Portal:Wales

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The Wales Portal

Wales (Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəmrɨ] ^ⓘ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic Sea to the south-west. As of 2021^[update], it had a population of 3,107,494. It has a total area of 21,218 square kilometres (8,192 sq mi) and over 2,700 kilometres (1,680 mi) of coastline. It is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The capital and largest city is Cardiff.

A distinct Welsh culture emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales was briefly united under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1055. After over 200 years of war, the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England was completed by 1283, though Owain Glyndŵr led the Welsh Revolt against English rule in the early 15th century, and briefly re-established an independent Welsh state with its own national parliament (Welsh: senedd). In the 16th century the whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by David Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century: a nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, was formed in 1925, and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. A governing system of Welsh devolution is employed in Wales, of which the most major step was the formation of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament, formerly the National Assembly for Wales) in 1998, responsible for a range of devolved policy matters. (Full article...)

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The Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal was a canal and tramroad system in Carmarthenshire, Wales, built to carry anthracite coal to the coast for onward transportation by coastal ships. It began life as the Kymer Canal in 1766, which linked pits at Pwll y Llygod to a dock near Kidwelly. Access to the dock gradually became more difficult as the estuary silted up, and an extension to Llanelli was authorised in 1812. Progress was slow, and the new canal was linked to a harbour at Pembury built by Thomas Gaunt in the 1820s, until the company's own harbour at Burry Port was completed in 1832. Tramways served a number of collieries to the east of Burry Port.

In 1832 engineer James Green advised on extending the system, and suggested a line with three inclined planes to reach Cwmmawr, further up the Gwendraeth Valley. Green underestimated the cost and could not complete the work. He was sacked in 1836, but the canal company finished the new route the following year. In 1865 the company changed its name to become the Kidwelly and Burry Port Railway, amalgamated with the company running Burry Port in the following year, and the canal became the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in 1869. Kymer's Dock at Kidwelly continued to be used for the export of coal by coasters for another 50 years. It was used as a rubbish dump during the 1950s, but together with a short section of the canal was restored in the 1980s.

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Tor Bay and Three Cliffs Bay, Gower, Glamorgan

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Did you know...?

... that Welsh boxer Fred Dyer would entertain spectators by singing and playing the ukulele after a boxing match?
... that the origins of the team sport bando are closely connected to hockey, shinty and bandy?
... that German-born Jewish Egyptologist Käte Bosse-Griffiths published a novel in the Welsh language?
... that Welsh sportsman Billy Bancroft not only played rugby for Swansea and cricket for Glamorgan at St Helens Ground but also lived there as a child and became its groundsman when he retired?

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Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist, psychoanalyst and Sigmund Freud’s official biographer. As the first English-language practitioner of psychoanalysis and as President of both of the British Psycho-Analytical Society and the International Psychoanalytic Association in the 1920s and 1930s, Jones exercised unmatched influence in the establishment of its organisations, institutions and publications in the English-speaking world. After obtaining his medical degrees Jones specialised in neurology and took a number of posts in London Hospitals. It was through his association with the surgeon Wilfred Trotter that Jones recalled first hearing of Freud’s work. Having worked together as surgeons at University College Hospital they had become close friends, with Trotter taking the role of mentor and confidant to his younger colleague. They had in common a wide-ranging interest in philosophy and literature, as well as a growing interest in Continental psychiatric literature and the new forms of clinical therapy it surveyed. By 1905 they were sharing accommodation above Harley Street consulting rooms with Jones’s sister, Elizabeth ( later to become Trotter’s wife), installed as housekeeper. Jones, appalled at what he had seen of the institutionalised treatment of the "insane", began experimenting with hypnotic techniques in his clinical work.

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In the news

Wikinews Wales portal

General images

The following are images from various Wales-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Standard of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, King of Powys 1063-1075. (from History of Wales)
Image 2Medieval kingdoms of Wales shown within the boundaries of the present day country of Wales and not inclusive of all (from History of Wales)
Image 3Portrait of William Morgan. (from History of Wales)
Image 4Red Dragon of Wales (from Culture of Wales)
Image 5Market Day in Old Wales by Sydney Curnow Vosper (1910) (from Culture of Wales)
Image 6Gravestone of King Cadfan ap Iago of Gwynedd (died c. 625) in Llangadwaladr church (from History of Wales)
Image 7Two of the furnaces of the Blaenavon Ironworks (from History of Wales)
Image 8Roman invasion of Wales. (from History of Wales)
Image 9Tom Jones performing with Janis Joplin in 1969 (from Culture of Wales)
Image 10Medieval crwth instrument (from Culture of Wales)
Image 11Crempog - Anglesey style (from Culture of Wales)
Image 12Facsimile of Part of Column 579 from the Red Book of Hergest (from Culture of Wales)
Image 13Senedd-Welsh Parliament, Cardiff Bay. (from History of Wales)
Image 14King Hywel Dda depicted in a 13th-century manuscript (from History of Wales)
Image 15Owain Glyndŵr painting by AC Michael (from Culture of Wales)
Image 16Owain Glyndŵr (from History of Wales)
Image 17Cawl, a Welsh dish of meat and vegetables (from Culture of Wales)
Image 18Island of Britain in AD 500. (from History of Wales)
Image 19The Bard, 1774, by Thomas Jones (1742–1803) (from Culture of Wales)
Image 20Caradog by Thomas Prydderch. Caradog led multiple celtic tribes against the Romans. (from History of Wales)
Image 21Offa's Dyke (Clawdd Offa) Map. (from History of Wales)
Image 22The Flag of Saint David (from Culture of Wales)
Image 23Harlech Castle was one of a series built by Edward I to consolidate his conquest. (from History of Wales)
Image 24Big Pit, National Coal Museum. (from History of Wales)
Image 25'The Welsh at Mametz Wood' painted by Christopher Williams, commissioned by Secretary of State for War at the time, David Lloyd George. (from History of Wales)

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This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Wales}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.