Pictorial Diary - 16 September 2019 - Anglesey, Wales Part 1

Above: Angelsey map. Anglesey, Wales. 16 September 2019.

Our and about in Anglesey/Snowdonia.

Before today I'd been to Wales a couple of times, TIMDT has been to Wales once before today.

TIMDT and Mwah (sic) loved Haye en Wye near SE border with England, visiting there in the mid 90's. Haye on Wye bill's itself as the leading market for second hand books in the world.

I found a Book of Mormon with a publishing date of 1920 something in Haye en Wye and bought it. I don''t know where it is today, or if it is worth anything. These days, with the proliferation of the internet and digital storage, I wonder if the interest in hard copy second hand books continues?

My second visit to Wales was in 2015. I and some friends rented BMW motorcycles in Bournmouth, rode them via Salisbury, up to Liverpool, from where we took a ferry to see the TT races on the Isle of Man. To return our rented bikes at Bournmouth, we rode south down the length of Wales, spending a couple of nights in small towns along the way.

Today, we joined with Hoops and Bronx Girl to rent a van and a driver, Derek, to tour Anglesey and nearby, in the far northwest of Wales. Anglesey is a large island separated from the EnglishScot/Welsh mainland by the narrow, twenty mile long, Menai strait. The Snowdonia Mountains are nearby on the mainland side of the strait.

Sites seen under Derek's tutelage include:

1. National Slate Museum and slate quarries.
2. Snowdonia Mountain Range.
3. Town claiming the longest name in the world.
4. Menai Suspension Bridge
5. Caernarfon Castle
6. Beauvais Castle

I've done separate posts on each of the above Anglesey, and near, destinations.

Derek, our sixty-nine year old driver/guide, was native Welsh. His first language was Welsh. He spoke English with...ummm 95% proficiency. Sixty-nine, he had lost his wife five years ago. He says he has a small pension from driving a truck for 30 years. He supplements his pension income with contractual tourist work. He has a new girl friend with whom he likes to travel and a late model BMW 5 series car.

Derek was talkative and we asked him a lot of questions. Here are some takeaways:

Anglesey/Snowdonia area economy. Manufacting in Anglesey has dried up over the last fifteen years. Now tourism, agriculture, and retirement dominate the local economy. Derek showed us closed slate quarries, a rusted out aluminium smelter, and a defunct auto parts manufacturing facility to prove his point.

Also, to corroborate Derek's point, cows, sheep and tourists (hikers, rock climbers, kayakers,and sightseers) abounded throughout the island. A top tourist attraction in the Snowdonia Mountains, on the mainland side of the strait, is the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway, established in 1896. The steam engine pulled train rises from 100 feet of elevation to the summit of Wales' highest peak, mount Snowdon, 3560 feet. We didn't have time to take the train today, but, we noticed beaucoup tourists waiting in line to buy train tickets.

National Health Service: Works OK enough for routine medical problems. However, according to Derek, if you need elective surgery eg. knee replacement etc., you'll have to wait two years or more...unless you have ten thousand Pounds to have the job done privately, right away. No more than 2% or 3% of Brits, according to Derek, use the private option. Derek says he knows a woman that got in the two year knee replacement queue, but started feeling better after one year and withdrew from the queue.

Brexit. Derek was definitely for Brexit. "Too much heavy handed rule making coming from Brussels, he said."

Derek led us through a great day of exploration and learning.

Above: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantsysiliogogogoch, Wales. 16 September 2019.

Above: Slate cutting demonstration. The National Slate Museum. Gilfach Ddu, Wales. 16 September 2019.

The museum is located in the 19th-century workshops of the now disused Dinorwic slate quarry, within the Padarn Country Park, Llanberis, Gwynedd.

The slate industry dominated the economy of north-west Wales during the second half of the 19th century, but was on a much smaller scale elsewhere.
In 1898, a work force of 17,000 men produced half a million tons of slate.

A bitter industrial dispute between 1900 and 1903 marked the beginning of its decline, and the First World War saw a great reduction in the number of men employed in the industry.

The Great Depression and Second World War led to the closure of many smaller quarries, and competition from other roofing materials, particularly tiles, resulted in the closure of most of the larger quarries in the 1960s and 1970s. Slate production continues on a much reduced scale.

90% of slate used in Europe for roofing and landscaping today comes from Spain.

Above: TIMDT and Bronx Girl. Caernarvon, Wales. 16 September 2019.

Addendum:

Based on recent book I read, “The Vikings settled in Dublin from 841 AD onwards. During their reign Dublin became the most important town in Ireland as well as a hub for the western Viking expansion and trade. It is in fact one of the best known Viking settlements. Dublin appears to have been founded twice by the Vikings.

Panama,
Los Angeles, CA

Keep em coming!

KAT,
Dallas TX

Enjoy!

Nora, and Family,
County Mayo, Ireland