Poll: What do you know about Wales?

[Da Orky Man]

So, have you ever heard of that little rocky outcropping of England the inhabitants call Wales? (The shaded bit)

You see, on the occasion that I go out of the UK, I find that almost nobody has ever heard of us, although I kind of expected to be rather obscure

So I am asking you, my fellow Escapees, how aware are you of Wales? Thinks its an animal? Well enough to know a Welsh leisure centre when you see one? Or perhaps you are fluent in Welsh, descendant language of much of pre-Roman Europe, and bane of visitors without chest colds.
Or, for the brave amongst you, can you pronounce the names of such towns and villages as Llanfairfechan, Penmaenmawr, Llanelli or even the dreaded Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Wales used to suffer from people making jokes about sheep.

Now they suffer because Torchwood was filmed there, which seems much worse.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

You cling onto my country. Literally-- look at you! You resemble a tumour!
I joke!

You have your own language which is rarely used.
Roald Dahl was Welsh.
Doctor Who is filmed there.
Rhossilii (cannot spell that properly) coast is amazing for surfing.
You have that crazy soap! Cwym De Hart or something? Do you watch it? What is it about? Is it a Welsh Eastenders?

 

[Tom_green_day]

Live like on the border. In England, University costs around £9000 depending on where you go. If I lived in Wales, I'd only have to pay £3000 and the government would subsidise the rest. Great -.-
Captcha: heartache. Isn't that the truth -.-

 

[sextus the crazy]

Err, It's part of the UK.
The language looks like the alphabet threw up.
Welsh is spoken less and less.
smallest population of the UK countries.
Some other stuff I forget from intro to the United Kingdom class.

 

[DoPo]

What do I know? Well, they are mammals and but live in the sea. The biggest mammals (and I believe animals as a whole) in the world. They are valuable for their...wait, you don't mean the big fish things? Oops.

As for Wales, it's alright. Lots of sheep and very weird language. Thankfully, the signs and such have subtitles, so you don't have to guess what "Araf" or "Bws" mean (for the record, it's respectively, "Slow" and "Bus"). Some of the Welsh words, however, seem like Cthulhu's own poetry - I've seen words consisting of 10-15 letters and only one or two vowels. Spoken Welsh is...also odd. My apologies to Welsh speakers, but sometimes it sounds like a really bad cough. Well, it depends on who is talking and what they are saying but still. There is lots of sheep (duh, I am obliged to say it) and there are even people who live there. The weather is pretty...well, English-y, with lots of rain and such, so nothing really odd there. It has a population of 3 million or so, with the biggest city, and capitol, being Cardiff (also, one of the easier to spell), the other settlements tend to be on the small side, though. If you're travelling by train, chances are, your first stop in Wales would be Welshpool.

That's from the top of my head.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I know that Rob Brydon is from Wales, and I quite like Rob Brydon.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Well it has rain, valleys, sheep and more l's than you can shake a stick at, which I believe is only so they can cheat in scrabble. On the plus side they have a dragon on their flag, which is pretty neat as flags go.

They also have their own language, though hardly anyone speaks it in everyday life. The reason is because of an old to an Anglo-Welsh initiative called learn our language or taste the pointy stick you barbaric sheep molesters

 

[bananafishtoday]

American here. I know a bit of the history, specifically dealing w/ the kingdoms of Gwynedd and Gwent. I know Welsh descends from the actual British language and is related to Cornish and Breton. I know your parliament got lawmaking powers in devolved areas a couple years ago, though I dunno if it's the same or more/less extensive than Scotland's. I don't know anything about Welsh culture or what the place is like or anything though.

Also, I saw Zulu when I was a kid, so I always held this stereotype that Welsh people were all amazing singers.

Edit: And I always thought it was kinda cool how the other three country-within's flags were crosses, but Wales was all like "Fuck y'all, DRAGON."

 

[Zhukov]

Well... I know it's a region of Britain.

Their flag is a red dragon on a white background... possibly?

I think it's the region that remained under the control of the celtic peoples the longest, back in the old days when Britain was being invaded by basically everyone, which accounts for many of the cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the area. Uh... I may be remembering that completely wrong, don't judge me!

Also, apparently the language is really tricky. I once heard something about Welsh being used as a form of encryption during WWII. That might be a joke or urban myth though.

