Anglesey and its beautiful environment
In March, Camilla and Hilary, two members of our Environment Group, gave a talk to Croydon u3a about Anglesey, where Hilary lives. Here are some of the highlights.
The island of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) lies just off the north west coast of Wales, across from Snowdonia. It's the fifth largest island in the UK. Welsh is spoken by over 57% of the population. It's linked by two bridges, the Menai Bridge (above) and the Britannia Bridge, shown below.
Anglesey has many beautiful sea views. Below are some of them.
St. Dwynwen's Day is January 25th. Daughter of King Brychan, she ran away from an arranged marriage because she was in love with some one else. God granted her three wishes which she used thus: her lover, Maelon, who had been frozen in a block of ice, was thawed, God was asked to help all lovers and Dwynwen vowed never to marry - she became a nun.
Anglesey also has some interesting wildlife - red squirrels, eagles, red kites, puffins, buzzards and many other birds. Here are two gorgeous red squirrels. Porpoises are frequently seen around the island and there is plenty of seafood in the Menai Straits.
And here's a red kite which has recently made its way from the mainland..
Wales is famous for its sheep, and Anglesey has a special breed, the Easy Care sheep, which every spring shed their woolly coats all by themselves, and in autumn grow another. They were bred on Anglesey in the 1960s for easier shepherding and lambing and are a cross between Mountain sheep and Wiltshire horn. They give excellent meat and are good mothers. Here are a couple of pictures of them.
Anglesey also has the railway station with the longest name in the UK, which you've probably heard of. Here it is - known usually as Llanfair PG. Apparently, these days it is only a halt, and you have to ask the driver to stop (!) or hail it as it approaches.
Finally, we can only quote Tolkien, who said "Welsh is of this soil, this island, the senior language of the men of Britain; Welsh is beautiful".