Mair Williams's blog

Caergwrle Castle (Welsh: Castell Caergwrle) is a fortification in the town of Caergwrle, Flintshire (Sir y Fflint), close to the English border. It was built by Dafydd ap Gruffydd (1238 - 3 October 1283) between 1277 and 1282.  It is one of the castles of the indigenous Welsh princes built in order to defend their land from invasion.

The National Trust’s Women and Power programme was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, which first gave some women the vote. The National Trust is a charity that aims to preserve and protect historic properties as well as historic landscapes, historic urban properties, and nature reserves  Over the year they have been exploring the stories of the women (and men) from the places it manages, who fought both for and against female suffrage through new exhibitions, podcasts, art installations and other events.

Welsh singer Shirley Bassey has today had a carriage of the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa) named in her honour. The honour recognises Dame Shirley as an international ambassador for Wales and for her musical career. Over the years she has won a number of awards including a UNESCO Artist for Peace Award, a Welsh Legend Award and the Légion d'Honneur. She was the first Welsh singer to have a number one single and also the the only artist to record three James Bond theme songs: Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker.

There has been a huge amount of British media publicity given to the forthcoming wedding of the grandson of the Queen of England. However the effort to engender a mood of patriotic fervour appears to have failed in  North Wales, where there seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the event. An example of this has been the lack of take-up for the idea of holding a royal wedding street party, where local residents organise an event held out of doors in a street or other public area.

Gŵyl Ganol Haf  Dinbych - Denbigh Mid Summer festival organisers have decided to make this years festival a month long event. Starting on June 1 of June the decision to extend the length of the festival is to give everyone the opportunity to see the best of Denbigh (Welsh: Dinbych). This will be the fifteenth year of the festival which has a range of planned activities. It is non-profit with most of the over 30 scheduled events being free and where there is an entry fee it is to contribute towards the running of the festival.

The petition against the renaming of the second Severn Crossing to the Prince of Wales Bridge is now approaching 40,000 signatures. This makes it one of the biggest petitions in the history of  Welsh politics. Despite this the Westminster Government’s Welsh Secretary, Alun Cairns MP, had said that the “wider, silent majority is absolutely with us” on renaming the bridge. However, this claim has now been discredited after a YouGov opinion poll commissioned by Nation.Cymru found that only 17% of people in Wales support the name change.  Of those just 7% ‘strongly supported’ the name change.

The unilateral UK government decision to rename a major road bridge across the River Severn (Welsh: Afon Hafren) after Prince Charles has drawn a huge amount of criticism in Wales.

The UK Government has been condemned after it announced plans to rename the second Severn Crossing. Severn Crossing is a term used to refer to the two motorway crossings over the River Severn estuary between England and Wales. The name decided on without any consultation with the Welsh people is the Prince of Wales Bridge. It has been met with fierce opposition in Wales with petitions and online campaigns garnering huge support.

Grŵp Afonydd Caerdydd - Cardiff Rivers Group (CRG) is a community voluntary action group. They work to improve the cleanliness of the rivers, streams and lakes in Cardiff (Caerdydd) the capital of Wales and surrounding areas. In doing so they are improving the habitat in and around the waterways of Cardiff, which also increases the diversity of wildlife and plants, adding to their attractiveness and importance. 

Ceunant Llennyrch National Nature Reserve near Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, Wales has been referred to as a Celtic rainforest because of its humid conditions and variety of wildlife. It is seen as one of  Europe’s most spectacular oak woodlands. Now the Reserve has been massively extended. The original 12-hectare reserve, on one side of the gorge, is managed by Natural Resources Wales. Now, the Woodland Trust’s 300 hectares of land on the other side of the gorge has won National Nature Reserve status.