Wales

The Dylan Thomas Centre is an arts centre located in the Maritime Quarter in Swansea, Wales, UK. Formerly the city's Guildhall, which was originally... built in 1825, the Dylan Thomas Centre was restored and refurbished to host the UK Year of Literature and Writing in 1995. It was opened in 1995 by American ex-President Jimmy Carter, one of the world's most famous Dylan Thomas enthusiasts , and has permanent exhibition on the life and work of Dylan Thomas, as well as a restaurant and bar, a bookshop cafe, conference rooms and a theatre. The centre houses the permanent ‘Man and Myth’ exhibition, based on the largest collection of memorabilia of its kind in the world. It is designed to appeal to the Dylan expert and interested visitor alike. This interactive exhibition explores Dylan’s life and work through a variety of media and includes letters, books, worksheets and photographs. The Dylan Thomas Centre is home to a year-round programme of literary events, including book launches, plays, poetry evenings, changing exhibitions and science talks. It hosts the annual Dylan Thomas Festival held between Dylan’s birth and death dates, 27 October to 9 November.
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The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team... and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, boxing and many music concerts, including Tina Turner, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, U2, Stereophonics, Paul McCartney, and the Tsunami Relief concert. It was built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup. The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union . The stadium was designed by a team led by architects Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture, who merged to become HOK Sport Venue Event, which would be renamed Populous in early 2009. WS Atkins were the structural engineers, and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.
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The Newport Transporter Bridge is a transporter bridge that crosses the River Usk in Newport, South Wales. It is a Grade I listed structure.... Designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, it was built in 1906 and opened by Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar on 12 September 1906. The span is an example of the very rare transporter bridge concept, of which only eight remain in use worldwide. The bridge is the crossing lowest on the River Usk. The design was chosen because the river banks are very low at the desired crossing point where an ordinary bridge would need a very long approach ramp to attain sufficient height to allow ships to pass under, and a ferry could not be used during low tide at the site. The height of the towers is 242 feet and the height of the horizontal beam above the road is 177 feet . The transporter platform or gondola travels the 645 feet between the towers at ten feet per second, powered from the engine room. This Transporter Bridge is the largest of the eight which remain worldwide, and the oldest of its type in Britain.
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Tredegar House, Newport is a mansion in the unitary authority area of Newport. "The grandest and most exuberant country house" formerly in... Monmouthshire and one of the "outstanding houses of the Restoration period in the whole of Britain", the mansion stands in the 90 acre Tredegar Park. It is a Grade I listed building as at 3 March 1952. The earliest surviving part of the building dates back to the late 15th century. The home was originally built of stone and was very grand indeed, grand enough for Charles I to visit. Between 1664 and 1672, however, William Morgan decided to rebuild the house on a larger scale from red brick, at that time a rare building material in Wales. The name of Inigo Jones has been linked with the building - but this is wishful thinking, and it seems we will never know who the architect was. In his 1882 publication, local historian Octavius Morgan provides a plan of an intricate garden maze which was in place prior to the 1660s improvements and which probably dated from the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
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The Battle of Stalling Down is a battle reputed to have taken place in the late autumn or early winter of 1403, between the supporters of the Welsh... leader Owain Glyndŵr and those of King Henry IV of England. It was part of the Glyndŵr Rising or Welsh Revolt of 1400-1415. Stalling Down is a rolling area of open land a few miles east of the town of Cowbridge, now the common of the quaint village of St.Hilary in the Vale of Glamorgan. The exact site of the battle and the precise details of the action are not known. The general site is known locally as Bryn Owain, meaning Owain's Hill. The site was known as Stallington, evolving to Stalling Down. A Roman road runs over the hill as it traverses the area and would have been a convenient route for moving a very large army along for the English. The Welsh army also included a French contingent assimilated into forces from Morgannwg led by Rhys Gethin and Cadwgan, Lord of Glyn Rhondda commanding the contingent from the Rhondda Valleys region. Cadwgan had a home at Aberochwy, near what is today Treorchy. He fought using a battleaxe as his weapon of choice and was later known as Cadwgan of the Bloody Axe.
