# What is Wales Famous For?



## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

Or, 'What is the Most Famous Thing About Wales?' Or, summat.

I suppose you real Welshies will know the answer to this. I've been pretending to be Welsh for sometime now just for my own amusement. Here in Spain, few people recognise that it is actually a country in it's own right. However, time and time again, when I tell people I'm from Wales people shout out...

Five guesses for what Wales is most famous for in Spain?


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## toblerone3 (Apr 26, 2009)

Guess one - Rugby


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## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

toblerone3 said:


> Guess one - Rugby



Close.

Sort of.


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## 5t3IIa (Apr 26, 2009)

Tom Jones


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## weltweit (Apr 26, 2009)

Close harmony singing


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## weltweit (Apr 26, 2009)

Coal Mining


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## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

I'm off for a Sunday brandy and spliff. I'll pop back in an hour to see if anyone guessed right


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

Male voice choirs
Coal/mining
Leeks
Daffodils
Welsh cakes
The national costume
The Eisteddford
Richard Burton
Dylan Thomas


etc etc etc


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## Herbert Read (Apr 26, 2009)

Roaring fires in holiday cottages.


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## Herbert Read (Apr 26, 2009)

Seriously, off the top of my head:

Lawrence of Arabia 
Aphex Twin
Bertrand Russell

They're three people who are as Welsh as erm... coal but aren't thought of as being Welsh.


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 26, 2009)

Bitterness.


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## editor (Apr 26, 2009)

Ryan Giggs.


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## ddraig (Apr 26, 2009)

Brigadistas 

RIP Jack Jones


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)




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## ddraig (Apr 26, 2009)

Cesare

why oh why is the end of the pic cut off!


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## Clair De Lune (Apr 26, 2009)

Sheep innit


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

ddraig said:


> Cesare
> 
> why oh why is the end of the pic cut off!



I dunno! Is there something significant at the end, what's been chopped off?


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## Cheesypoof (Apr 26, 2009)

Good singers.


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## toblerone3 (Apr 26, 2009)

editor said:


> Ryan Giggs.




That was also my first thought.


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## Cheesypoof (Apr 26, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Bitterness.



having lived in wales before i wouldnt say they are bitter. Nationalistic, hell yes, but bitter? nah.


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

St David

St Davids

Blaenau Ffestiniog - slate and railway


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 26, 2009)

Cheesypoof said:


> having lived in wales before i wouldnt say they are bitter. Nationalistic, hell yes, but bitter? nah.



I am only joking. My Dad is Welsh, and I love Wales more than anywhere else on earth. Land of My Fathers.


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## whoha (Apr 26, 2009)

Charlotte Church


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## weltweit (Apr 26, 2009)

Under Milk Wood


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## 5t3IIa (Apr 26, 2009)

whoha said:


> Charlotte Church



Ooooooh good guess. That fulfils the 'Rugby- sort of' bit


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## kerb (Apr 26, 2009)

the valleys


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 26, 2009)

Llareggub.

Oh how witty I am.


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## 5t3IIa (Apr 26, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Llareggub.
> 
> Oh how witty I am.



Tee, and indeed hee.


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

> Llewellyn, prince of Wales, is said to have loved the chase above all else but always took with him his Irish wolf- dog, Gelert. The prince had many hounds, but Gelert was his favourite and was always there for the morning hunt. However, one day Gelert did not turn up and eventually Llewellyn went off with his followers and the hounds but could not enjoy his day and in the end hurried back home to find out what had happened to Gelert. He was met by Gelert, giving his usual greeting, but Llewellyn was horrified to find that Gelert was covered in blood. Hurrying into the castle, he went to see his infant son but found the cradle overturned and empty, with no sign of the child, but with blood everywhere.
> 
> Concluding that Gelert must have killed and eaten the baby, Llewellyn drew his sword and plunged it into the hound. The stricken Gelert gave a long-drawn out howl as he died and this cry was followed by a child's wail. Llewellyn searched for the source of this sound and found his child under a pile of bedding from the cradle, completely unharmed, and close by was the body of a gaunt wolf, which had obviously been slain by Gelert after a bloody battle.
> 
> Horrified at what he had done, and stricken by remorse, Llewellyn had the body of Gelert buried with due pomp and the place was afterwards known as Bedd Gelert (the grave of Gelert), as was the town that grew up near to it.


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## pigtails (Apr 26, 2009)

whoha said:


> Charlotte Church



that was gonna be my guess.

Or Dame Shirley 
Or Bara Brith


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 26, 2009)

5t3IIa said:


> Tee, and indeed hee.



Thank you. I earned that.


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## pigtails (Apr 26, 2009)

cesare said:


>



Are you _trying_ to make me cry!


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

Cawl. Or maybe welshcakes


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## pigtails (Apr 26, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Llareggub.
> 
> Oh how witty I am.



V. amusing!


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

pigtails said:


> Are you _trying_ to make me cry!



Have you been there? I found it very, I dunno, atmospheric. Sad story.


