Holyhead - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

in the North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

. It is also a major port

Port of Holyhead

The Port of Holyhead is a ferry port in Anglesey, Wales, handling more than 2 million passengers each year. Stena Line and Irish Ferries sail from Holyhead to Dublin and Dún Laoghaire in Ireland, forming the principal link for surface transport from north Wales and central and northern England to...

adjacent to the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

serving Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Despite being the largest town in the county, with a population of 11,237 (2001 census), it is neither the county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

nor actually on the island of Anglesey. Holyhead is located on Holy Island

Holy Island, Anglesey

Holy Island Cybi') is an island on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, from which it is separated by a narrow, winding channel. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones, burial chambers and other religious sites on the small island. The...

. It was originally connected to Anglesey via Four Mile Bridge

Four Mile Bridge

Four Mile Bridge is the name given to a bridge and the village surrounding it in Anglesey, Wales. They are so named because they are located around four miles southeast of Holyhead, the largest town on the island....

, so called because it was four miles (6 km) from Holyhead on the old turnpike Road to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In the mid 19th century, Lord Stanley

John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley

John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley , known as Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, from 1807 to 1839, was a British peer and politician....

, a local philanthropist, funded the building of a larger causeway. Known locally as "The Cob", it now carries the A5 and the railway line

North Wales Coast Line

The North Wales Coast Line is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead. Virgin Trains consider their services along it to be a spur of the West Coast Main Line. The first section from Crewe to Chester was built by the Chester and Crewe Railway and absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway shortly...

. The A55 dual carriageway runs parallel to The Cob on a modern causeway.

Prehistoric and Roman history

The town centre is built around St. Cybi's Church, which is built inside one of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

's few three-walled Roman forts (the fourth wall being the sea, which used to come up to the fort). The Romans

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

also built a watchtower

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

on the top of Holyhead Mountain

Holyhead Mountain

Holyhead Mountain is the highest hill on Holy Island, Anglesey, and the highest in the county of Anglesey, north Wales. It lies about three kilometres west of the town of Holyhead, and slopes steeply down to the Irish Sea on two sides...

inside Mynydd y Twr, a prehistoric hillfort. Settlements in the area date from prehistoric times, with circular huts, burial chambers and standing stone

Standing stone

Standing stones, orthostats, liths, or more commonly megaliths are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties....

s featuring in the highest concentration in Britain. The current lighthouse is on South Stack

South Stack

South Stack is an island situated just off Holy Island on the North West coast of Anglesey. It is famous as the location of one of Wales' most spectacular lighthouses.-South Stack Lighthouse:...

on the other side of Holyhead Mountain and is open to the public. The area is also popular with birdwatchers.

Transport

The Port of Holyhead

Port of Holyhead

has a busy ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

port handling more than 2 million passengers each year. Stena Line

Stena Line

Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...

, Europe's biggest ferry company, operates from the port as do Irish Ferries. Ferries sail to Dublin with a limited once a day sailing to Dún Laoghaire

Dún Laoghaire

Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...

in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

and this forms the principal link for surface transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

from central and northern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. There is archaeological evidence that people have been sailing between Holyhead and Ireland for 4,000 years. Holyhead's maritime importance was at its height in the 19th century when the two and a half mile (4 km) breakwater

Breakwater (structure)

Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...

, widely acknowledged to be one of Britain's finest, was built, creating a safe harbour for vessels caught in stormy waters on their way to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

and the industrial ports of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. Holyhead's sea heritage is remembered in a maritime museum.
The post road built by Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE was a Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, and a noted road, bridge and canal builder.-Early career:...

from London strengthened Holyhead's position as the port from which the Royal Mail

Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the government-owned postal service in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide...

was dispatched to and from Dublin on the Mail coach

Mail coach

In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...

. The A5 terminates at Admiralty Arch (1822–24), which was designed by Thomas Harrison

Thomas Harrison (architect)

Thomas Harrison was an English architect and engineer. He built a number of bridges, including Grosvenor Bridge in Chester. He also rebuilt parts of Chester and Lancaster castles...

to commemorate a visit by King George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

in 1821 en route to Ireland and marks the zenith of Irish Mail coach operations. In 2001, work was completed on the extension of the A55

A55 road

The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway, is a major road in Britain. Its entire length is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the point where it crosses the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait. All junctions are grade separated except for two roundabouts — one...

