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Once derelict, the Nant Gwrtheyrn quarry cottages now boast four-star accommodation as part of the 5m renovations First Minister Carwyn Jones has officially opened a 5m redevelopment of a Victorian quarry village and Welsh language centre in Gwynedd.
It is hoped the renovation of Nant Gwrtheyrn on the Lln peninsula will turn the location into a tourism hub.
Tucked away in a remote blind valley, the village was once home to 200 quarry workers and their families.
Abandoned in the 1970s, it now boasts four-star accommodation, and a heritage centre.
See 'before' photo and read more here.
Glaslyn osprey's early Porthmadog visit
The male osprey has started preparing the nest ready for his partner to arrive One of Porthadmog's most loyal visitors has returned a week earlier than expected.
The male Glaslyn osprey has started preparing the nest for his other half who is expected anytime soon.
The only known breeding pair in north Wales, they usually don't arrive from wintering in west Africa until later in March.
Read more here.
The Wales Millennium Centre had support from Japanese firms and people when it started The Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff has opened a book of condolence after Japan's earthquake and tsunami.
The centre has two rooms named after the donations it received in its early days from Japanese firms and people.
Corporate affairs head Bet Davies said: "Our staff were upset whenever they passed the Japan Room and felt so helpless - so we have set this up."
Read more here .
Llandaff Cathedral celebration of Elvis's gospel greats
Elvis Presley as he was in the 1950s In the 1950s some scandalised clergymen and parents disparagingly dubbed Presley 'Elvis The Pelvis', and warned of his degenerate influence on young people,
Little could they have imagined that 60 years later, the singer's life would be celebrated in not one, but three UK cathedrals.
But on Friday his life and love will be commemorated in Cardiff's Llandaff Cathedral, as part of a tour by his Las Vegas backing group, The Imperials, in partnership with the Morriston Orpheus Choir.
The tour has been organised by life-long Elvis fan, Carol Pugh, from Merthyr Tydfil, who runs the Elvis in Wales fan club.
"For some it will seem strange that Elvis is being remembered in a place of worship, but times move on, and nowadays you'll find plenty of vicars and bishops who're happy to admit that they're Elvis fans."
Read full story here .
"The last full Moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. "I'd say it's worth a look."
Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. It is an ellipse with one side (perigee) about 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other (apogee): diagram. Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the Moon's orbit.
Super Full Moon (movie strip, 550px)
Above: Perigee moons are as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons. [video]
"The full Moon of March 19th occurs less than one hour away from perigee--a near-perfect coincidence1 that happens only 18 years or so," adds Chester.
A perigee full Moon brings with it extra-high "perigean tides," but this is nothing to worry about, according to NOAA. In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimeters (an inch or so) higher than usual. Local geography can amplify the effect to about 15 centimeters (six inches)--not exactly a great flood.
Super Full Moon (moon illusion, 200px)
The Moon looks extra-big when it is beaming through foreground objects--a.k.a. "the Moon illusion."
Indeed, contrary to some reports circulating the Internet, perigee Moons do not trigger natural disasters. The "super moon" of March 1983, for instance, passed without incident. And an almost-super Moon in Dec. 2008 also proved harmless.
Okay, the Moon is 14% bigger than usual, but can you really tell the difference? It's tricky. There are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon can seem much like any other.
The best time to look is when the Moon is near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. On March 19th, why not let the "Moon illusion" amplify a full Moon that's extra-big to begin with? The swollen orb rising in the east at sunset may seem so nearby, you can almost reach out and touch it.
Don't bother. Even a super perigee Moon is still 356,577 km away. That is, it turns out, a distance of rare beauty.
See the ScienceCast of this story on YouTube at:
Be afraid, be very afraid! You know who you are!
BENNINGTON, Vt. A Bennington neighborhood is being stalked by a renegade gray squirrel, but a Vermont state veterinarian says it's possible the animal is upset because it's homesick for the people who raised it.
At least three people on East Street in Bennington say they've been attacked by a squirrel over the last few weeks.
Kevin McDonald said he was shoveling snow recently when a squirrel jumped onto him. "All of a sudden I felt something on my back and shoulders, scratching," McDonald said.
McDonald said his first concern was that the squirrel might have been rabid, but Vermont Public Health Veterinarian Robert Johnson said there has never been a documented case of a squirrel passing rabies to a human.
McDonald said the day after he was attacked he saw a neighbor battling a gray squirrel. He later learned that another person on the street had also been attacked.
Game Warden Travis Buttle told the Bennington Banner he'd spoken to two people on East Street, but not McDonald, about the squirrel. One woman was bitten on the back of the neck and was undergoing preventative treatment for rabies, but Johnson said he didn't think the squirrel posed a rabies threat because the animal would already be dead from the disease.
One possibility is that the squirrel was raised by humans and then released into the wild. "They've lost their fear of people and they go ballistic (when they encounter a person) because it's not their human," Johnson said. Another possibility is that the squirrel suffered some sort of injury.
"The take-home message is don't try to take care of wildlife because it's very hard to return them to the wild," Johnson said. "A tame squirrel is a loose cannon sometimes."
Wales Castles are Britains most popular attraction with foreign visitors according to a new Visit Britain report looking at what overseas travellers want to see most when they come to Britain.
Wales castles proved to be more popular than Buckingham Palace and shopping in Harrods.
Book tells story of highest-ranking Welsh Guard officer's death in Afghanistan
By mona everett, 2011-03-14
Note: Interestingly, the main article did not name the book! I dug around and found it: 'Dead Men Risen: the Welsh Guards and the Real Story of Britains War in Afghanistan by Toby Harnden is published by Quercus Publishing at 18.99 and available from Telegraph Books at 14.99 plus 1.25 p&p. Call 0844 871 1515 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
You can read background by the author here.
Thetruth about the events surrounding the death of the highest ranking officer to be killed in the Afghanistan conflict has been revealed in a new book.
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe was killed in action in July 2009 while commanding the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in Helmand Province.
Now, a new book brings to light the concerns Lt Col Thorneloe had about the safety of his battalion before his death.
The book, by Toby Harnden of the Daily Telegraph, reveals Lt Col Thorneloe was getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of men and equipment he had for the battalions tasks.
He told one of his officers that he believed Operation Panthers Claw was flawed.