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## Dillinger4 (Apr 26, 2009)

cesare said:


> Have you been there? I found it very, I dunno, atmospheric. Sad story.



I have been there a few times. I agree about the atmosphere. It is a bit of a strange place, really. 

A flat rive plain surrounded by cliffs. There is definitely a bit of something in the air there.


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## kerb (Apr 26, 2009)

pigtails said:


> Are you _trying_ to make me cry!



ennett!

if that was a film or a cartoon i'd be in pieces right now.


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## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

editor said:


> Ryan Giggs.



Win.

He knows.


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## pigtails (Apr 26, 2009)

cesare said:


> Have you been there? I found it very, I dunno, atmospheric. Sad story.



Yeah went when I was a kid with the school, we did a project (as all welsh kids did!)  Always found the story moving!


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## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

I spent this afternoon in the company of some Osasuna fans today. Great bunch. Haven't a clue where, or what Osasuna might be, but I'm going there. My sort of folk. And, they knew all about Wales. Or, at least they knew about Ryan Giggs.

Strange times we live in. Ryan Giggs is Wales!

He is a bit good mind.


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## Donna Ferentes (Apr 26, 2009)

Stanley Edwards said:


> Haven't a clue where, or what Osasuna might be



I doubt this Stanley, as you've been to the city from where they come.


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## Stanley Edwards (Apr 26, 2009)

Donna Ferentes said:


> I doubt this Stanley, as you've been to the city from where they come.





Seriously good bunch of folk, but I am totally clueless. Forgot to ask. 

Please tell


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## cesare (Apr 26, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I have been there a few times. I agree about the atmosphere. It is a bit of a strange place, really.
> 
> A flat rive plain surrounded by cliffs. There is definitely a bit of something in the air there.



I've only been there once, but yes definitely something in the air, it's a shivery place. There's a river and bridge at the bottom iirc? Ashamed to say it, but I didn't know the legend until afterwards - or at least, I hadn't connected it to a real place iyswim. My gran (who was originally from Blaenau Ffestiniog) gave me a proper rendition when I was describing it a few weeks later.

As a result of that trip I started donating to a National Trust Snowdonia project about clearing rhododendrons. They look lovely in flower, but we saw so many of them ... now they are a spooky plant when the flowers aren't distracting you.



pigtails said:


> Yeah went when I was a kid with the school, we did a project (as all welsh kids did!)  Always found the story moving!



I'd have loved that sort of project as a kid. The best we got in SE London was a trip to see the dinosaur bones.


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## PAD1OH (Apr 27, 2009)

Herbert Read said:


> Seriously, off the top of my head:
> 
> Lawrence of Arabia
> Aphex Twin
> ...



does Aphex consider himself Welsh? being born in Ireland and growing up in Cornwall...

has he ever even played in Wales?


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## niclas (Apr 27, 2009)

cesare said:


>



Sorry to break your hearts but the Gelert story is made up - by a Victorian  landlord trying to drum up some more trade for his hotel... I was told that story by Taid and it broke my heart too.

 Similarly, Llanfair PG was also a made-up name to attract gullible tourists to an otherwise non-descript Anglesey village. Once you've looked at the railway sign (the roadsigns all say LLanfair PG), there's ogogoch to see there.

 And people wonder how the Welsh got a reputation for fleecing tourists...


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## Clair De Lune (Apr 27, 2009)

niclas said:


> Sorry to break your hearts but the Gelert story is made up - by a Victorian  landlord trying to drum up some more trade for his hotel... I was told that story by Taid and it broke my heart too.
> 
> Similarly, Llanfair PG was also a made-up name to attract gullible tourists to an otherwise non-descript Anglesey village. Once you've looked at the railway sign (the roadsigns all say LLanfair PG), there's ogogoch to see there.
> 
> And people wonder how the Welsh got a reputation for* fleecing tourists*...



Punalicious 
Surely that is the nature of tourism the world over?


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## niclas (Apr 27, 2009)

*Belonging* - not the TV series
*Earthy humour* 
*Maudlin sentimentality* - stuff like Hiraeth (longing)
*A liking for drink* - our earliest surviving poem celebrates a battle we lose because of a hangover
*Passion*- stuff like Hwyl (fun)
(this is what _the Welsh_ are famous for)

Wales is probably famous for

Snowdon and surrounding peaks 
Imaginative placenames like Bryn Saith Marchog (the hill of the seven horsemen) and, er, Mold 
Caerffili Castle (the largest in Europe - we took a lot of taming)
The first million pound cheque (paid for coal, naturally)
The biggest man-made hole in the world (surprisingly, not Connah's Quay but a slate quarry near Bethesda)


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## cesare (Apr 27, 2009)

I thought it was just the site of the grave that was made up, not the legend itself Niclas? No matter really.

Yeah, I know it as Llanfair PG as well. Damn well didn't type the whole name in to google for an image 

No-one's mentioned Welsh gold yet


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## Bernie Gunther (Apr 27, 2009)

Stanley Edwards said:


> I spent this afternoon in the company of some Osasuna fans today. Great bunch. Haven't a clue where, or what Osasuna might be, but I'm going there. My sort of folk. And, they knew all about Wales. Or, at least they knew about Ryan Giggs.
> 
> Strange times we live in. Ryan Giggs is Wales!
> 
> He is a bit good mind.



