North East Wales Museums &

Mold Museum is currently undergoing a refurbishment and will reopen in January 2024. Situated on the upper floor of Mold Library, the museum traces the fascinating history of Mold, its people and stories. There are Bronze Age treasures to see including a replica of the famous Mold Cape. Found on the outskirts of the town, the original Cape is now in the British Museum. You can experience Victorian Mold through the eyes of Welsh novelist, Daniel Owen, who is seen in his reconstructed tailor’s shop.

Earl Road Mold Flintshire CH7 1AP Visit aura.wales/heritage/museum-displays

Oriel Glasfryn Gallery

Oriel Glasfryn Gallery is the only independent art gallery in North East Wales.

Situated just off the A55 in the historic town of Caerwys, the gallery showcases the finest original Welsh art and craft including paintings, jewellery, ceramics, sculpture, glass, textiles, wood and metalwork.

Holywell 05 easy to get to fromanywhere in Britain. Just over an hour from Manchester, and four from London.

You might be surprised, but we’re

Basingwerk House Greenfield Holywell CH8 7GH Visit greenfieldvalley.com

Plas Newydd

Plas Newydd

Snowdonia Isle of Anglesey

The Canolfan Ucheldre Centre is a community endeavour to provide those who live in and visit Holyhead, and nearby parts of north-west Wales, with a centre for arts events, exhibitions,

Facts

01 Wales now boasts four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a title reserved only for the planet’s most significant landmarks: The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I, Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal and Blaenavon Industrial Landscape.

02 Bangor is the oldest city in Wales and one of the smallest cities in the UK. It was officially given city status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974, but the cathedral site dates back to 6th century.

03 According to geneticists, the people of North Wales are the most ancient of Britons. They have the oldest DNA in Britain, the legacy of a people who have survived a few thousand turbulent years with the Welsh language and identity largely intact.

04 People have lived in North Wales for a quarter of a million years. Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers foraged the coastline and valleys, and the Britain’s oldest Neanderthal remains were found in Pontnewydd near St Asaph.

05 A succession of Ice Ages made Britain uninhabitable, but when the last one ended around 15,000 years ago, our homo sapiens ancestors were back for good. By 5,000BC they were knocking out stone tools at the Graiglwyd axe factory at Penmaenmawr, and exporting them all over Britain.

06 The region is scattered with Neolithic remains, especially on Anglesey, where you’ll find impressive tombs like Bryn Celli Ddu and Barclodiad y Gawres.

07 The copper mine at Great Orme was one of the most important in Europe. From 2,000BC, an estimated 1,800 tons of copper was hewn from deep tunnels. Combined with tin from Cornwall, the resulting alloy ushered in a new era known as (*drum roll*)... the Bronze Age. It didn’t last. The Iron Age was in full swing by 800BC, and with it a fashion for building forts on every available hill. There are literally hundreds in North Wales, so it’s hard to pick highlights: try Penycloddiau in the Clwydian Range or Tre’r Ceiri up on the heights of the Llŷn Peninsula.

08 Were the Celts a distinct people, or was Celtic culture just transmitted from Europe? It’s a question that causes academic fisticuffs, so we’ll pass on that one. But when the Welsh identify as ‘Celtic’ (which we mostly do), we’re thinking of the Celtic tribes who lived here in the last millennium BC. In North Wales, that’s the Deceangli, Ordovices and Gangani. They spoke Common Brittonic, the language from which modern Welsh is descended. So if you want to speak proper British (or at least, the next best thing), then sign up immediately at the National Welsh Language and Heritage Centre at Nant Gwrtheyrn.