Wales -- Cardiff

 

Cardiff is the capital of Wales. The city is over 2,000 years old, but it has only been the capital of Wales since 1955. Cardiff is the main commercial centre of Wales as well as the base for the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament), the Wales Millennium Centre Arts Complex, and the Cardiff International Sports Village. Its population in 2021 was 362,400.

Wealthy men made Cardiff what it is today. For example, in 1766, John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute married into the Herbert family and was later created Baron Cardiff. In 1778, he began renovating Cardiff Castle. A racecourse, printing press, bank and coffee house opened in the 1790s and Cardiff gained a stagecoach service to London.

in 1793, John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute was born. He spent his life building the Cardiff docks and was later hailed as "the creator of modern Cardiff". A twice-weekly boat service between Cardiff and Bristol opened in 1815, and in 1821, the Cardiff Gas Works was established. 

Cardiff had been a medieval city and the Bute family sought to make it a new, modern city with wide boulevards, pedestrians areas, and lots of arcades for shopping. In the early 1900s, Cardiff was the home of what would be known as shopping malls. These arcades contained small and independent stores with products made by local craftsmen. A university and the municipal buildings were re-located into one area. As a result, the entire city is well-organized and well-managed.

 

Rugby is the national sport and people are crazy about it. Games took place in the Cardiff Arms Park was rebuilt and made into Principality Stadium before 2000. The orange plastic seats were sold everywhere to raise money. Matches between England and Wales are magical events with lots of singing and drinking as well as good-natured camaraderie.  

 

 

Cardiff is a very multi-cultural city. After all, it has been a seaport since the 19th century when coal was exported. Immigrant ships at that time stopped in Cardiff for their coal supplies, and many of the people got off the boats because they thought they had landed in the USA, their destination. They formed a working class that mined coal.

Today, Cardiff is a major center for television and film production (such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock), and it is the Welsh base for the main national broadcasters. 

 

 

Cardiff University contributes to the diversity of the student-friendly capital.  

 

 

               

 

The Welsh language is unique and still being spoken. According to Historic UK, 

Welsh is a Brythonic language, meaning British Celtic in origin and was spoken in Britain even before the Roman occupation. Thought to have arrived in Britain around 600 BC, the Celtic language evolved in the British Isles into a Brythonic tongue which provided the basis not only for Welsh, but also Breton and Cornish. At this time in Europe, Celtic languages were spoken across the continent even as far as Turkey.

Welsh spoken in the Middle Ages period, between 1000 and 1536, became known as Middle Welsh. From the twelfth century onwards, Middle Welsh formed the basis for one of the most famous manuscripts of this time in Britain, the Mabinogion. This famous literary collection of prose stories is one of the earliest examples of its kind, thought to date from either the twelfth or thirteenth centuries and inspired by earlier story-telling.

In the twentieth century, there was a growing recognition that the Welsh language and Welsh speakers were being discriminated against, for example, in 1942 the Welsh Courts Act formally addressed the issue of defendants and plaintiffs being forced to speak in English and ushered in a new law allowing Welsh to be used in the courts.

By 1967, a very important and crucial piece of legislation was introduced thanks to the campaigning of many individuals including Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Language Society.

This marked a pivotal moment when the prejudices ushered in during the Tudor period began to be reversed. Today the Welsh language is embraced and spoken at home, in the workplace, in the community and in government. In the 2011 census, over 562,000 people named Welsh as their main language.

Signs in Wales are typically in both Welsh and English. Here are some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

 Andrew Speed, guide of Costsaver Tour Company

Cardiff -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff

Historic UK -- https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Welsh-Language/

Welcome to Wales

 

We began our journey to Wales today at 5:30 a.m. It would take us two hours to get to the 7:30 ferry boat in the town of Wexford, Ireland--the only ferry running on this day. The hotel provided us with a light snack for breakfast; we would eat a full breakfast on the ferry boat that would cross the St. George's Channel over four hours to land in Fishguard, Wales. The sea didn't look that rough, but the boat rocked enough that you had to ground yourself and acquire a new set of sea legs to keep from falling. 

Loading huge buses and trucks as well as cars onto the ferry boat is a slick operation. There are two levels for such vehicles and they just roll onto the ship with ease. Passengers may roam on the top two decks of the ship where there is a dining room, café, cinema, private cabins (only for guides and drivers), playroom for kids, and seats along the sides of the hallways. 

Cars line up waiting to board the ferry boat.

 

Ramps are lowered between the dock and the ship to allow vehicles to roll effortlessly on and off the boat.

Once in Wales, we left the beautiful harbor behind to ride for the next two hours to Cardiff, the capital of Wales since the 1950s.

