Anglesey
Anglesey, ‘Mon Mam Cymru’ Mother of Wales , as the island is known was one of the last bastions of the Celts against the Romans and one of the main strongholds of Welsh culture.
Situated across the narrow Menai Strait, off the north coast of Wales, the Isle of Anglesey measures 276 square miles but has a population of just 71,000. Inland Anglesey is the breadbasket of Wales, mostly flat farmland, marshes and gentle streams, studded with whitewashed cottages. Much of the coastline is deemed an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, wild and dramatic cliffs particularly around Holyhead Mountain and sheltered sandy coves, though some parts have been taken over by bungalows and caravan parks. Anglesey also boasts a World Heritage Site, Beaumaris Castle , dating back to the 13th Century and a collection of paintings by Rex Whistler housed in the fabulous 18th Century mansion Plas Newydd .
Anglesey is a mix of the ancient and the modern. Its location on the main route land and sea route to Ireland creates a steady stream of traffic along its freeway style road to Holyhead and on to mainland Wales via the impressive Menai Bridge. Opened in 1826 this 176m suspension bridge was the first iron structure of its kind in the world and the crowning glory in architect Thomas Telford’s career. It was joined a generation later by Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge.
Drive off the main road and you could get happily lost in the rural landscape of the Isle and discover its ancient heritage. The Celts first came to Anglesey in 500 BC leaving an abundance of Prehistoric sites, such as the Bryn Celli Dhu Burial Chamber and establishing the Isle as the centre of Celtic Druid religion. When the Romans invaded Briton and came to Anglesey, it’s said they stood rooted in fear at the sight of thousands of semi-naked Celts shrieking fiercely at them from across the Menai Strait.
There is a healthy prevalence of the Welsh language on ‘Mon Mam Cymru’ and indeed the Isle is home to one of its most well known exponents, the small town with the big name ‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch’, which translates as, ‘St Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio near the red cave’.
