It’s a familiar story: eccentric inventor in excellent health mysteriously suffers a fatal heart attack or unusual drug overdose; the body is cremated by authorities without the family’s knowledge and, more often than you’d expect, without an autopsy taking place. I’m sure you’ve heard this scenario described on many occasions… and not just after the…
In the summer last year I remember hearing about Senedd Economy Minister Vaughan Gething blowing the horn about an advanced United States-based engineering company expanding its presence with a new centre of excellence at Cardiff Airport, St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan. It immediately set off alarm bells but, as events in Gaza took…
Sat down at an Ohio Cracker Barrel restaurant with his brother and two potential investors in his revolutionary water-powered engine, Stanley Meyer took a slug of cranberry juice and immediately rose to his feet, his hands clutching his neck. The 57-year-old inventor rushed out into the parking lot vomiting violently, collapsed to the floor and…
A week ago today it was the 59th anniversary of John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times during a five-hour mission, almost a year after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first man in space and the first to orbit the earth. Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in…
It’s the 76th anniversary today of the death of a man who passed away almost penniless despite generating ideas that transformed our daily lives and created multiple fortunes for himself and those who financed him. Ground-breaking scientist Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan, in what is now Croatia, in 1856 during what he claimed was…
Set in the heart of the Gower Peninsula just west of Swansea, the Gower Heritage Centre is a rural-life museum based around a working 12th century watermill. Established in 1990, it is recognised as a vibrant community for crafts and welcomes visitors from all around the world. The centre houses displays about the history of…
Built by architects Thomas Telford and William Jessop in 1805, Pontcysyllte’s cast-iron aqueduct stands on 18 pillars at a height of 30 metres above the River Dee. Located on the Welsh-English border near the 18th century-road crossing at Pont Cysylltau, it is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the river in north-east…
At 1085m Mount Snowdon dominates the landscape of the Snowdonia National Park and the most comfortable way to reach the summit is via the Snowdon Mountain Railway. With stunning scenery and awe-inspiring views , visitors have been travelling to Llanberis since 1896 to experience the unique journey to the summit. From the moment the train…
The Bala Lake Railway is a narrow-gauge track along the southern shore of Llyn Tegid, Wales’ largest natural lake. The 2ft-gauge line offers a charming nine-mile return journey through the beautiful scenery of the Snowdonia National Park and the nearby mountains of Arenig Fawr and Aran Benllyn. The line, which is 7.2km-long, is built on…
A working coal mine from 1880-1980, the Big Pit National Coal Museum was opened to the public in 1983 as part of the National Museum of Wales. Located adjacent to the preserved Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, it is the highlight of the Blaenavon World Heritage Site and part of a network of coal workings established…
