Laura Ashley was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s. The Laura Ashley style is characterised by Romantic designs – often with a 19th-century rural feel – and the use of natural fabrics.
The A470 is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at 186 miles (299 km) and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate the narrow roads of Llanidloes and Dolgellau, both these market towns are now bypassed due to extensive road modernisation. The 26 miles (42 km) from Cardiff Bay to Merthyr Tydfil are mainly dual carriageway, but most of the route from north of Merthyr to Llandudno is single carriageway.
Machynlleth is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,147, rising to 2,235 in 2011. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Mach.
Caersws is a village and community on the River Severn, in the Welsh county of Powys (Montgomeryshire) 5 miles (8 km) west of Newtown, and halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. It has a station on the Cambrian Line from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury. At the 2011 Census, the community had a population of 1,586 – a figure which includes the settlements of Clatter, Llanwnnog and Pontdolgoch. The village itself had a population of slightly over 800.
Pontdolgoch is a very small village in Powys, Wales. It is located on the A470 road, some 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Caersws. The River Carno flows through the village.
The Cambrian Line, sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line and Cambrian Coast Line for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services are operated by Transport for Wales Rail between the western terminals of Pwllheli, in Gwynedd, and Aberystwyth, in Ceredigion, and the eastern terminal at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, as part of the Wales & Borders franchise. The railway line is widely regarded as scenic, as it passes through the Cambrian Mountains in central Wales, and along the coast of Cardigan Bay in Snowdonia National Park.
Penrhyndeudraeth is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Porthmadog, and had a population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2,031 in 2001. The community includes the villages of Minffordd and Portmeirion.
Sir Bernard Albert Ashley was an English businessman and engineer. He was the husband of Laura Ashley, and was her business partner from the founding of their fashion-textiles-centred business.
Caersws railway station is on the Cambrian Line in mid-Wales, serving the village of Caersws. It is notable in that there are 22 miles (35 km) separating this station and Machynlleth, the longest distance between two intermediate stations in Wales.
Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain is a large village in Powys, Mid Wales, close to the border with Shropshire in England, about 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Oswestry and 8 miles (13 km) north of Welshpool. It is on the A495 road and is at the confluence of the River Vyrnwy and the River Cain. The population as of the 2011 UK census was 1,415. The community includes the village of Deuddwr and several hamlets.
Llanbrynmair or Llanbryn-mair is a village, community and electoral ward in Montgomeryshire, Powys, on the A470 road between Caersws and Machynlleth. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2011, it had a population of 920.
Chwilog is a village in Gwynedd, north Wales, and located on the Llŷn Peninsula. It is in the community of Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, and in the medieval commote of Eifionydd, named after a 5th-century ruler. It is within the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the UK Parliament and in the Senedd. The name means 'abounding in beetles' and was perhaps transferred from an earlier name of the river.
The Sirhowy Valley is an industrialised valley in the eastern part of the Valleys region of Wales. It is named from the Sirhowy River which runs through it. Its upper reaches are occupied by the town of Tredegar within the county borough of Blaenau Gwent. The valley initially runs south-southeast between the ridges of Cefn Manmoel to the east and Mynydd Bedwellte to the west before turning to a more southerly direction. Its central section is one of the least populated of the Welsh coalfield valleys. The valley enters the county borough of Caerphilly, which contains the towns of Blackwood and Pontllanfraith. It then turns east and joins the valley of the Ebbw River, Ebbw Vale at Crosskeys.
The River Carno is a river in Powys, mid Wales, and a tributary of the River Severn.
The 2009–10 FAW Welsh Cup was the 123rd edition of the annual knockout tournament for competitive football teams in Wales, excluding those who play in the English League System. The 2009–10 tournament commenced on 14 August 2009 and concluded at Parc y Scarlets on 1 May 2010. Bangor City won the cup with a 3–2 win against Port Talbot Town.
Carno is a closed railway station in Carno, on the Cambrian Line, that was part of the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway. The station was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Cuts though there are proposals to re-open it.
Llanwnog is a village in Powys, Wales. It is located one-and-a half miles north of Caersws in the community of the same name, on the B4568 road. The Ordnance Survey spell the name with a single 'n'.
Plasau Duon or Plasauduon is a timber-framed house, formerly in the parish of Carno, but now within the area of the community council of Caersws in the historic county of Montgomeryshire, and now in Powys, Wales. It is located on a site above the left bank of the Afon Carno, on a farm road leading off the lane from the A.470 to Bwlch-y-garreg. It is a fine example of a ‘’Severn Valley’’ house and has a Grade II* listing. It is likely to have been built in the second half of the 16th. century.
A North–South Wales railway, also known as Traws Link Cymru is a proposed rail service line that would link North and South Wales via a western rail line from Swansea to Bangor. This includes re-opening the Carmarthen–Aberystwyth and the Bangor–Afon Wen line.