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The Battle of Bryn Glas, was fought on 22 June 1402, near the towns of Knighton and Presteigne in Powys. It was a great victory for the Welsh rebels... under Owain Glyndŵr, and it resulted in the prolongation of the Welsh rebellion and the destabilisation of English politics for several years afterwards. Owain Glyndŵr's revolt occurred against a background of instability in the English monarchy. King Richard II of England had become alienated from many of the nobles, and had been overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV of England. In Wales and the Welsh Marches, there were still many supporters of the deposed Richard, who died in captivity in 1400. In that year, Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, a supporter of the new King Henry, had unlawfully seized some of Glyndwr's lands and falsely caused charges of treason to be brought against him. In response, Glyndwr declared himself the true Prince of Wales, and began a rebellion.
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The Battle of Hatfield Chase was fought on October 12, 633 at Hatfield Chase near Doncaster, Yorkshire, in Anglo-Saxon England between the... Northumbrians under Edwin and an alliance of the Welsh of Gwynedd under Cadwallon ap Cadfan and the Mercians under Penda. The site was a marshy area about 8 miles NE of Doncaster on the south bank of the River Don. It was a decisive victory for the Welsh and Mercians: Edwin was killed and his army was defeated, leading to the temporary collapse of the Northumbrian state. Edwin, the most powerful ruler in Britain at the time, had apparently defeated Cadwallon a few years before the battle. Bede refers to Edwin establishing his rule over what he called the Mevanian islands, one of which was Anglesey, and another source refers to Cadwallon being besieged on the island of Priestholm , which is off the coast of Anglesey. Later, Cadwallon defeated and drove the Northumbrians from his territories and then allied with Penda .
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Tony Adams is a Welsh actor, best known for his performances in two British television soap operas. Adams was born in Anglesey, Wales, and he... trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Stage School. After some stage appearances, including a starring role opposite Cheryl Kennedy in a West End revival of The Boy Friend, he made his name as Dr Neville Bywaters in the 1970s soap, General Hospital. He also appeared in the 1973 Doctor Who story The Green Death as Elgin. In November 1978 he moved on to a major role in Crossroads, as mustachioed Adam Chance. It is for this role that he is primarily remembered. In September 1987, Adams decided to leave the programme. The announcement was made that the series would end in April 1988, and Adams stayed to the end. He was one of the cast members who returned in the 2001 revival of the series, though his character was later killed off in a fire after becoming obsessed with religion. In late 2004, Adams appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium theatre where he played Grandpa Potts.
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Dafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie and their two... children Cai and Lleucu. He is Cian Ciaran's older brother. He played with Gruff Rhys in their old band, Ffa Coffi Pawb. Ieuan has released a record with his side project, The Peth , which includes the actor and friend of Super Furry Animals, Rhys Ifans, on vocals. He was also a one-time drummer for fellow Welsh group Catatonia from 1993-1996, before joining Super Furry Animals.
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Elin Fflur Jones is a Welsh singer and songwriter from Wales. Elin is well known in Welsh-language media, especially after she won the Cân i... Gymru contest in 2002. Elin also had successes in the bands Carlotta and Y Moniars. Elin also occasionally works behind the scenes and as a presenter on S4C, the Welsh-language television channel. Elin's musical roots began with her mother Nest Llewellyn Jones who was the lead vocalist of the popular Welsh-folk band Bran. Just as Elin would do 24 years later, Bran became well known for winning Cân i Gymru in 1978. Elin also took inspiration from her father's favourite artists who included Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and her personal favourite Janis Ian. In her teens, Elin wrote her own rock songs describing herself as 'rebellious'. Elin began taking part in local Eisteddfodau from the age of 3 and became a well known name in National Eisteddfodau thereafter. She later studied criminology at Bangor University. Elin participated in Cân i Gymru in 2002, the 33rd edition of the competition.
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Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals. He plays keyboards, guitar, drums and vocals. He is also currently producing... under the names Acid Casuals, Paps, Kirkland and as himself. Ciaran is also label manager for 'SomBom' and 'Strangetown Records', and composes for Strange Village,a soundtrack, BAFTA winning production company.
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