Cymru

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/19493894

A record-breaking 75-mile GPS image of a penis has been scrawled across south Wales on the exercise app Strava to raise money for charity.

The outline of the male genitalia – drawn by the on-foot journey of Terry Rosoman – stretches from Hay-on-Wye to Abergavenny via a double circuitous route taking in Crickhowell and Llangenny.

It was completed in less than 24 hours by Rosoman, 38, a marketing director from south Wales, to raise money and awareness about men’s mental health issues for Movember.

He said he chose to run the giant phallus to help gain the attention of his “target demographic”. He claimed most men find the shape “hilarious”.

Donation page

In 2015, David Cameron’s government decided to define HS2 as an “England and Wales project”. In technical jargon this means they applied a 0% comparability factor for Wales to HS2 spending. That may seem hard to decipher, but what you need to know is this: though it sounds fairly innocuous, designating HS2 an “England and Wales project” was utterly devastating to Wales because it meant that Cymru did not receive any consequential funding from the project.

Compare this with Scotland and Northern Ireland, which were each treated to a delightful comparability factor of 100%. This meant that for every £1 spent on HS2, they both got a population-based share of all of it. It is hard to put an exact figure on how much this will add up to, because the UK government keeps axing parts of the project and the costs keep rising, but roughly, Scotland will bank in the region of £6.5bn-£7bn. If the same rules were applied to Wales, it would have been on course for about £4bn.

The eagle-eyed will have noticed that the HS2 “England and Wales project” has the significant flaw that HS2 doesn’t actually go through Wales. In fact, not a centimetre of track is on the western side of Offa’s Dyke. So how can successive UK governments justify defining it as a Welsh project?

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18274702

The archaeologists unearthed structural features and materials dating to the Roman era and the early Medieval period during an excavation at a site near the Holt Roman tile and pottery works in Wrexham, North East Wales.

They also found the structure of an early Medieval longhouse — a long, narrow, building for communal dwelling.

“We were very hopeful of finding evidence of Roman life due to previous discoveries and geophysical surveys in the area, not to mention the presence of the legionary tileworks a few fields away, but did not expect our excavations to uncover what is believed to be an early Medieval longhouse,” said Dr. Caroline Pudney, senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Chester.

“The discovery of a Roman settlement is extremely important in building a bigger picture of Roman Wrexham and although early Medieval longhouses have been found in other parts of Wales, to unearth evidence of such a building in North East Wales is extremely rare.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18200295

Online searches for big cats in Wales have surged following an increase in alleged sightings.

Research by AussieBoots has revealed that Cardiff and Wrexham saw a 100% increase in searches for ‘Big Cats UK’ from 2021 to 2023 – with Swansea seeing a 50% rise.

It comes after multiple big cat sightings have been reported in the press across the country in recent months and years.

The term ‘big cat’ is usually used to describe large wild felines such as tigers, lions, panthers, jaguars, leopards, cheetahs and cougars.

Big cats such as pumas are solitary and their hunting range is dozens of miles.

When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs.

Experts believe that owners from across the UK travelled to Wales to release their cats in to the remote environment.

...

A BBC study collated more than 100 big cat sightings in 18 months across north and mid Wales.

Another study recorded 123 Welsh sightings over two years with frequent reports of big cats in Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Gwynedd.

...

Wales overall has seen a 50% increase in internet searches for big cats whilst Northern Ireland was the country that saw the highest rise in searches (133%).

Scotland came second (127%), and England came third (84%).

The UK saw an 84% increase overall.

Pete Bryden from AussieBoots said: “The increase in big cat sightings across the UK has certainly captured the public’s imagination.

“It’s fascinating to see how interest has grown, particularly in Wales where searches have surged.

“Whether these sightings are fact or folklore, it’s clear that the British countryside still holds plenty of mysteries for us to discover.”

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17745007

The Welsh Parliament is going through a raft of changes ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections.

People across Wales are marking Owain Glyndŵr Day today – a celebration of Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Prince of Wales and founder of the first Welsh parliament.

On 16 September every year, thousands in Wales celebrate the life and legacy of the “rebel” Prince of Wales.

Owain ap Gruffydd (c. 1359 – c. 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr was a Welsh leader who led a long-running war of independence to end English rule in Wales during the Late Middle Ages. He formed the first Welsh parliament, and he was the last native-born Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales.

