Native name: Ynys Arw | |
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![]() North Stack (centre), with a building from the defunct fog warning station (right) | |
Geography | |
Location | Anglesey, Wales |
Coordinates | 53°20′00″N4°41′00″W / 53.333332°N 4.683333°W Coordinates: 53°20′00″N4°41′00″W / 53.333332°N 4.683333°W |
Administration | |
Wales | |
County | Anglesey |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 (uninhabited) |
North Stack (Welsh: Ynys Arw, meaning "rugged island") is a small island situated just off Holy Island on the north-west coast of Anglesey. [1] The area has been an important location in the development of traditional climbing in Britain and has several notable classic, and also extreme, climbing routes.
North Stack is the site of a redundant fog warning station, comprising a number of buildings, including the Trinity House Magazine, built-in 1861, where shells for the warning cannon were stored. These buildings now house a bird-watching observatory, [2] giving a view of South Stack lighthouse across Gogarth Bay, [2] and the studio of artist Philippa Jacobs. [3]
North Stack, or Gogarth North Stack, can also refer to the headland opposite the island.
The Precambrian quartzite cliffs of this headland, including the North Stack Walls and Wen Zawn, are a well-regarded area for rock climbs in Britain, and contain important traditional climbing routes such as A Dream of White Horses (HVS 4c, Ed Drummond and Dave Pearce, 1968), The Cad (E6 6a, Ron Fawcett, 1978), Skinhead Moonstomp (E6 6b, Andy Pollitt, 1986), The Bells, The Bells! (E7 6b, John Redhead, 1980), Conan the Librarian (E7 6b, Johnny Dawes, 1986), and The Hollow Man (E8 6b, Andy Pollitt, 1988). [4] [5] [6]
The stack was the site of a crash of a B-24 bomber of the US Eighth Air Force on 22 December 1944 that killed the eight crew on board. [7]
Holyhead is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is separated from Anglesey island by the narrow Cymyran Strait and was originally connected to Anglesey via the Four Mile Bridge.
Holy Island is an island on the western side of the larger Isle of Anglesey, Wales, from which it is separated by the Cymyran Strait. It is called "Holy" because of the high concentration of standing stones, burial chambers, and other religious sites on the small island. The alternative English name of the island is Holyhead Island. According to the 2011 UK Census, the population was 13,659, of which 11,431 (84%) lived in the largest town, Holyhead.
Penmaenmawr is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an important quarrying town, though quarrying is no longer a major employer. The population of the community was 4,353 in 2011, including Dwygyfylchi and Capelulo. The town itself having a population of 2,868 (2011).
The Great Orme is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old Norse word for sea serpent. The Little Orme, a smaller but very similar limestone headland, is on the eastern side of Llandudno Bay.
South Stack is an island situated just off Holy Island on the northwest coast of Anglesey, Wales.
The Skerries coming from the Old Norse word sker are a group of sparsely vegetated rocky islets (skerries), with a total area of about 17 hectares lying 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) offshore from Carmel Head at the northwest corner of Anglesey, Wales. The islands are important as a breeding site for seabirds, and they attract divers, who come to visit the numerous shipwrecks. The Skerries Lighthouse sits atop the highest point in the islands.
Trearddur or Trearddur Bay is a village, seaside resort and community south of Holyhead on the west coast of Holy Island off the north-west coast of Anglesey in Wales. The community includes the small settlement of Penrhosfeilw and the Refail Farm estate.
Seiriol was an early 6th-century saint, who created a cell at Penmon Priory on Anglesey, off the coast of north Wales. He later moved to Ynys Seiriol.
The Anglesey Coastal Path is a 200-kilometre (124 mi) long-distance footpath around the island of Anglesey in North Wales. The route is part of the Wales Coast Path.
The Isle of Anglesey County Council is the local authority for the county of Anglesey, one of the principal areas of Wales. Since 2022 the council has 35 councillors who represent 11 multi-member electoral wards.
Trwyn Du Lighthouse, also known as Penmon Lighthouse, is a lighthouse between Black Point near Penmon and Ynys Seiriol, or Puffin Island, at the eastern extremity of Anglesey, marking the passage between the two islands.
Anglesey is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island, at 260 square miles (673 km2), is the largest in Wales, the seventh largest in Britain, largest in the Irish Sea and second most populous there after the Isle of Man. Isle of Anglesey County Council administers 276 square miles (715 km2), with a 2011 census population of 69,751, including 13,659 on Holy Island. The Menai Strait to the mainland is spanned by the Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge, built in 1850 and replaced in 1980. The largest town is Holyhead on Holy Island, whose ferry service with Ireland handles over two million passengers a year. The next largest is Llangefni, the county council seat. From 1974 to 1996 Anglesey was part of Gwynedd. Most full-time residents are habitual Welsh speakers. The Welsh name Ynys Môn is used for the UK Parliament and Senedd constituencies. The postcodes are LL58–LL78. It is also a historic county of Wales.
Ron Fawcett is a British rock climber and rock climbing author who is credited with pushing the technical standards of British rock climbing in traditional, sport, bouldering and free soloing disciplines, in the decade from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, and of pioneering the career of being a full-time professional rock climber. At the end of the 1970s to the early 1980s, Fawcett was widely considered the best and most notable rock climber in Britain.
Llanfachraeth is a village and community in Anglesey, Wales. It is located near the west coast of the island, at the head of the Alaw estuary, 6.2 miles (10.0 km) east of Holyhead, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south west of Amlwch and 11.3 miles (18.2 km) north west of Llangefni. The A5025 road runs through the village. A bus service operates along this road daily, except for Sundays, running between Cemaes, Llanfaethlu, Llanfachraeth and Holyhead. The Wales Coast Path is forced inland here to cross the Afon Alaw. The village has a pub and accommodation is provided by the Holland Hotel.
The South Stack Lighthouse is built on the summit of a small island off the north-west coast of Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales. It was built in 1809 to warn ships of the dangerous rocks below.
The Holyhead Breakwater Lighthouse stands on the Holyhead Breakwater outside the Welsh port of Holyhead, Anglesey.
St Gwenfaen's Well is an early medieval holy well in the south west of Holy Island, Anglesey, named after St Gwenfaen, whose cloister was nearby. The site includes substantial remains of a building and is both a scheduled monument and a Grade II listed building. Traditionally, a gift of two white quartz pebbles thrown into the pool can cure mental health problems.
Ynys Gybi is the name of an electoral ward in the west of Anglesey, Wales, created in 2012. It covers the most part of Holy Island, whose name is Ynys Gybi in Welsh.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).
Robert Andrew Pollitt was a British rock climber who was one of the most prominent traditional climbers and sport climbers of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1992, after having successfully climbed Punks in the Gym in Australia, one of the world's hardest-ever sport climbing routes, he quit climbing and permanently emigrated to Australia. In 2016, Pollitt published an autobiography, titled Punk in the Gym. He died from a cerebral aneurysm on 13 November 2019.