So, in conclusion, no, I don't know much about the place.

I've met a few Welsh people though, tourists and such. They have awesome accents.

 

[DoPo]

I know your parliament got lawmaking powers

I read that as "lawnmaking". Damn, and now I'm stuck here wandering why is there no government that can make lawns. Powerless, all of them are utterly powerless.

 

[bananafishtoday]

I know your parliament got lawmaking powers

I read that as "lawnmaking". Damn, and now I'm stuck here wandering why is there no government that can make lawns. Powerless, all of them are utterly powerless.

Dunno what it's like in the UK, but in the US, the Constitution reserves lawnmaking powers for homeowners' associations in bourgeois suburban communities.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Their flag is a red dragon on a white background... possibly?

I think it's the region that remained under the control of the celtic peoples the longest, back in the old days when Britain was being invaded by basically everyone, which accounts for many of the cultural and linguistic peculiarities of the area. Uh... I may be remembering that completely wrong, don't judge me!

Welsh flag:

So yes, correct there. As for the Celts, both Scotland and Irish are considered Celtic nations, along with Brittany, the Isle of Man and Cornwall.
Basically, the only bit of Britain that anyone really wanted was the south-east, so the Celts kept getting pushed back into the not so nice bits.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

It's wet, but not as wet as they'd have you believe, being beaten in terms of average rainfall by the west highlands in Scotland and the Lake district in England.

Every year they hold the Istedford or however that's spelt which is some sort of art/performance competition.

They're good at rugby, and deservedly won the 6 nations *grumble*.

They have a devolved parliament, like Scotland. But I'm not sure whether they where agitating for it as well, or whether we just gave it to them to make Scotland getting one not seem like a big deal. Certainly, separatism doesn't seem to be much of a thing there, as opposed to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

 

[Zhukov]

Basically, the only bit of Britain that anyone really wanted was the south-east, so the Celts kept getting pushed back into the not so nice bits.

I know the Romans only went so far north, but wasn't the northern end of Britain taken over and settled by the Danes at one point?

Granted, I'm going off half remembered history lesson from years back, but I have this one clear memory of a map of old pre-1066 Britain, with the Danelaw region in the north, the Saxons(?) in the south and the last Celtic kingdoms squeezed into the little pocket of Wales.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Basically, the only bit of Britain that anyone really wanted was the south-east, so the Celts kept getting pushed back into the not so nice bits.

I know the Romans only went so far north, but wasn't the northern end of Britain taken over and settled by the Danes at one point?

Granted, I'm going off half remembered history lesson from years back, but I have this one clear memory of a map of old pre-1066 Britain, with the Danelaw region in the north, the Saxons(?) in the south and the last Celtic kingdoms squeezed into the little pocket of Wales.

I believe that the Danes weren't as intent as the Saxons were with full-on settlement, so there was a lesser push factor.

 

[Goofguy]

Isn't it where Catherine Zeta-Jones is originally from? Man, I had such a crush on her back in those Zorro movies.

 

[Private Custard]

If I want decent photos of military jets 'in the wild', I go to a valley in Snowdonia and sit there for many hours!

 

[Scarim Coral]

Considering that I am living in Wales, I know a thing or two about it (before you asked, no I cannot speak Welsh to saved my life).
If I remember the origin of the Welsh dragon flag is that they nicked it off from the Englishs and the reason why Welsh Celtics weren't fully invaded from England was that the mountain terrain was too difficult for them to invade.

 

[Wadders]

Not as much as I should, probably. I lived there for 3 years whilst at Aberystwyth University, and my home isn't far from the border anyhow. (Near Welshpool/ Montgomery, as if anyone here would actually know where they are )

I should know a lot more though. All I picked up there was a few Welsh words, and learned how to wind Welsh people up.

Most of what I know had been mentioned, but you also have to pay 5 pence if you want a plastic carrier bag from a supermarket or takeaway. How dare they?!

Aberystwyth is awesome, and has the highest pub to student ratio in the UK. Ideal. It's also nearby to a lovely beach called Ynyslas, and is home to highly aggressive seagulls, as well as hoards of starlings that shit on everything.

That's about it as far as Aber's concerned...

Wales used to suffer from people making jokes about sheep.

Used to? Nah, that is still very much a thing