a year or so, Gwydion devised a cunning plan. A master of magic and disguise, Gwydion assumed the identity of an itinerant cobbler of great skill, with the nameless child as his apprentice. The shoes he crafted were of the finest, softest leather and exquisitely wrought, and soon became widely desired by all the noble women of the district.  Faced with the prospect of being the only woman without a pair of designer Gwydion shoes, Arianrhod sent for a pair. Gwydion sent her a pair which were deliberately too small, then a pair which were too big. Arianrhod had no choice other than to visit the mysterious shoemaker for a personal fitting. While she was there, the child aimed a cobbler's needle at a wren resting on a nearby post. So true was the boy's aim that he hit the bird between the tendon and the bone of the leg, prompting Arianrhod to remark, "the fair-haired boy has a skilful hand!"  At this pronouncement, Gwydion revealed his true identity and declared that henceforth the boy would be called  Lleu Llaw Gyffes,  'the skilful handed fair one.' 

Furious at having been tricked, Arianrhod placed a second 'tynged' on the boy; that he would never bear arms unless she should dress him in them herself. This implied that Lleu would remain forever powerless, vulnerable, emasculated and unable to be a warrior.  Not to be outdone, Gwydion disguised himself and Lleu as travelling storytellers or bards and smooth-talked their way into Arianrhod's castle, and performed wonderful tales and ballads. Towards the end of the evening, Gwydion used his magic to conjure an illusion of sound, as though the castle were being attacked by a marauding horde.  In fear and panic, Arianrhod, sending for armour and weapons, pleaded with the itinerant players to help protect her and her castle. While speedily dressing himself in armour, Gwydion urged Arianrhod to dress his companion. When she had done so, Gwydion triumphantly revealed that she had done exactly what she had sworn not to do, namely arming her son for battle.   

Arianrhod's fury was legendary, and in her third tynged, she proclaimed that Lleu would never have a wife from the human race.  Temporarily outmanoeuvred, Gwydion sought the advice and assistance of his uncle, the renowned and powerful wizard Math fab Mathonwy. Together they wrought strange magic, and fashioned a woman from the flowers of the field and the forest, and imbued in her the life-force of wild nature. They named her Blodeuwedd and married her to Lleu Llaw Gyffes, who was both grateful and ecstatic.  Love's young dream was not to last, unfortunately, as by trying to tame the spirit of field and forest, they had created a creature without compunction. Blodeuwedd was feral and feckless, and her lustful eye soon wandered from the morally upright Lleu.  She engaged in a passionate affair with a passing lord, Gronw Pebr, who was so infatuated with Blodeuwedd that he agreed to conspire with her in arranging the murder of Lleu in order to be with her forever. Gwydion had cast a powerful protective spell on Lleu's life so that he could only be killed under almost impossible to arrange circumstances. Using her womanly wiles, Blodeuwedd discovered these secret terms and arranged their execution, culminating in an assassination attempt by Gronw on Lleu's life.  Despite being mortally wounded by Gronw's spear, with Gwydion's intervention and Math's magic, Lleu survived to seek his revenge.  Blodeuwedd being banished to the forest in the shape of an owl, forever deprived of the light of day, Lleu sought just revenge on Gronw Pebr. He was brought to the exact spot and circumstance of the attempt on Lleu's life, and despite pleading mitigating circumstances and requesting the protection of a rock shield, the force of Lleu's spear thrust pierced the rock and killed Gronw.  Lleu seized Gronw's land and became supreme Lord of Gwynedd.  

The Battle of Colby Moor, which took place near Wiston, Pembrokeshire, during The English Civil War, on August 1, 1645, was fought between the forces of Parliament and the Royalist army.  It was to be the final confrontation between the two factions following three years of bitter struggle in west Wales.

Pembroke Castle was an important stronghold for Parliament as it controlled the Milford Haven waterway and the important sea route to Ireland.  In early 1644, the garrison at Pembroke, led by the mayor, John Poyer, Colonel Rice Powell and  Major-GeneralRowland Laugharne with support from the Parliamentary navy moved against several of the nearby Royalist strongholds.  Then in the summer of 1645, in retaliation to the threat by Royalist to burn the cornfields around Narberth, Laugharne decided to attack the last remaining Royalist camp at Haverfordwest. 

29th July - Laugharne marched northwards from Pembroke with two guns, 550 soldiers and 200 horse and dragoons.  At Canaston  Bridge,  he was joined by  250 seamen from the frigate Warwick.  

1st August - The Royalists moved out of Haverfordwest. They numbered 450 horse and 1,100 foot-soldiers, with four field guns. The two armies came face to face at Colby Moor. For the first  hour,  the action was very fierce, with neither side gaining the advantage.  Eventually,  the Royalist lines buckled and a chaotic retreat began to Haverfordwest Castle, during which weapons and carriages were abandoned by men fleeing for their lives. 