North Wales Expressway from the Britannia Bridge

Britannia Bridge

Britannia Bridge is a bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. It was originally designed and built by Robert Stephenson as a tubular bridge of wrought iron rectangular box-section spans for carrying rail traffic...

to Holyhead, giving the town a dual carriageway

Dual carriageway

A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...

connection to North Wales and the main British motorway network. The A55 forms part of Euroroute

International E-road network

The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe . The network is numbered from E 1 up and its roads cross national borders...

E22

European route E22

The European route E 22 is one of the longest European routes. It has a length of about . Many of the E-roads have been extended into Asia since the year 2000; the E 22 was extended on 24 June 2002.-United Kingdom:...

and was funded in the main by money from the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. The Anglesey section was financed through a Private Finance Initiative

Private Finance Initiative

The private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...

scheme.

With the opening of the railway from London to Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Holyhead lost the London to Dublin Mail contract in 1839 to the Port of Liverpool

Port of Liverpool

The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed 7.5 mile dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the river...

. Only after the completion of the Chester and Holyhead Railway

Chester and Holyhead Railway

The Chester and Holyhead Railway was incorporated out of a proposal to link Holyhead, the traditional port for the Irish Mail, with London by way of the existing Chester and Crewe Railway, and what is now the West Coast Main Line...

in 1850 and the building of Holyhead railway station

Holyhead railway station

Holyhead railway station serves the town of Holyhead on Holy Island, Anglesey. It is the western terminus of the North Wales Coast Line and is managed by Arriva Trains Wales, although Virgin Trains also serves it....

did the Irish Mail return to Holyhead. Holyhead is currently the terminus of the North Wales Coast Line

North Wales Coast Line

and is served by Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...

and Arriva Trains Wales

Arriva Trains Wales

Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...

services.

Industry

Holyhead's main industry was aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

-based until September 2009, with Rio Tinto Group

Rio Tinto Group

The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...

's Anglesey Aluminium

Anglesey Aluminium

Anglesey Aluminium Metal Ltd, shut down on 30 September 2009, was a joint venture between Rio Tinto Group and Kaiser Aluminium.Its aluminium smelter, located on the outskirts of Holyhead, was one of the largest employers in North Wales, with 540 staff members, and began to produce aluminium in 1971...

subsidiary operating a massive aluminium smelter on the outskirts of the town. There is also a plant that refines bauxite

Bauxite

Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

near the site. A large jetty

Jetty

A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...

in the harbour receives ships from Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and their cargoes of bauxite and aluminium ores are transported on a cable belt rope driven conveyor belt that runs underneath the town to the plant.

The plant relies on its electricity supply from the island's nuclear power station at Wylfa

Wylfa

The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station is situated just west of Cemaes Bay on the island of Anglesey, North Wales. Its location on the coast provides an excellent cooling source for its operation...

, near Cemaes Bay. As this power station is due to close in 2010, there is speculation that the financial viability of the plant is at risk.

Climate

As with the rest of the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

and Wales, Holyhead experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters, often high winds, exacerbated by its location by the Irish Sea. The nearest official weather observation station is at RAF Valley

RAF Valley

RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...

, about 5 miles South East of the town centre.

Notable people

David Crystal
David Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....

, linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

and chair of the charity behind Holyhead's arts centre
Arts centre
An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...

, the Ucheldre Centre
Ucheldre Centre
The Ucheldre Centre is an arts centre located in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales.-Architecture:Formerly, it was the chapel building of Holyhead's Bon Sauveur order of nuns convent. The main hall of the Centre, with its imposing height and arched roof, was designed by Professor R M Butler, of Dublin, a...

, lives in Holyhead
Francis Dodd
Francis Dodd
Francis Edgar Dodd RA was a notable British portrait and landscape artist and printmaker.Born in Holyhead, north Wales, the son of a Wesleyan minister, Dodd trained at the Glasgow School of Art, winning the Haldene Scholarship in 1893 and travelling around France, Italy and later Spain...

