Premise of the book: The title pretty much says it all. Bailey walks through Wales from south to north. He includes history lessons, local legends, and anecdotes from his travels. It was published in 1992, so some of the information might be out of date, but it still gives a comprehensive portrait of the country at the time.
Random Facts Learned By Reading This Book:
- Bute Park in Cardiff was designed in 1777 by a landscape architect named Lancelot "Capability" Brown. How's that for a name?
- Caerphilly Castle has two moats. It also has a leaning tower caused by a gunpowder explosion in a battle in the seventeenth century.
- Only about one fifth of the population of Wales speaks Welsh, mostly in the west and north.
- Brecon, Wales is a sister city to Saline, Michigan (which I found particularly interesting because I live in Michigan and went to college not far from Saline!)
- There are about eleven million sheep in Wales, a ratio of about 4 to 1 for sheep to people.
- Craig-yr-Aderyn (Birds' Rock) is the only inland nesting place for cormorants in Europe. (Cormorants are typically sea birds.)
- In 1984, Porthmadog was the epicenter of the most powerful earthquake in Great Britain since measurements have begun.
General thoughts on the book: I love walking when travelling, so I loved Bailey's account of his journey. This book provides a good mix of history, facts, and stories from his adventure. I learned a lot about Wales. This is a fun way to "visit" a country and get an intimate picture of what life is like there.
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