Wales: Inside the dragons’ lair

Rhoose Point

Rhoose Pont: The most southerly place in mainland Wales

The only country with a dragon displayed on its national flag

If dragons were real, then Wales is where they’d be most at home. The only country in the world to have a dragon displayed on its national flag, Wales is a land of Celtic myth and legend.

Part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, Wales is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south.

Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations.

But the legends of King Arthur and his knights are an integral part of Welsh mythology, with sites throughout the land connected with him and his magician Merlin.

Arthur is supposed to have fought his last battle at Bwlch y Saethau – the Pass of Arrows – which is below Snowdon’s summit, while Llyn Llydaw is the lake where his sword Excalibur was supposed to have been thrown.

Wales has more than 2,700km of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, the highest at 1,085m.

At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, development of the mining and metallurgical industries transformed Wales from an agricultural society into an industrial nation, with the coalfields in the south causing a rapid expansion of Wales' population and the slate quarries in the north and west exporting worldwide.

Two-thirds of the population live in the south, mainly in and around the capital Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys.

Now that the country's traditional heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales' economy depends on the public sector, light and service industries and tourism.

Although Wales closely shares its political and social history with the rest of Great Britain, and the vast majority of the population speaks English, the country has retained a distinct cultural identity and is officially bilingual.

More than 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west.

Cardiff, the capital and home of the Welsh National Assembly, is a port city on the south coast of Wales, where the River Taff meets the Severn Estuary.

The revitalised waterfront at Cardiff Bay includes the Wales Millennium Centre, home of the national opera, orchestra, theatre and dance companies, plus architect Richard Rogers’ strikingly modern Senedd building.

Aberaeron

A picture-postcard harbour town, Aberaeron was developed in the early 1800s by the Reverend Alban Jones-Gwynne, who obtained an Act of Parliament to develop one of the first ‘planned’ towns in Wales.

The graceful lines of Regency architecture along the harbour are a distinctive feature of the town, once a busy fishing port.

Today Aberaeron is one of the area's best-loved holiday destinations and a great place from which to explore the many attractive locations of Ceredigion and the north of Carmarthenshire, such as Newquay, Lampeter, Aberystwyth and the Teifi Valley.

Abersoch

Abersoch, situated on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, is a very popular seaside resort, with great beaches, internationally recognised sailing waters, pleasant climate and beautiful scenery.

Originally a fishing port, Abersoch is now a tourist centre specialising in dinghy sailing and other watersports such as windsurfing and jet-skiing.

Nearby Porth Neigwl, or Hell's Mouth, is also popular for surfing; while Porth Ysgo is one of the best bouldering locations in North Wales.

Since 2000 Abersoch has been host to Wakestock, an international wakeboarding event.

Other places of interest not far from Abersoch include Pwllheli and Criccieth on the south of the Llyn Peninsula, and Nefyn to the north.

Bardsey Island to the west of the peninsula is also worth a visit.

Brecon

The third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais, Brecon lies to the south of the county and north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range.

A traditional Mid Wales market town, Brecon is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Usk and the Honddu, and has traditionally been a popular destination offering visitors spectacular scenery and many leisure activities.

The Brecon Beacons National Park to the south provides plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities including walking, climbing, canoeing, horse riding and much more.

Cardiff

The capital of Wales, Cardiff is home of the Welsh National Assembly housed in the ultra-modern Senedd building in Cardiff Bay.

The Wales Millennium Centre, home of the national opera, orchestra, theatre and dance companies, is also located in the revitalised waterfront district.

But perhaps the most iconic buildings in the city are the Principality Stadium, built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup and home to the national rugby team, and the castle, a Victorian Gothic fantasy built on the remains of Norman and Roman ruins.

Nearby areas of interest include the coastal towns of Penarth, Barry and Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan; Newport and Caerleon to the east; and Caerphilly, and the Valleys towns of Pontypridd, Bargoed and Pontypool to the north.

Carmarthen

Standing on the River Towy, about eight miles north of its estuary, Carmarthen is one of the oldest towns in Wales and the perfect place from which to explore the county’s many attractions.

In 1546 its old and new settlements joined to form a single town that between the 16th and 18th centuries became one of the most densely populated areas in Wales.

Places of interest in Carmarthenshire include the home of celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas at Llaugharne to the west of the estuary and Kidwelly Castle to the east, while to the north is the Teifi Valley with the Brechfa Forest to the north-east.

Dolgellau

Formerly the county town of Merionethshire (now Gwynedd), Dolgellau is steeped in history and provides a fabulous base to explore the stunning mountains of Snowdonia.

