Caernarfonshire

Caernarfonshire, sometimes also spelt as Caernarvonshire and Carnarvonshire in English, is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales.

The county of Caernarfonshire was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, becoming part of the new county of Gwynedd. The administrative entity of Caernarfonshire was very briefly revived in 1996, when the unitary area of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire was created. It was, however, renamed Gwynedd almost immediately.
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The county was bounded to the north by the Irish Sea, to the east by Denbighshire, to the south by Cardigan Bay and Merionethshire, and to the west by Caernarfon Bay and the Menai Strait, separating it from Anglesey.

The county had a largely mountainous surface. A large part of the Snowdonian Range lay in centre and south of the county, including Snowdon itself, the highest mountain in Wales at 1,085 m. The north-west of the county was formed by the Llŷn peninsula, with Bardsey Island lying off its western end. The north of the county, between the mountains and Menai Strait, was a nearly level plain. The east of the county was part of Vale of Conwy, with the River Conwy forming much of the eastern boundary. Llandudno and Creuddyn formed a small peninsula to the north-east across the Conwy estuary.

The principal towns of the county were Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Porthmadog and Pwllheli.

Conwy, North Wales

Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire.

Conwy Castle and the town walls were built, on the instruction of Edward I of England, between 1283 and 1289, as part of his conquest of the principality of Wales. Conwy was the original site of Aberconwy Abbey, founded by Llywelyn the Great. Edward and his troops took over the abbey site and moved the monks down the Conwy valley to a new site at Maenan. The parish church still retains some parts of the original abbey church in the east and west walls. English settlers were given incentives to move to the walled garrison town, which for decades the Welsh were forbidden from entering.

Across the estuary is Bodysgallen Hall, which incorporates a mediæval watchtower that was later used as a signal place for Conwy Castle.

manor house

A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor (see Manorialism), the lowest unit of territorial organization in the feudal system. The term is sometimes applied to country houses which belonged to gentry families, as well as to grand stately homes, particularly as a technical term for minor late medieval fortified country houses intended more for show than for defence.

mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. realtors define a mansion as a dwelling of over 8,000 square feet (740 m²). A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms. Today, however, there is no formal definition beyond being a large and well-appointed house.

The word itself derives (through Old French) from the Latin word mansiō ("act of remaining or staying", a verbal noun from manere "to remain" or "to stay".) In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, where cities sprang up, and where the villas of provincial officials came to be placed. The Scots word "manse" originally defined a property large enough for the Minister of the parish to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa). 'Manor' comes from the same root — territorial holdings granted to a lord who would remain there — hence it can be seen how the word 'Mansion' came to have its meaning.

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Ultimate bungalow

Ultimate bungalow is a term most commonly used to describe very large and detailed Craftsman style homes, taking the bungalow style and interpreting it on a large scale. The style is associated with such California architects as Greene and Greene, Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan. Some of the hallmarks of Greene and Greene's ultimate bungalows include the use of rich tropical woods such as mahogany, ebony and teak, and generous use of inlays of wood, metal and mother-of-pearl. As in their other major projects, Charles and Henry Greene - and to a lesser extent Bernard Maybeck and a few other Craftsman-era architects who built such homes - sometimes designed the majority of furniture, textiles, fixtures and other interior details of these homes specifically for their location both in the house and in the larger landscape.

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California Bungalows

California Bungalows, commonly called simply bungalows in America, are a form of residential structure that were widely popular across America and, to some extent, the world around the years 1910 to 1925.

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apartment

An apartment (in US English) or flat (in British English) is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building, especially if it consists of many apartments for rent. Apartments may be owned by an owner/occupier or rented by tenants.

The term apartment is favored in North America, whereas the term flat is commonly, but not exclusively, used in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and most Commonwealth countries. In Malaysian English, flat often denotes a housing block of lesser quality meant for lower-income groups, while apartment is more generic and may also include luxury condominiums.

Tenement law refers to the feudal basis of permanent property such as land or rents. May be found combined as in "Messuage or Tenement" to encompass all the land, buildings and other assets of a property.

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Bungalow

A bungalow is a type of single-story house that originated in India. The word derives from the Gujarati બંગલો baṅgalo, which in turn derives from the Hindustani बंगला baṅglā, meaning "Bengali" and used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style". Such houses were traditionally small, only one story and thatched, and had a wide veranda.