Owain Glyndŵr was a descendant of the Princes of Powys through his father Gruffudd Fychan II. Through his mother, Elen ferch Tomas ap Llywelyn, he was a descendant of the Princes of Deheubarth, also a descendant of Llywelyn the Great of the House of Aberffraw.

On 16 September 1400, Owain Glyndŵr proclaimed himself Prince of Wales and instigated a 15-year Welsh Revolt against the rule of King Henry IV of England.

His troops inflicted a series of defeats on the English forces and captured key castles across Wales, rapidly gaining control of most of the country. Glyndŵr received naval support from Scotland and Brittany and also received the support of King Charles VI of France.

In 1403 a Welsh army including a French contingent, commanded by Owain Glyndŵr, his senior general Rhys Gethin and Cadwgan, Lord of Glyn Rhondda, defeated a large English invasion force reputedly led by King Henry IV himself at the Battle of Stalling Down in Glamorgan.

By 1404 four English military expeditions had been repelled and Owain solidified his control of Wales. He was officially crowned Prince of Wales (Welsh: Tywysog Cymru) and held a parliament at Machynlleth where he outlined his national programme for an independent Wales, which included plans such as building two national universities, re-introducing the traditional Welsh laws of Hywel Dda, and establishing an independent Welsh church.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/17094181

Sir Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam have launched a £120,000 appeal to fund a statue of the late Terry Jones, their friend and fellow member of Monty Python. High profile celebrities are backing the campaign for the bronze memorial in Jones' native Colwyn Bay.

The statue, which would be placed on the town's promenade, will depict Jones as a nude organist, a nod to one of his famous Monty Python sketches. The campaign is supported by celebrities including Cerys Matthews, Steve Coogan, Jo Brand, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Emma Thompson, Alex Horne, Simon Fanshawe OBE and Steven Isserlis CBE.

Terry was born in Colwyn Bay and lived there for the first five years of his life until his family moved to Surrey. Later he became a Patron of Theatr Colwyn, a place where his grandfather, mother and aunt all appeared on stage as both amateurs and professionals.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16891767

Gwledd/The Feast (2021) got the number one slot in the best folk horror movies of the 2020s listicle but there isn't a post on it, so here is one from 2022.

Where did the inspiration for this project come from?

I’ve worked with screenwriter Roger Williams quite a bit on a number of television projects, and we’re both passionate about horror. We were also passionate about creating a piece of horror cinema in the Welsh language, with the ambition of having it travel the world. We decided to delve into the long history of Welsh literature, which is inherently horrific in many ways, and use that as a springboard to tell a story about contemporary Wales, weaving in the global theme of climate crisis.

...

Now that the film is about to be unleashed on the world, what are your hopes for it and the Welsh industry at large?

I have big hopes for our little film. I would love it if it were to kickstart some kind of industry in the Welsh language. There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t have a thriving film industry. But it seems to me that we need to be pragmatic in establishing the kind of brand that we sell to the world, and it’s about identifying what we do really well. Our culture, our literary heritage is full of these brilliant, fantastical stories. I think that’s a really good base for us to start from. There is no reason why Wales can’t be as renowned for horror as somewhere like South Korea.

For it's reception see:

• Gwledd (The Feast) on track to become most successful Welsh language film of all time
• The Feast’ review: A keen-edged, slow-burn Welsh-language horror that takes no prisoners
• The Feast is a chilling Welsh-language eco-horror
• The Feast—folklore meets gore in this environmental horror film

Trailer

IMDb

Cadw is offering free access to historic Welsh monuments throughout September with the return of the Open Doors festival.

The annual event gives free access to some of Wales’ most extraordinary and treasured historical locations including castles, churches, clock towers and ancient burial chambers

Throughout September, more than 200 historic landmarks will host a range of guided tours and immersive experiences as Cadw celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Twenty two iconic Cadw monuments, including Denbigh Castle, Segontium Roman Fort, Harlech Castle and Strata Florida Abbey, will welcome visitors free of charge, inviting them to explore these remarkable places.

Open Doors is part of the broader European Heritage Day festival, aimed at highlighting the rich cultural diversity across Europe.

