28 November: Caernarfonshire Day

Today is Caernarfonshire Day. 10 things you didn’t know about a historic Welsh County:

1. Why today? 28^th November is the date Owain Gwynedd died. He was the first person to be styled “Prince of Wales”. The date of his death is used because his date of birth isn’t known.
2. The county was originally created under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 after Edward I of England conquered the Principality of Wales.
3. It hasn’t existed as an administrative county since 1974 – when the area was split between the three districts of Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor of Gwynedd (along with Merionethshire and Anglesey). A new unitary area was created in 1996 and called Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire, but the name was soon changed to Gwynedd. Most of the historic county therefore lies within the present county of Gwynedd.
4. That said, the county’s Flag was registered with the Flag Institute in 2012. The design consists of three gold eagles on a Green background, which is thought to be the standard flown by Caernarfonshire soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.
5. It is bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Denbighshire, to the south by Cardigan Bay and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfon Bay and the Menai Strait, which separates it from Anglesey.
6. Principal towns are Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli.
7. The highest point in the county is also the highest point in Wales – Mount Snowdon, at 1,085 m (3,560 ft).
8. There is a narrow gauge railway which runs 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon. It’s a popular tourist attraction which in a normal year would carry over 140,000 passengers. Despite being closed from November to March, it still operates in some of the harshest weather the UK can throw at it, and has even been used to rescue people stranded on Snowdon when the rescue Helicopter is unable to operate.
9. Other places of interest include Carnarvon Castle, which was first built in the late 11^th century and the current stone structure was put in place by Edward I in 1283. It was the location for the investitures of Princes of Wales in 1911 and 1969.
10. A less grand residence which is open to the public (in normal years, anyway – at time of writing I’m wondering if there will ever be a normal year again) is Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant, a house owned by the National Trust. It is significant as it was the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan who was the first person to translate the Bible into Welsh. The Wybrnant part of the name comes from the stream near the house. The origins of the name Wybrnant are not known for certain. Nant meanss a small stream and wybr is an old word for sky or cloud, but some say the word is derived from the word gwiber, meaning "adder" or "viper". There is a legend that there was once a huge flying snake living in this valley.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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