Anglesey - Holidays to Wales

Anglesey - Ynys Mon Information

Anglesey (Welsh: Ynys Môn), is a predominantly Welsh-speaking island and county at the northwestern extremity of Wales. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow stretch of water known as the Menai Strait. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges, the original Menai Suspension Bridge (carrying the A5), built by Thomas Telford in 1826 as a road link, and the newer, twice reconstructed Britannia Bridge (originally the work of Robert Stephenson), which carries the A55 and the North Wales Coast Railway line. The A5025 circles most of its coast. As well as the Isle of Anglesey, the county of Anglesey covers a number of smaller islands, in particular Holy Island.
With an area of 275 square miles, Anglesey is the largest Welsh island, and the fifth largest surrounding Britain

Anglesey is a relatively low-lying island with slight risings such as Parys Mountain, Cadair Mynachdy (or Monachdy, i.e., "chair of the monastery"; there is a Nanner, "convent", not far away), Mynydd Bodafon and Holyhead Mountain.
Anglesey has many small towns scattered all around the island, making it quite evenly populated. Beaumaris (Welsh: Biwmares), to the south of the island, features Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I as part of his campaign in North Wales. The town of Newborough (Welsh: Niwbwrch), created when the townfolk of Llanfaes were relocated to make way for the building of Beaumaris Castle, includes the site of Llys Rhosyr, another of the courts of the mediaeval Welsh princes and which features one of the oldest courtrooms in the United Kingdom. Beaumaris acts as a yachting centre for the region with many boats moored in the bay or off Gallows Point. Llangefni is located in the centre of the island and is also the island's administrative centre. The town of Menai Bridge (Welsh: Porthaethwy) expanded when the first bridge to the mainland was being built, in order to accommodate workers and construction. Up until that time Porthaethwy had been one of the principal ferry crossing points from the mainland. A short distance from this town lies Bryn Celli Ddu, a Stone Age burial mound. The town of Amlwch is situated in the northeast of the island and was once largely industrialised, having grown during the 18th century supporting the copper mining industry at Parys Mountain.

The island also has the village with the longest official place name in the United Kingdom, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Other towns and settlements include Cemaes, Benllech, Pentraeth, Gaerwen, Dwyran, Bodedern and Rhosneigr. The Anglesey Sea Zoo is a local tourist attraction, providing a look at and descriptions of local marine wildlife from lobsters to conger eels. All the fish and crustaceans on display are caught around the island and are placed in reconstructions of their natural habitat. They also make salt (evaporated from the local sea water) and commercially breed lobsters, for food, and oysters, for pearls, both from local stocks.
The island's entire rural coastline had been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and features many sandy beaches, especially along its eastern coast between the towns of Beaumaris and Amlwch and along the western coast from Ynys Llanddwyn through Rhosneigr to the little bays around Carmel Head. The northern coastline is characterised by dramatic cliffs interspersed with small bays. The Anglesey Coastal Path is a 125-mile path which follows nearly the entire coastline. Tourism is now the most significant economic activity on the island. Agriculture provides the secondary source of income for the island's economy, with the local dairies being amongst the most productive in the region. There is also a nuclear power station, at Wylfa Head on the north coast.

Major industries are restricted to Holyhead which supports an aluminium smelter and the Amlwch area where the Wylfa nuclear power station is located close to a former bromine extraction plant. The nuclear power station is scheduled to close in or around 2010, and the aluminum smelting operation is likely to close as a consequence of losing its affordable local electricity supply. There is a wide range of smaller industries, mostly located in industrial and business parks especially at Llangefni and Gaerwen. These industries include an abbatoir and fine chemicals manufacture as well as factories for timber production, aluminum smelting, fish farming and food processing.

Wind power is developing on Anglesey with more than 20 commercial wind turbines established near to the north coast. The strong sea currents around the island are also attracting the interest of electricity generation companies interested in exploiting tidal power.
The island is also on one of the major routes from Britain to Ireland, via ferries from Holyhead, off the west of Anglesey on Holy Island, to Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Port.

There are a few lakes mostly in the west, such as Cors Cerrig y Daran, but rivers are few and small. There are two large water supply reservoirs operated by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water. These are Llyn Cefni in the centre of the island, which is fed by the headwaters of the Afon Cefni, and Llyn Alaw to the north of the island. Llyn Llywenan is the largest natural lake on the island.

The climate is humid but generally equable due the effects of the Gulf Stream bathing the island. The land is of variable quality and it may have been more fertile in the past.

• The Skerries Lighthouse which can be found at the end of a low piece of submerged land, North-East of Holyhead
• The working windmill at Llynnon
• Ynys Llanddwyn - Lovers island
• The church in the sea on Cribinau
• a motor racing track near Valley
• Stone Science, nr Pentraeth - a journey through 650 million years.
• King Arthur's seat near Beaumaris
• Penmon Priory and dovecote
• the town and castle of Beaumaris
• Red Wharf bay, Llanddona and many other beaches
• Cemlyn Bay for its ternery
• Ellin's Tower (Twr Ellin) RSPB reserve and the lighthouse at South Stack (Ynys Lawd) near Holyhead

(Source: Wikipedia.org)