Finding a hotel in Anglesey

Anglesey is an island and county off the northwest coast of Wales covering 714 km² and has a population of around 67,000. Llangefni, located in the centre of the island and is also the island's administrative centre. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow stretch of water called the Menai Strait. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges, the original Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 as a road link, and the newer Britannia Bridge.

Geography

Anglesey is fertile and relatively low-lying, and was known as the breadbasket of Wales due to the amount of grain it could provide. This gave it substantial strategic importance during the struggles between the English kings and the Welsh princes. Anglesey has many small towns scattered all around the island, making it quite evenly populated. The island's entire rural coastline had been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and features many sandy beaches, especially along its eastern coast between the towns of Menai Bridge and Amlwch. The island is also on one of the major routes from the mainland of Great Britain to Rosslair in Ireland, via ferries from Holyhead.

Industry

The island's principal industry is tourism. Agriculture provides a secondary source of income for the island's economy, with the local dairies being amongst the most productive in the region. There is also a nuclear power station, Wylfa Power Station, at Wylfa Head on the north coast, as well as factories for timber, aluminium smelting and food processing.

History

Anglesey was attacked in AD 60 by the Roman general Suetonius Paullinus, determined to break the power of the druids and he destroyed the shrine and the sacred groves. The island was invaded by Irish, Vikings, Saxons, and Normans before finally falling to King Edward I of England, in the 13th century. Beaumaris Castle, one of several strong castles built by Edward I as part of subjugation of North Wales. The town of Newborough houses the site of Llys Rhosyr, the court of the mediaeval Welsh princes, which contains one of the oldest courtrooms in the United Kingdom. Until 1974 Anglesey was one of the thirteen counties of Wales. In 1974 it formed a district of the new large county of Gwynedd, until in the 1996 reform of local government it was restored as a county.