LECTURE 4.

GEORGAPHICAL
POSITION AND CULTURE OF WALES
Professor O. Babelyuk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=APlVkN0niVk
• Wales (Welsh: Cymru [ˈkəm.rɨ] (listen) KUM-ree) is a
country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered
by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west,
and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in
2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2
(8,023 sq mi).
• Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and 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 GEORGAPHYCAL POSITION OF WALES
• Wales is a generally mountainous country on the western
side of central southern Great Britain. It is about 170 miles
(270 km) north–south. The ‘size of Wales' is about
20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales is bordered by England to
the east and by sea in all other directions: the Irish Sea to
the north and west, the St George's Channel and the
Celtic Sea to the southwest and the Bristol Channel to the
south. Wales has about 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline
(along the mean high water mark), including the mainland,
Anglesey and Holyhead. Over 50 islands lie off the Welsh
mainland; the largest being Anglesey, in the north-west.
 The climate

Wales lies within the north temperate zone. It has a changeable,

maritime climate and is one of the wettest countries in Europe.
Welsh weather is often cloudy, wet and windy, with warm
summers and mild winters. The long summer days and short
winter days result from Wales' northerly latitudes (between 53°
43′ N and 51° 38′ N). Aberystwyth, at the midpoint of the
country's west coast, has nearly 17 hours of daylight at the
summer solstice. Daylight at midwinter there falls to just over
seven and a half hours. The country's wide geographic variations
cause localized differences in sunshine, rainfall and temperature.
 The climate
• Average annual coastal temperatures reach 10.5 °C (51 °F) and in
low lying inland areas, 1 °C (1.8 °F) lower. It becomes cooler at
higher altitudes; annual temperatures decrease on average
approximately 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) each 100 metres (330 feet) of altitude.
Consequently, the higher parts of Snowdonia experience average
annual temperatures of 5 °C (41 °F).
• Temperatures in Wales remain higher than would otherwise be
expected at its latitude because of the North Atlantic Drift, a branch
of the Gulf Stream. The ocean current, bringing warmer water to
northerly latitudes, has a similar effect on most of north-west
Europe. As well as its influence on Wales' coastal areas, air warmed
by the Gulf Stream blows further inland with the prevailing winds.
 THE KEY INDUSTRIES
• At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, development of the
mining and metallurgical industries transformed the country
from an agricultural society into an industrial nation;
• the South Wales Coalfield's exploitation caused a rapid
expansion of Wales' population. Two-thirds of the population
live in South Wales, including Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and
the nearby valleys. Now that the country's traditional extractive
and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, the economy
is based on the public sector, light and service industries, and
tourism. In livestock farming, including dairy farming, Wales is
a net exporter, contributing towards national agricultural self-
sufficiency.
 INDUSTRIAL WALES
• Prior to the British Industrial Revolution there were small-scale industries
scattered throughout Wales. These ranged from those connected to
agriculture, such as milling and the manufacture of woollen textiles,
through to mining and quarrying.
• Agriculture remained the dominant source of wealth. The emerging
industrial period saw the development of copper smelting in the Swansea
area. With access to local coal deposits and a harbour that connected it
with Cornwall's copper mines in the south and the large copper deposits
at Parys Mountain on Anglesey, Swansea developed into the world's
major centre for non-ferrous metal smelting in the 19th century. The
second metal industry to expand in Wales was iron smelting, and iron
manufacturing became prevalent in both the north and the south of the
country. By the 1820s, south Wales produced 40% of all Britain's pig iron.
 INDUSTRIAL WALES: HISTORY
• In the late 18th century, slate quarrying began to expand rapidly, most
notably in north Wales. The Penrhyn Quarry, opened in 1770 by Richard
Pennant, was employing 15,000 men by the late 19th century,[77] and along
with Dinorwic Quarry, it dominated the Welsh slate trade.
• Although slate quarrying has been described as 'the most Welsh of Welsh
industries', it is coal mining which became the industry synonymous with
Wales and its people. Initially, coal seams were exploited to provide energy
for local metal industries but, with the opening of canal systems and later
the railways, Welsh coal mining saw an explosion in demand.
• As the South Wales coalfield was exploited, Cardiff, Swansea, Penarth and
Barry grew as world exporters of coal. By its height in 1913, Wales was
producing almost 61 million tons of coal.
 INDUSTRIAL WALES: HISTORY
• Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of
the First World War as a "relatively placid, self-confident
and successful nation".
• After economic growth in the first two decades of the
20th century, Wales' staple industries endured a
prolonged slump from the early 1920s to the late 1930s,
leading to widespread unemployment and poverty.
• For the first time in centuries, the population of Wales
went into decline; unemployment reduced only with the
production demands of the Second World War.
 WELSH NATIONAL IDENTITY
• Welsh national identity emerged among the Britons after the Roman withdrawal
from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic
nations.
• Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of
England's conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored
