Bangor, Wales
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- This article is about the Welsh city of Bangor. For other places named Bangor, see Bangor.
Bangor is located in the administrative county of Gwynedd (and traditional county of Caernarfonshire) in North Wales, UK. It is one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. It is a university city with a population of around 20,000, of whom about a third are students at the University of Wales, Bangor.
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The origins of the city date back to the founding of a cathedral by the Celtic saint Deiniol in the early 6th century AD. The name 'Bangor' itself comes from a Welsh word for a type of fenced-in enclosure, such as was originally on the site of the cathedral. The present cathedral is a somewhat more recent building and has been extensively modified throughout the centuries. While the building itself is not the oldest, and certainly not the biggest, the bishopric of Bangor is one of the oldest in the UK. Another claim to fame is that Bangor allegedly has the longest High Street in Wales.
Bangor_Cathedral_from_Bangor_Mountain.jpg
Bangor is largely contained to the south by Bangor Mountain although the large estate of Maesgeirchen, originally built as social housing, is to the east of the toe of the mountain near to Porth Penrhyn. The presence of Bangor Mountain casts a shadow across the High Street, Glan Adda and Hirael areas such that from November through to March some parts of the High Street in particular receive no direct sunlight as they lie in the shadow of the mountain.
Bangor railway station, which serves the city, is located on the North Wales Coast Line from Crewe to Holyhead.
Bangor has two rivers within its boundaries, the River Adda a largely culverted watercourse that only appears above ground at its western extremities near to the Vaynol estate. The other is the River Ogwen that flows down from the hills of Snowdonia, passing Penrhyn Castle before entering Porth Penrhyn at the eastern edge of the City.
Radio stations Champion FM broadcasts to the city in English and Welsh and Storm FM broadcasts from the University.
Bangor hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1890, 1902, 1915, 1931, 1940 (through the medium of radio) and 1971, as well as an unofficial National Eisteddfod event in 1874.
Bangor is twinned with Soest, Germany.
Bangor_High_Street_&_Clock.jpg