The initiative offers a unique opportunity for people of all ages to connect with history, experience Wales’ vibrant heritage, and discover the captivating stories that have shaped the nation.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16539136

The Christmas-themed card was delivered to Swansea Building Society’s Cradock Street branch last week even though it was originally sent in 1903 - so only just over a century too late.

Staff say they hope to find relatives of a Miss Lydia Davies, who previously lived at the address and who the card was addressed to, to reunite them with it.

The Royal Mail said it is likely the postcard was "put back into" its system, rather than "being lost in the post for over a century".

Organisers of a cycle race in Wales have been forced to change and shorten its route because of the introduction of the 20mph speed limit in parts of the country.

Three of the five stages of the Junior Tour of Wales, which starts on Friday, have been changed because support vehicles would not have been able to keep up with the riders without breaking the limit.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16347864

A piece of the jigsaw puzzle that could unlock 1,000 years of history at a north Wales heritage site has been unearthed – suggesting that local Britons may have lived ‘in harmony’ with the Romans.

An excavation has led to the discovery of a horse bridle mount dating back to the late Iron Age at the Greenfield Valley Heritage Park in Flintshire.

The artefact, which is up to 2,000 years old, was found within the remains of a newly discovered settlement that likely belonged to the Iron Age Deceangli tribe but appears to have continued into the early Roman period.

The region occupied by the Celtic clan, which spread as far west as the River Conwy and included Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Wrexham, was rich in lead and silver, materials highly prised by the Romans.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/16268322

When 10-year-old Tegan went for a summer holiday beach stroll with her mum, she had no idea they would be actually walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs.

The schoolgirl spotted five enormous footprints that dinosaur experts believe are the mark of a camelotia that was there more than 200 million years ago.

Palaeontologists think the footprints, which are up to 75cm (30in) apart, were made by a huge herbivore from the late triassic period, and now there are efforts to get them verified.

Tegan and mum Claire have been told by the National Museum Wales palaeontology curator that she is "fairly certain they are genuine dinosaur prints".

The first money from a £100m fund to help workers and firms affected by restructuring plans at Tata's Port Talbot steel plant is being released, UK ministers will announce on Thursday.

Tata closed one of its two blast furnaces on the site last month and plans to shut the second in September, as it moves to greener production and cuts thousands of jobs.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens will confirm that £13.5m from the fund will be made available.

UK ministers are in separate negotiations to try to save jobs at the steel giant, which is planning to lose 2,800 posts.

The funding is to support local firms whose main customer is Tata Steel find new markets and to help workers find new jobs, access training and gain skills and qualifications in areas where there are vacancies.

The developer behind the hit video games Assassin's Creed and Warhammer Online has launched a new fantasy inspired by Welsh folklore.

Tales from the Mabinogion puts players in charge of a wandering ancient king whose lands are plagued by a cursed purple fog, with the story told in Welsh with English subtitles

The language that inspired JR Tolkien was "fitting" said designer Stevan Anastasoff's in comments on the game's release.

The Mabinogion is the collection of Welsh folk tales about fabled beasts and monsters that gave rise to the literary figures of King Arthur and Merlin.

It became an early example of the fantasy fiction genre when an English translation was published in 1838, based on 12th and 13th century manuscripts preserving an earlier oral tradition of pre-Christian Celtic mythology.

In the new video game version, "a vengeful sorcerer unleashes a cursed fog upon the ancient Welsh kingdom of Dyfed, a warrior-king finds himself entangled with beasts from the mythical otherworld of Annwn," explains the trailer.

"To save his realm, he embarks on a quest to uncover the origins of the curse - and unlock the secrets necessary to thwart its devastating grip."

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/15919289

Plans for a network of radars tracking deep space activity to help protect the UK from “space warfare” are to go ahead in Pembrokeshire, despite the opposition of local campaigners.

The 27 radar dishes planned for the St Davids peninsula, which will be 20 metres high and can track objects as small as a football, are part of a network planned around the globe.

The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (Darc) will be developed at Cawdor barracks in south-west Wales by the Ministry of Defence. Ministers have said the plans are crucial as long-term defence against the possibility of threats in deep space.