In India and Pakistan, the term bungalow refers to any single family unit (i.e., a house), as opposed to an apartment building, which is the norm for Indian and Pakistani middle class city living. The Indian sub-continent usage is different from the North American usage in that it can be applied to large, multi storied buildings which house a single extended family. In India and Pakistan, owning a bungalow is a highly significant status symbol.

The term is first found in English from 1696, where it was used to describe "bungales or hovells" in India for English sailors of the East India Company, which do not sound like very grand lodgings. Later it became used for the spacious homes or official lodgings of officials of the British Raj, and was so known in Britain and later America, where it initially had high status and exotic connotations, and began to be used in the late 19th century for large country or suburban houses built in an Arts and Crafts or other Western vernacular style - essentially as large cottages, a term also sometimes used. Later developers began to use the term for smaller houses. In Australia, the Californian_Bungalow was popular after the First World War. In Britain and North America a bungalow today is a residential house, normally detached, which is either single story, or has a second story built into a sloping roof, usually with dormer windows ("one and a half stories"). Full vertical walls are therefore only seen on one storey, at least on the front and rear elevations. Usually the houses are relatively small, especially from recent decades, though early examples may be large, in which case the term bungalow tends not to be used today.

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cottage

In modern usage, a cottage is a modest dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities). In the United Kingdom, the term cottage tends to denote a rurally- (sometimes village-) located property, of traditional build. Some examples of cottages are Victorian Cottages, Stone Cottages, Timber framed cottages and mock cottages. Mock cottages are post war homes designed to look like cottages. Older, pre victorian cottages tend to have restricted height, and exposed timbers.

This sometimes means that the eave timbers intrude into the actual living space, and quite often, especially in recent renovations, the relevant timbers (purlins, rafters, posts, etc) can be exposed enhancing the cottage experience. However, in most other settings, the term "cottage" denotes a small, often cosy dwelling, and small size is integral to the description, but in other places such as Canada, the term exists with no connotation of size at all (cf. vicarage or hermitage).
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River Conwy

The River Conwy (Welsh: Afon Conwy) is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over 27 miles (43 km) long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."

Betws-y-Coed

Betws-y-Coed is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It has a population of 534. The name Betws or Bettws is generally thought to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Old English 'bed-hus' - ie. a bead-house - a house of prayer, or oratory. The earliest record of the name is 'Betus', in 1254.

Betws-y-Coed lies in the Snowdonia National Park, in a valley near the point where the River Conwy is joined by the River Llugwy and the River Lledr, and was founded around a monastery in the late sixth century. The village grew very slowly with the development of the local lead mining industry. In 1815, the Waterloo Bridge built by Thomas Telford to carry the A5 road across the River Conwy and through the village, brought considerable transport-related development. The village became a major coaching centre between Corwen (to the east) and Capel Curig (to the west) on the Irish Mail route from London to Holyhead, which led to the improvement of the roads south to Blaenau Ffestiniog and north to Llanrwst and Conwy. It is a primary destination for the purpose of road signs.

Aberystwyth

Aberystwyth (English: Mouth of the River Ystwyth) is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. It is often colloquially known as Aber, and is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol.

Cardigan Bay

Cardigan Bay (Welsh: Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales, between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire

Cardigan Bay has numerous beaches and unique marine life (such as dolphins). From the Ceredigion Coast Path it is possible to observe Bottlenose Dolphins and Atlantic Grey Seals.

Much of the coast surrounding the bay is fertile farmland, dotted with towns and seaside resorts such as Fishguard, New Quay, Aberaeron, Aberystwyth, Borth, Aberdyfi, Tywyn, Barmouth, Porthmadog and Pwllheli on the Cambrian Coast.

Major rivers flowing into the bay include the Afon Glaslyn, Teifi, Rheidol, Dyfi, Aeron, Dysynni and Mawddach.

Mute Swans in flight

Tremadog

Tremadog provides a notable example of town planning. Its siting, layout, buildings and resulting spaces were all designed to create the impression of a borough. Lacking the wealth to build the town single-handedly, Madocks wished to attract people into Tremadog to build within his overall plan. The most important part of the town was the Market Square, with the backdrop of a sheer cliff giving a theatrical effect to this area. The High Street and Dublin Street form the crossed streets at the top of this square, and are lined by the most significant buildings: the Town Hall and Dancing Room (built in 1805), and the Coaching inn.