I have fond memories of the boat ride thanks to having breakfast with my two new friends from western Pennsylvania. Wayne is a retired minister and Carol is a retired public health nurse. We talked a lot about mainline churches and their struggles to attract parishioners. Many pastors, said Wayne, quit the ministry due to burn-out and a lack of job satisfaction. He made it for 38 years and now subs for pastors who take some time off. 

On the road in Wales

Three million people live in Wales where hundreds of coal mines used to produce the slowest-burning coal in the world. (Now, there is only one mine left.) Welsh slate was also mined and together these two resources made Wales very rich. Mining came at a price for the mine workers, however. Children under 12 helped to sort coal. There used to be competitions among the various pits to see who could produce the most coal.

The area west of Cardiff was one characterized by rolling green hills. People used to mine or raise sheep. In the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the mine workers were highly paid. Unfortunately, the workers suffered from emphysema and most died from it. In the 1980s, the mines closed down because they were running at a loss. It also became cheaper to import coal than to mine it locally. Mining villages were decimated and the people suffered from poverty and drug abuse. The government pumped loads of money into these communities to help them survive.

One of the episodes of "The Crown" features a mining disaster where 116 schoolchildren and 28 adults were buried alive by coal that rolled down the hill onto their school on October 21, 1966. Our bus passed a turn-0ff leading to Aberfan. The photo on the left below shows the damage done by the coal sliding down the hill. The photo on the right is the cemetery where the victims are memorialized.

 

 

Agriculture and the film industry have become the substitutes for the mining industry. Welsh lamb, for example, is the most expensive with the highest quality of any lamb produced in the world. That is because the sheep are always walking on the hills, and this makes their meat very lean. Nevertheless, Welsh farmers are inclined to buy New Zealand lamb for their tables because it is cheaper than the lamb they produce.

The Welsh topography includes deep valleys and green granite mountains in the north. The mountains actually resemble the Tibetan mountains, which allowed Sir Edmund Hillary to train for his climb to Mt. Everest in 1953. 

Wales also has old and dense oak forests and the once-inhabited sites of the ancient Celtic settlers. The Welsh, in fact, are the oldest descendants of the Celtic people and they speak the oldest versions of the Celtic language. It is a poetic language and one where one word can stand for one sentence. Welsh is the first language for many people, and it wasn't until the 20th century that it was written down. So important is the language that people stopped going to church in the 19th century because services were in English. To remedy this situation, the Welsh Methodists went into the coal pits to preach and get the people to sing in Welsh. They also started Sunday schools in Welsh. It worked!

There is a bardic tradition among the Welsh where history and stories have been handed down orally for centuries. 

Wales was a patchwork of small ancient kingdoms who were often at war with one another. The bards, however, were allowed to cross borders safely in order to provide news and entertainment to the people. They usually carried a harp to accompany their storytelling in music or a poem. The harp is consequently the ancient symbol of the Celtic people. This tradition of music still prevails in Wales, which has produced many top opera singers.

Wales has more medieval castles than anywhere in Europe because King Edward I of England had them built as a defensive move to control this region. He had defeated the Scots, and he was the first to take Wales. 

It is important to note that Wales is not a kingdom but rather a "principality". That means that the oldest son of the king becomes the Prince of Wales as a result of Edward I's defeat of the Welsh in the 12th century. He knew the people would never be ruled by a king, so this was the political compromise. 

 

The flag of Wales is a red dragon on a green and white background. In its battles for the region, the white dragon represented the Anglo-Saxons and the red dragon stood for England. The red dragon won and chased the Anglo-Saxons out.

 

Minced pie is a Christmas specialty in Wales. It originated with the Crusades where meat was preserved with spices. The same spices are still used today although the pie is not necessarily filled with meat. We tried some minced pie and it was very flavorful.

 

 

Wales used to mine gold until the 1950s because it was too difficult and too expensive to mine gold. In the 1990s, however, the price went up so high that they re-opened the mines. Actually, gold mining goes back to the ancient Celts. They created a metal works that allowed them to make ornate pieces that they then sacrificed to the gods. They often threw these pieces into the rivers in Wales and all over Europe where the Celts settled.

Richard Burton was born in Pontrhydyfen (Port Talbot), a steel town in southern Wales. He never forgot his roots and fame did not spoil his affection for his hometown. So in his second marriage to Elizabeth Taylor, he built a fabulous home on the rolling hills that offer stunning views. The problem was that the view of the town was a steel plant, and Elizabeth refused to live in the house. In 2013, the couple's dream house was up for sale for  2 million pounds. 

 

 

 

The steel plant is now a recycling center.

 

Ireland -- Waterford

When most people think of Waterford, they think of crystal--the finest crystal in the world. However, to learn about the story of the evolution of the company, is to learn a lesson about the global marketplace, which isn't always kind to local businesses. 

