The Alternative Guide to… Wales
Wales at a Glance
Capital city: Cardiff
Population: 3 million
Local currency: British pound
Famous face: Dylan Thomas – poet, writer, boozer. Works include the poem Do not go gentle into that good night and the play Under Milk Wood
5 things you never knew about Wales
Look at the pic below. Nice looking spot, right? That’s the village of Aberdaron you can see tucked round the corner to the north of the beach. If you fancy going there, you’d better have a car though – Aberdaron is further from a railway station than anywhere else in England or Wales.
Wales is famous for many things – mining, Arthurian legend, a proud tradition of choral singing… Rhydian Roberts. But what’s better than all those things combined? Why, bog snorkelling of course. Every year the World Bog Snorkelling Championships are held in Llanwrtyd Wells, during which competitors arrive from all over the world to see who can cover the 120-yard dash fastest.
Wales was also the birthplace of one of the most notorious pirates to ever sail. Pembrokeshire-born Bartholomew Roberts, who terrorised the seas during the Golden Age of Piracy, is thought to have been the first to name his flag the "Jolly Roger”.
The sleepy fishing village of Conwy in West Wales is home to the smallest house in Britain. The Quay House is a red, one-up, one-down fisherman's cottage. The last person to live there was one Robert Jones. At 6ft 3in, he was taller than the house is wide.
Among the many things you should do if you’re ever in Cardiff is visit the world’s oldest record shop. Spillers Records was opened in 1894 and is still going to this day – albeit in a new location at 27 The Morgan Arcade, just twenty 20 feet from its original home.
National dish
A number of contenders here (Welsh cakes, cawl, bara brith, lamb generally) but let’s go with Welsh rarebit. It’s essentially a posh cheese on toast, with added ale, mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
If you see one thing in Wales, make sure it’s…
… Rhossili beach on the Gower Peninsula, which was named Britain’s Best Beach in 2015 (and one of the world’s 10 best beaches), in a survey by TripAdvisor.
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