independence to Wales in the early 15th 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; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and
the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales
Act 1998, Senedd Cymru – the Welsh Parliament, formerly known as the National
Assembly for Wales – is responsible for a range of devolved policy matters.
 THE FLAG
• The current flag was officially adopted in 1959,
and is based on an old royal badge used by
British kings and queens since Tudor times.
The red dragon itself has been associated with
Wales for centuries, and as such, the flag is
claimed to be the oldest national flag still in
use. But why a dragon? The answer to that
particular question is lost in history and myth.
 THE NATIONAL COSTUME
• Traditional Welsh dress was worn by women in rural areas of Wales. The
distinctive dress was based on a form of bedgown made from wool, of a
style dating from the 18th century, worn over a corset. This was teamed
with a printed neckerchief, a petticoat, apron and knitted stockings. The
dress was completed by a high crowned hat reminiscent of 17th century
fashions and a red, caped cloak.
• Prior to the late 18th / early 19th century there was no such thing as a
Welsh national costume. During the 1830s, Lady Llanover, the wife of an
ironmaster in Gwent, was very influential in encouraging the wearing of a
‘national’ dress. She considered it important to establish a Welsh national
identity as at this time many felt their national identity was under threat.
• She encouraged the use of the Welsh language and the wearing of an
identifiable Welsh costume, based on the rural women’s traditional dress.
 NATIONAL IDENTITY
• The adoption of the costume also coincided with the growth of Welsh
Nationalism, as the rise of industrialisation was seen as a threat to
the traditional agricultural way of life. And as most of the costume
was made from wool, this also boosted the Welsh woollen industry.
• As the 19th century progressed, the wearing of traditional dress
became less popular and by the 1880s the Welsh costume was worn
more as an attempt to maintain tradition and celebrate a separate
Welsh identity, than as an everyday costume.
• Today Welsh costume is worn on St David’s Day on the 1, March, and
by performers at concerts. It is also very important for the tourism
industry: dolls in Welsh dress make excellent gifts and souvenirs!
 TRADITIONAL FOOD
• Welsh sheep are small and have a particularly delicious flavour
when eaten as a lamb. Salt-marsh lamb has a buttery texture,
as a result of the flocks of sheep grazing on seaweed by the
seashore. Although lamb is the meat most often associated
with Wales, in the past this was a meat eaten only on high
days and holidays: the pig was the staple meat for the family.
• Traditional Welsh cooking derives from the diet of the working
men: fishermen, farmers, coal miners or labourers. Thus fresh
vegetables from the garden, fish from the rivers, lakes or sea,
meat from the family pig etc. form the basis of traditional
Welsh cooking.
 Traditional food
• Welsh lamb and beef feature prominently, as do
freshly caught fish such as salmon, brown trout, white
crab, lobsters.
• Bacon, along with the two Welsh staple vegetables
leeks and cabbage, goes to make the traditional Welsh
dish cawl, a broth or soup.
• This classic one-pot meal, originally cooked in an iron
pot over an open fire, used all local ingredients:
home-cured bacon, scraps of Welsh lamb, cabbage,
swede, potatoes and leeks.
 SOME OTHER NATIONAL IDENTITY
• Wales closely shares its political and social history with the rest of Great
Britain, and a majority of the population in most areas speaks English as a
first language, but the country has retained a distinct cultural identity.
• Both Welsh and English are official languages;
• From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as
the "land of song", in part due to the eisteddfod tradition.
• At many international sporting events, such as the FIFA World Cup, Rugby
World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, Wales has its own national
team.
• At the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete for the UK as part of a
Great Britain team.
• Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of
national consciousness.
 WELSH LITERATURE
• Wales has one of the oldest unbroken literary traditions in
Europe going back to the sixth century and including Geoffrey of
Monmouth (a British cleric, anthropologist and one of the major
figures in the development of British historiography and the
popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his
chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain) and Gerald of Wales,
regarded as among the finest Latin authors of the Middle Ages.
• The earliest body of Welsh verse, by poets Taliesin and Aneirin,
survive not in their original form, but in much-changed, medieval
versions. Welsh poetry and native lore and learning survived the
Dark Ages, through the era of the Poets of the Princes (c. 1100 –
1280) and then the Poets of the Gentry (c. 1350 – 1650).
 WELSH LITERATURE
• Despite the extinction of the professional poet, the integration of the
native elite into a wider cultural world did bring other literary benefits. [281]
Renaissance scholars such as William Salesbury and John Davies brought
humanist ideals from English universities.[281] In 1588 William Morgan
became the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh.[281] From the
16th century the proliferation of the 'free-metre' verse became the most
important development in Welsh poetry, but from the middle of the 17th
century a host of imported accentual metres from England became very
popular.[281] By the 19th century the creation of a Welsh epic, fuelled by
the eisteddfod, became an obsession with Welsh-language writers. [282]
The output of this period was prolific in quantity but unequal in quality.
[283]
Initially excluded, religious denominations came to dominate the
competitions, with bardic themes becoming scriptural and didactic. [283]