The biggest market for Waterford Crystal was the USA--about 90 percent of its sales. Eventually, the factory was purchased by Americans. Then a London competitor called Wedgewood challenged Waterford's advantage. After that, the Chinese began making crystal only at a lower price. This move truly killed the economy in Waterford, however, because the company could not compete. 

Then a local man bought the company and re-employed many of the workers who lost their jobs in the economic downturn. However, the company had difficulty recovering and regaining its previous prestige because some pieces were not made in Waterford. This factor reduces its collectibility. 

 

The Waterford Crystal factory also houses a museum, and it provides tours of the ancient art of glass-blowing, cutting, sculpting, etching, and engraving by hand.

The factory produces 750 tons of quality crystal every year.

 Across the street from the factory is the company's showroom and café. As the pieces below show, Crystal is not only about tableware. These pieces are beautiful--and expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vikings

Waterford's history goes further back than its crystal company. The Vikings  founded the city in 914--older than all the North European capitals except Paris and London. And it is the only Irish city to retain its Viking place name--Vedrarfjordr--an Old Norse word meaning "haven from the windy sea" or "winter port". The Irish named the city Port Láirge, the port of the thigh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The triangular settlement, known as the Viking Triangle, was bounded on two sides by water--the river Suir on the north and a tidal marsh that was used as a harbor. This location was easy to defend since it had access to coast and inland rivers for their raids. It was also an ideal spot for the Vikings to use as a base for settlement and international trade. 

The 13th century stone wall opposite follows the line of the earlier Viking defenses. In the 18th century this area was drained and a formal tree-lined Mall was established.

 
The Vikings were tough and skilled seamen. They traveled around Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean in boats like this one, which were amazingly small considering the places they went. This one is 39 feet long and built by a local shipwright.

Reginald's Tower was built by the Anglo-Normans after their conquest of Waterford. The tower replaced the one the Vikings had built. The present tower is likely to have been built  between 1253 and 1280. It has been used as a mint, a prison, and a military storehouse. It is also famous for being the location of the wedding of Richard de Clare, the second Earl of Pembroke, and Aoife (pronounced eefa), daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster. It occasionally served as a royal castle for King John in 1210 and Richard II in 1394 and 1399. He used the tower to store his munitions. It is now used as a museum with Viking artifacts dating back to 914.

This rendition of the Viking Sword is a beautifully carved piece by John Hayes. It measures 75.5 feet in length and was created from a single tree trunk with the roots still attached. It tells the story of the Vikings conquest and settlement of this area.

 

Christ Church Cathedral

This compact but beautiful protestant cathedral is one of Ireland’s most historic buildings. Its predecessor was here when Strongbow (the second Earl of Pembroke) married Aoife, daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster in 1170.

In 1773, the old church was demolished and this cathedral was completed in 1779. It has a pillared altar with Hebrew letters on it. It was designed by Georgian architect John Roberts (1714-96).

A church dating from the time of the conversion of the Viking settlers was on this site prior to the foundation of the first cathedral in 1096. In that year the Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated Malchus, an Irish monk who trained with him to be the first Bishop of Waterford. The consecration took place at the request of the O'Brien kings of Munster, overlords of the Viking city of Waterford. 

Malchus, a reformer, later became Archbishop of Cashel and worked to bring the Irish Church into line with practice on the continent. Institutional changes were accompanied by a new style of architecture known as Romanesque. 

 

 

The tomb of James Rice is a cadaver tomb, one of the finest in Ireland. This limestone mensa or table tomb features a partially decomposed cadaver motif on top dating from c. 1482. The niches below the cadaver is decorated with gothic style niches and images of saints and apostles. The idea of this particular tomb was to remind those who gaze upon it that they will some day be in a similar state in time.

 

John Robert's home is simple and apparently well-suited for his family. He lived there for most of his adult life with his wife and their 24 children. Eight of them lived to adulthood.

Roberts was born in Waterford in 1712 or 1714, the son of Thomas Roberts, an architect and builder. At 17, he eloped with Mary Susannah Sautelle, a Huguenot heiress who also lived in Waterford.

He had the distinction of designing both the Catholic and Protestant cathedrals in Waterford: Christ Church (1770s) and Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity (1790s). 

 

Some street scenes that give Waterford some character. Our hotel faced the river, which made it especially intriguing to be in this old town of the Vikings and imagine their lives here.

Resources

Reginald's Tower -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald%27s_Tower

Jack Burtchaell's Walking Tour of Waterford -- https://visitwaterford.com/vw_listing/jack-burtchaells-walking-tour/

 The Viking Triangle -- https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/viking-triangle-waterford/