March Newsletter
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St David’s Day – Wales in the Spotlight
Wales is one of the smallest and most fascinating countrys in Europe. Covering an area of 8,000 square metres, Wales is smaller than Massachusetts. But packed into this area are three national parks, several designated areas of natural beauty, a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a host of castles that echo with the history and heritage of Wales. And that Welsh heritage includes one of the oldest surviving languages in Europe and a strong Celtic culture that is distinct from the rest of Britain. March 1st marks the most important day in the cultural calendar of Wales, as it is the feast day of the Patron Saint of Wales, St. David. Known in Welsh as Dewi Sant, St David lived during the 5th century AD – reputedly for over 100 years. He was born in a coastal village in Pembrokeshire in a violent storm at a cliff top spot that is marked by the ruins of Non’s Chapel. St David became a renowned preacher and established monastic settlements in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, three regions with close Celtic ties. After embarking on pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, St David returned to Wales as a Bishop and established his chief monastery tucked away in the Pembrokeshire valley of Glyn Rhosyn, where today stands St David’s Cathedral and the small town of St David’s. St David led a simple monastic life, he and his followers drank only water and were strict vegetarians. In pictures of the saint, he is depicted with a white dove on his shoulder and standing on a hillock, in reference to one of his chief miracles, when preaching to a large crowd the earth rose beneath him so that he could be seen, and a dove appeared on his shoulder as a sign of God’s grace. St David died on 1st March most probably in 589 and is buried at St David’s Cathedral, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the middle ages and still today is the focal point for St David’s Day celebrations in Wales. Many people in Wales wear traditional Welsh symbols on St David’s Day such as the daffodil, the national flower of Wales or a leek another traditional symbol of Wales. The links between these two symbols lies in their Welsh names; a leek is called Cenhinen and a daffodil is called Cenhinen Bedr. It is also common for school children to dress in traditional Welsh costumes and take part in eisteddfodau; recitals and singing in the Welsh language. The Welsh Capital of Cardiff holds a huge street parade in celebration of St David’s Day, where participants can also be seen in traditional dress and singing traditional Welsh songs. Just outside Cardiff, the National History Museum of Wales in St Fagans hosts a range of traditional events, storytelling, song and harp music. The museum contains a number of recreated Welsh buildings representing various periods in Welsh history, from its Iron Age settlements to its 16th century manor houses and its 19th century coal miners’ cottages. St David’s Day is also catching on outside Wales. In New York St David’s Day has evolved into Wales Week with a host of events around the 1st of March to promote Welsh culture, art, film, theatre and language. Like that of its Celtic cousins, the rich culture of Wales is one that is deeply rooted in the myths and legends of the land. This is the land where the legends of King Arthur and Merlin were made, the former of Cornwall is believed to have held court in Caerleon and the latter was from Carmarthen. The survival of such their legends is thanks to their prominence in Welsh culture and to the existence of ancient and medieval texts such as the Mabinogion, Historia Brittonum, The Black Book of Carmarthen and Historia Regum Britanniae, some of which are displayed in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. Wales’ three National Parks include the Brecon Beacons in the south east of the country covering 520 square miles of valleys, forests and sweeping moorland. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park , Britain’s only coastal park, can be found in the south west of Wales. Stretching 180 miles from Cardigan Bay to Carmarthen Bay, the Pembrokeshire Coast is dotted with quaint little fishing villages such as St. David’s. While in north Wales is the simply stunning Snowdonia Mountains National Park , which practically dominates the region, covering some 840 square miles of rocky peaks and ridges and steep river valleys. The area is named after its tallest peak, Mount Snowdon, which at 1113m high is the tallest mountain in England and Wales. It was here in this mountainous and difficult landscape that the Welsh Princes held their last strongholds against the invading English, until they were eventually subdued by King Edward I . Edward had a number of mighty castles built along the coast and dotting the hills of Snowdonia in a bid to keep the Welsh in check and their ruins stand proud today with Harlech Castle , Conwy Castle , Caernarfon Castle and Beaumaris Castle , designated as World Heritage Sites. Wales is indeed famous for its castles, many are ruinous relics of medieval times, others are stately residences which are open to the public, such as Castell Coch , an 18th century fairytale replica, Chirk Castle , lived in continuously since it was built in the 13th century and Cardiff Castle taking centre stage in Wales’ vibrant capital city. In the last 20 years Cardiff has been transformed from a deteriorating former port that was once the worlds largest coal exporter, into an exciting and upbeat cultured capital city that Wales can be proud of. As a cultural centre Cardiff has the impressive National Museum and Gallery of Wales , housing the largest collection of impressionist paintings outside Paris, while Cardiff Bay has a host of restaurants, bars and other entertainments. Two thirds of Wales’ 2,903,085 population live in the industrial areas of the south east and the main cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, while the remaining third live in smaller coastal towns and rural villages scattered throughout the interior of the country. In these rural areas you’ll find the majority of the 500,000 Welsh speakers of the country. Here you are likely to encounter Welsh in everyday conversations between the locals as well as in road signs throughout the country. The collection of double consonants, unusual letter combinations and an apparent shortage of vowels make Welsh a difficult language to grasp at first, but learning a few phrases will always go down well with the locals, especially Iechyd da! - Cheers/Good health Whether you’re planning a trip to Wales for St David’s Day or any other time of the year, you’ll find the country’s collection of hotels is second to none. With a range of top country house hotels, historic inns, intimate hideaways and luxury resort hotels which are rich in character, surrounded by stunning scenery, and boast lavish luxury and award-winning cuisine made from the best natural Welsh produce. But with Welsh hotel’s you also have that all-important third dimension - hospitality and ambiance or as they say in Wales ‘Croeso’.
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