The dark-stoned market town is set beneath Cader Idris, the legendary ‘Chair of Idris’, on the approach to the beautiful Mawddach Estuary.

Its main bridge over the Afon Wnion dates back to 1638 and the remains of historic Cymer Abbey, founded in 1198, can be seen in the nearby village of Llanelltyd.

It’s a popular area for horse riding and cycling, with a fine range of road and off-road routes. The Coed y Brenin Forest Park is nearby, with mountain biking trails for all abilities plus a host of other outdoor attractions.

Haverfordwest

Dominated by the Western Cleddau that runs through the middle and the stunning castle that towers above it, Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire and a great base from which to explore one of the most beautiful parts of Wales.

With awards and accolades for the quality of its coastline, Pembrokeshire is heaven for swimmers, beachcombers, wildlife-watchers, walkers and outdoor adventurers.

Home to the only coastal national park of its kind in the United Kingdom, covering 612 sq km and stretching from St Dogmaels on the Ceredigion border in the north to Amroth in the south, it includes the Cleddau Waterway, an estuary and river system that flows from the Preseli Hills in the north of Pembrokeshire to the coast beyond Milford Haven.

Llanberis

The gateway to Snowdonia, the town sits at the base of the Llanberis Pass which forms the main route between the mountain massifs of Snowdon and Glyderau.

Llanberis is the main staging point for trips to the summit of Snowdon and is the starting point of the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Once one of the world’s major exporters of slate, Llanberis is also home to the groundbreaking Dinorwig Power Station, regarded as one of the world's most imaginative engineering and environmental project’s when it was fully commissioned in 1984.

Llangollen

Although only a small town, Llangollen is big on history and renowned for its beautiful scenery.

Llangollen is part of the World Heritage Site along the 11 miles of canal from Gledrid to the Horseshoe Falls, via the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the tallest in the world and an amazing feat of engineering.

It also hosts the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod every July, which brings in more than 120,000 visitors and turns the town into a vibrant international stage.

Monmouth

Monmouth is a Welsh border town situated at the confluence of the Rivers Wye, Monnow and Trothy, perhaps best known as the birthplace of Henry V.

It has a has a rich and varied history and was settled by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, the latter building a castle in the town in the 11th century.
A defensive wall surrounded the town in the Middle Ages and the fortified Gatehouse Bridge over the River Monnow is one of only three surviving in western Europe.

Monmouth is an ideal staging point from which to explore the beautiful Wye Valley and Vale of Usk, and the picturesque towns of Abergavenny and Chepstow.

Newtown

Nestling on the banks of the River Severn in the heart of Mid Wales, Newtown was founded as a market town at the end of the 13th century and became an international hub for the flannel industry in the early 19th century.

The old Flannel Exchange survives to this day as an entertainment venue but the town’s connection with the textile industry was revived in the 20th century when businesswoman Laura Ashley established her home furnishing and clothing company in the area.

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Severn Valley, Newtown provides the ideal base to explore the surrounding countryside that includes nature reserves, canal paths, the Severn Way and nearby, Gregynog Hall and Gardens.

Rhyl

Located on the north coast of Wales near the mouth of the River Clwyd, Rhyl was an elegant Victorian seaside resort that fell into decline after World War II.

By 1990 the area had declined dramatically, but a series of regeneration projects have brought in major investment and with miles of sandy beaches Rhyl remains a good base for visitors exploring the beautiful scenery of the North Wales coast, from Conwy and Llandudno to the west, and Prestatyn, Holywell and Flint to the east.

During the 19th century the town was also an important brick-making centre with four clay pits on the edge of the town, the best-known being the Cefndy Brickworks.

Swansea

During its 19th-century industrial heyday, Swansea was a key centre of the copper industry, earning the nickname 'Copperopolis', with ore shipped in from Cornwall and coal from the hillsides around Swansea and Neath used in the smelting process.

It required a lot of coal to refine the copper and the Welsh coalfields lay midway between the ore fields of Cornwall and the metal hungry factories of the English Midlands, so it made economic sense to bring the ore to the coal.

Today, with the idyllic Gower Peninsula to the west and beautiful Tawe Valley to the north, Wales' second city has a bit of everything for visitors to enjoy.

The Gower with its beautiful sandy beaches and interesting coves and the stunning ‘waterfall country’, within the triangle formed by the villages of Hirwaun, Ystradfellte, and Pontneddfechan, to the south of the Brecon Beacons National Park offer some of the most stunning scenery to be found in Wales.