5 Facts about North Wales You Might Not Know

Here in North Wales we’re surrounded by beautiful scenery and a region steeped in history. Between our team here at Holt Lodge, we’ve come up with some of our favourite facts about North Wales you may not know…

As well as being home to the smallest house in Britain (which is 10ft deep, 6ft wide & 10ft high and once housed a 6’ 3” fisherman), North Wales also lays claim to the highest aqueduct in the UK.  The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Wrexham opened for traffic in 1805 and rather amazingly is still completely functional. It’s 128 feet high (three and a half double decker buses) and as well as being a marvel of engineering, is now a World Heritage site. Not bad for a metal tub of water suspended in the air!

The Smallest House to Holt Lodge: 54 Miles

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct to Holt Lodge: 13 miles

Bala Lake is the largest natural lake in Wales being 4 miles long and 1 mile wide and is home to an endangered white fish called the Gwyniad. Found nowhere else on the planet it came to be in Wales when its ancestors were trapped in the waters there at the end of the last Ice Age. A curious characteristic of the fish is that its flesh is said by some to bear a faint smell that can be best likened to that of cucumber.

Bala Lake to Holt Lodge: 39 Miles

Harlech Castle in West Wales cost just £8,190 and when it was completed in 1289 it was right on the coast. Fast forward 725 years and it’s now a mile or more inland. Over the centuries the sea has distanced itself from the great rock on which it stands, from which the castle’s well protected ‘way to the sea’ stairway led down the cliff to sea level.

Harlech Castle to Holt Lodge:65 Miles

North Wales has a distinct regional identity. Its dialect of the Welsh language differs from that of other regions such as South Wales in some ways. Colloquially, a person from North Wales (especially one who speaks with this dialect or accent) is known as a North Walian, or a Gog (from the Welsh gogledd, meaning "north").

In 1865, 153 colonists left Wales and setup camp in Patagonia in Argentina.  To this day the community is still going strong with many welsh speaking descendants still living in the area. In addition to this Welsh folk-customs and foods continue to thrive. Give yourself a pat on the back if you can translate which phrase we’ve used as the title for this entry!

Patagonia to Holt Lodge: Approximately 7,000 miles

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