Hadn't they even heard of Ian Rush?


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## rhod (Apr 27, 2009)

I was going to suggest the Welsh International Brigade, but I suppose Giggsy will have to do...


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## Gromit (Apr 27, 2009)

I do hope it's not Gavin Henson that the OP was looking for. 

Have we had:
Catherine Zeta
Princess Di (even though she was english)
Manic Street Preachers
Captain Henry Morgan


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## Paul Russell (Apr 27, 2009)

Keith Allen?

Edit: is he English or Welsh? Definitely born in Wales.


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## nogojones (Apr 27, 2009)

Stanley Edwards said:


> Win.
> 
> He knows.



Gigsy ain't Welsh. He's from Cardiff.


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## lewislewis (Apr 27, 2009)

How many people outside of Spain have heard of Galicia?


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## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 27, 2009)

The silliest accents extant in human history.


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## llantwit (Apr 27, 2009)

Whenever I've been travelling in the big wide world it's eiether Ryan Giggs (fine - the man's a legend) or...
Bloody Princess Di!


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## poisondwarf (Apr 27, 2009)

When I first worked on cruise ships in 1990, the American passengers would say Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. Ten years later, when I worked on my last one, it was Charlotte Church and Bryn Terfel!


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## Gromit (Apr 27, 2009)

poisondwarf said:


> When I first worked on cruise ships in 1990, the American passengers would say Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. Ten years later, when I worked on my last one, it was Charlotte Church and Bryn Terfel!


 
Last time I went to England they all said Pot Noodle. 
Those silly english believe the pot noodle mines are real, bless em.


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## poisondwarf (Apr 27, 2009)

Marius said:


> Last time I went to England they all said Pot Noodle.
> Those silly english believe the pot noodle mines are real, bless em.



I bet they believe that Mark Watson, who was in the advert, is a real Welshman too!


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## berniedicters (Apr 27, 2009)

cesare said:


> Have you been there? I found it very, I dunno, atmospheric. Sad story.



It is atmospheric, yes. That little town nestled in between those huge valleys gives it a slightly claustrophobic feel, and then THAT story... 

Very nice place, though. I went camping there last May. Could have done without the frost in the morning...


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## bendeus (Apr 28, 2009)

This is quite fun.

We can, apparently, claim Humphrey Bogart, Harold Lloyd, Bob Hope, Kevin Spacey, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack London, General Lee, Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Adams, John Quincy Adams, Monroe and Madison, Hillary Clinton, JP Morgan, Howard Hughes, William Fargo and Jesse James

For the most part, we have a lot to answer for


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## 1927 (Apr 28, 2009)

bendeus said:


> This is quite fun.
> 
> We can, apparently, claim Humphrey Bogart, Harold Lloyd, Bob Hope, Kevin Spacey, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack London, General Lee, Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Adams, John Quincy Adams, Monroe and Madison, Hillary Clinton, JP Morgan, Howard Hughes, William Fargo and Jesse James
> 
> For the most part, we have a lot to answer for



You forgot The King


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## bendeus (Apr 29, 2009)

*rotates pelvis*


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## Clair De Lune (Apr 29, 2009)

All I got when I was in Essex was the typical sheep jokes and people asking me to say seven


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## llion (Apr 29, 2009)

Richard Burton? Not sure how famous he is these days though. In his day he was the man though. Was surprised to learn recently that he spoke Welsh pretty fluently. 'Where Eagles Dare' is my fave performance by him: 'Broadsword calling Danny Boy, Browdsword calling Danny Boy...'


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## Gavin Bl (Apr 29, 2009)

niclas said:


> Sorry to break your hearts but the Gelert story is made up - by a Victorian  landlord trying to drum up some more trade for his hotel... I was told that story by Taid and it broke my heart too.



thats almost as disappointing as finding out that the V-sign didn't come from the battle of Agincourt.


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## pigtails (Apr 29, 2009)

niclas said:


> Sorry to break your hearts but the Gelert story is made up - by a Victorian  landlord trying to drum up some more trade for his hotel... I was told that story by Taid and it broke my heart too.



I refuse to believe this!

Please don't let my tears have been for nothing!


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## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

Nobody's bitten on the accents


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## pigtails (Apr 30, 2009)

aw bless you!




e2a - that was said in a welsh accent!


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## Greebo (Apr 30, 2009)

IMHO Wales is famous for rain.


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## bendeus (Apr 30, 2009)

Gavin Bl said:


> thats almost as disappointing as finding out that the V-sign didn't come from the battle of Agincourt.



WHAT????

Is no half-baked factoid sacred?


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## Gromit (Apr 30, 2009)

Greebo said:


> IMHO Wales is famous for rain.



Grr it's lovely and sunny here today. Okay no it's not it's raining but I still reserve the right to be outraged


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