The plans to redevelop the barracks, which were previously set to close, are part of the Aukus defence partnership between the UK, US and Australia. They will involve a network of ground-based radars in all three countries designed to monitor, track and identify objects up to 22,000 miles (36,000km) away from Earth.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/15847682

A large open space in in Trelai Park that had been used as a playing field since 1933 yielded a treasure trove of prehistoric artifacts during a 2022 land survey conducted by a local school that was building a sports field in a corner of the park. Upon the archaeological site’s discovery, the Caerau and Ely Rediscovering Heritage Project (CAER), an organization promoting community involvement in archaeological research, began collaborations with Cardiff University to excavate the area.

Archaeologists initially expected the discovery would shed new light on everyday life in the region between the late Iron Age and early Roman Era. To their surprise, unearthed shards from a clay pot dated the site to the Bronze Age, around 1500 B.C.E.

The excavation was soon found to constitute two Bronze Age roundhouses—circular dwellings, typically featuring thatched roofs, that were made up of walls built using wooden or stone posts and stuffed with wattle-and-daub, a mixture of twigs, earth, and clay. The roundhouses have been dubbed the oldest houses in Cardiff.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/15631543

A previously unknown Roman fort discovered in Pembrokeshire in Wales overturns assumptions that the area’s indigenous Celtic tribe was on peaceful terms with the Roman invaders.

The site, which has excited archaeologists, had been hidden until now beneath an enormous, overgrown field. It explains why the land had been unsuccessful for farming: the farmer kept hitting stone.

The discovery was made by Dr Mark Merrony, a leading Roman specialist and tutor at Oxford University, who said: “It is a humongous fort, an incredible find of national importance.”

He is all the more excited because it is right next to a Roman road that he has also identified for the first time.

The fort is thought to date from the first to the third centuries, when the Celtic Demetae tribe inhabited the south-west area of modern Wales.

They were thought to have been pro-Roman, meaning there was less need for a major military presence to quell local resistance.

Merrony said that this fort suggested this part of Wales was considerably more militarised than previously thought: “I now don’t think they were pro-Roman at all, but that the Romans were hitting the area with an iron fist.”

He noted that its form and scale was like the only other Roman fort known in Pembrokeshire, excavated at Wiston near Haverfordwest in 2013. Both forts were now linked to a Roman road network that had not previously been known, he said.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/15162785

A dog has been rescued after seven hours trapped underground.

Adventurous Bryn found himself in a precarious situation after falling into a narrow, seven-metre deep natural rift in the hillside during a walk on the Darren Mountain in Cwmdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team was called to assist their colleagues at the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service in rescuing him.

A rescue operation, which took place on Sunday, involved a seven-hour effort using ropes and a harness before the combined efforts of both rescue teams brought him safely and uninjured back to the surface.

Four members of the Welsh government's cabinet have resigned at the same time, calling for Vaughan Gething to go.

Three ministers - Jeremy Miles, Lesley Griffiths and Julie James - and the government's top legal adviser - counsel general Mick Antoniw - all announced their resignations on X, formerly known as Twitter.

It follows months of rows since Mr Gething was installed in March, including a week of drama over a sacked minister, complaints over Mr Gething's campaign donations and a lost confidence vote.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14672143

Latest Star Wars TV series The Acolyte proves that the Force is strong in Wales - after pivotal scenes were shot across Bannau Brycheiniog.

Starring Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae, the new Star Wars show brought a glimpse of sci-fi action to the national park - also known as the Brecon Beacons - as well as the south Wales valleys as the production spread across several locations in the country.

"We shot a lot in Wales," said showrunner Leslye Headland. "What was incredible about Wales was that, you know, you could shoot in a beautiful wooded area, but then if you moved up further, you’d be in snow."

Welcoming both Jedi and other Force users, Wales has officially become part of the galaxy far, far away for the very first time.

The Welsh Government promised to introduce a law banning lying politicians before the next Senedd election after striking a last-minute deal to avert defeat.

Mick Antoniw, who is counsel general, the Welsh Government’s chief legal adviser, reached an agreement with Adam Price just before a key vote on creating an offence of deception.

Under the elections bill, Mr Price proposed a four-year disqualification for Senedd members, ministers or candidates found guilty of deliberate lying.

Mr Antoniw stopped short of supporting criminalisation as he invited the Senedd’s standards committee, which is holding an inquiry on accountability, to make proposals.

He said: “The Welsh Government will bring forward legislation before 2026 for the disqualification of members and candidates found guilty of deception through an independent judicial process.”