5th August - Haverfordwest Castle was bombarded and stormed by the Parliamentarians, with 120 Royalist soldiers and 20 officers taken prisoner. 

From Haverfordwest, Laugharne moved swiftly to recover other Royalist garrisons in Pembrokeshire and by the end of September 1645, all of Pembrokeshire was under Parliamentarian control.  The gentry of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire declared for Parliament during September. The Royalists abandoned Cardigan and surrendered Carmarthen to Laugharne on 12 October, Newcastle Emlyn, in December and Aberystwyth, in April 1646 after a sustained siege. 

In all, the Royalists lost 150 men killed at Colby Moor, whilst over 700 were taken prisoner. Some of the dead were buried in a mound still visible in the fields near the site of the battle. Others are said to lie in unmarked graves along the northern perimeter of the graveyard of St Mary’s Church,  Wiston , where a memorial to the battle may be seen.  

Landscape painter Richard Wilson, was born in Penegoes, Montgomeryshire on 1st August 1714.  Wilson was one of the founder members in 1768 of the Royal Academy and has been described as '...the most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country.'  Later, his landscapes were acknowledged as an influence by both Constable and Turner.   

Gŵyl Galan Awst (Lughnasadh) Celtic communities marked the beginning of the harvest season with community gatherings and festivals.  The Christian church, probably in an attempt to convert followers of the old tradition, established the ritual of blessing the fields and celebrating the first wheat harvest with Lammas Day when it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop.  Lammastide was also the traditional time of year when shops would be decorated and people would dress in bright colours and wear ribbons. There were also craft festivals, marches, ceremonial plays and dances.

Later, Christian communities shifted the hharvest celebration to the end of the gathering in September rather than at the beginning in August.  The modern British tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches began when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall in 1843.  Later hymns such as "We plough the fields and scatter" and "All things bright and beautiful" helped to popularise his idea of the harvest festival and spread the annual custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the Harvest Festival service.  

Aberdare  Low-Level  railway station was opened by the Taff Vale Railway Company on 1st August 1846 on the line from Abercynon to Cardiff. Aberdare High Level) was opened in 1851 on the adjacent line from the Vale of Neath,

Aberdare situated 3.5 miles south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, was little more than a village at the end of the eighteenth century, but grew rapidly in population owing to the abundance of coal and iron ore and the population of the whole parish, 1,486 in 1801, had increased to 53,779 by 1911. A large proportion of the migrants came from the rural parts of west Wales which had been affected by an agricultural depression. It has since declined, owing to the loss of most of the heavy industry, with the population at the 2001 census being 31,705.

The Coal mining and iron smelting industries grew significantly during the industrial revolution, particularly as  coal-derived  coke replaced charcoal in the smelting process. Between 1750 and 1800, the availability of limestone, coal and iron ore at the heads of the valleys led to a number of ironworks being founded there, such as Cyfarthfa and Dowlais works.

Canals were built to bring the iron  down  the valleys to the coast for export and later the canal company and local quarries built tramroads from the canal to connect with the nearby industries.

In 1804, Richard Trevithick built a steam locomotive at Penydarren Ironworks near Merthyr Tydfil and drove the world's first  steam-hauled  train along the Merthyr Tramroad from the ironworks to the canal basin at Abercynon. This combined with congestion on the canal encouraged the appeal of a quicker railway route.

In 1835 , the owner of the Plymouth Iron Works, Anthony Hill, asked his friend Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to investigate the building of a railway from Merthyr to Cardiff and to Bute Docks and on 21 June 1836, Royal Assent was given to The Taff Vale Railway Company's Act, allowing for the creation of the Taff Vale Railway Company.  

On 1st August 1872 - Minffordd mainline railway station opened.

Minffordd station is unusual, as it is actually two adjacent stations operated entirely independently of each other. The mainline station (Minffordd Junction) opened on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then newly built Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli (latterly to become part of the Cambrian Railways) passes under the existing narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from the quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog for export from Porthmadog.  It also carried passengers from 1865 and the interchange between standard gauge and narrow gauge railways in theUK has never been common and Minffordd station, which in 1872 was the earliest to provide such a facility is still in regular use.

From 1865, it also carried passengers and from 1872, was the earliest station in the UK to provide an interchange between standard gauge and narrow gauge, a facility which is still in regular use.  

Llandudno Pier, which was opened on 1st August 1877 is the longest pier in Wales at 2,295 feet (700 m) and is very unusual in that it has two entrances, either side of the Grand Hotel.  The Pier, which was voted "Pier of the Year 2005" was used for the 2002 TV production of The Forsyte Saga and a 2013 advert for Volkswagon.  It has been described as being like an Indian Gothic style Maharajah's palace zooming out of the sea.