, artist, born in the town in 1874
John Fox-Russell
John Fox-Russell
Captain John Fox Russell VC MC was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

(1893–1917), winner of the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
Dawn French, comedian and actor, born in the town in 1957
Glenys Kinnock
Glenys Kinnock
Glenys Elizabeth Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock and Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead is a British politician....

, politician,
Tony Roberts
Tony Roberts (footballer)
Anthony Mark "Tony" Roberts is a Welsh footballer who plays for Dagenham & Redbridge as a goalkeeper.Roberts was formerly the goalkeeping coach at Championship side Queens Park Rangers until he was suspended by John Gregory...

, Welsh international
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

footballer, born in the town in 1969
Raymond Sweetman, bass guitarist, born in the town in 1948
R.S. Thomas, poet, grew up in Holyhead
Ray Williams
Ray Williams (weightlifter)
Raymond Williams, also known as Ray Williams is a Welsh weightlifter.Williams was voted Young Welsh Sports Personality of the Year in 1977 after being placed in the junior weightlifting championships...

, weightlifting Commonwealth gold medallist, born in the town in 1959

Culture and sport

Holyhead hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1927. Holyhead is the start and finish point of the Anglesey Coastal Path

Anglesey Coastal Path

The Anglesey Coastal Path is a long-distance footpath around the island of Anglesey in North Wales....

.

Holyhead's arts centre, the Ucheldre Centre

Ucheldre Centre

The Ucheldre Centre is an arts centre located in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales.-Architecture:Formerly, it was the chapel building of Holyhead's Bon Sauveur order of nuns convent. The main hall of the Centre, with its imposing height and arched roof, was designed by Professor R M Butler, of Dublin, a...

, is located in the chapel of an old convent belonging to the order

Christian monasticism

Christian monasticism is a practice which began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules Christian...

of the Bon Sauveur. It holds regular arts exhibitions, performances, workshops and film screenings. The Holyhead Maritime Museum

Holyhead Maritime Museum

The Holyhead Maritime Museum is a maritime museum located in Holyhead, North Wales.Housed in what is claimed to be the oldest Lifeboat station in Wales , it houses a number of collections. The patron is Lord Stanley of Alderly.-History:...

is housed in what is claimed to be Wales oldest lifeboat

Lifeboat (rescue)

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

house.

According to the United Kingdom Census 2001

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

, 47% of the residents in the town can speak Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

. The highest percentage of speakers is the 15 year old age group, where 66% can speak the language.

The town's main football team is called Holyhead Hotspur

Holyhead Hotspur F.C.

Holyhead Hotspur F.C. is a football club based in Holyhead, Anglesey playing in the Welsh Alliance League ....

and they play in the Cymru Alliance

Cymru Alliance

The Huws Gray Alliance is a football league and forms the second level of the Welsh football league system in north and central Wales....

http://www.cymru-alliance.co.uk/, with their reserves playing in the Gwynedd League

Gwynedd League

The Gwynedd Football League is a football league at the fifth level of the Welsh football league system in north-west Wales.There are currently 4 active cups played within the league...

. There is also Holyhead Gwelfor Athletic who play in the Anglesey League

Anglesey League

The Anglesey Football League is a football league on Anglesey, Wales, and is equivalent to the fifth level of the Welsh football league system in North Wales...

.

On Holyhead's cliffs there is coasteering

Coasteering

Coasteering is a physical activity that encompasses movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surf boards or other craft. It is difficult to define the precise boundaries between, for example, rockpooling and ocean swimming...

, it is a water sport which contains jumping off cliffs at different heights.

Holyhead is home to one of the first churches of the Jedi

Jedi

The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...

Religion, founded by brothers Daniel and Barney Jones early in 2008.

Holyhead's breakwater is the longest in Europe.

Holyhead High School

Holyhead High School

Holyhead High School was the first comprehensive school in England and Wales, opening in 1949 as Holyhead County School.-History:The school was formed in 1949 with the amalgamation of Holyhead Grammar and St Cybi Secondary school. Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Amlwch is said to claim the title of the...

(previously County Secondary school) was the first comprehensive school in the UK.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.