Plas Menai is the National Outdoor Centre for Wales. It is situated on the mainland side of the Menai Strait, and is approximately 3 miles East of Caernarfon, North Wales.
Plas Menai is the National Outdoor Centre for Wales. It is situated on the mainland side of the Menai Strait, and is approximately 3 miles East of Caernarfon, North Wales.
Opened in 1978 the facility was initially called "Plas y Deri" (Place of Oaks) before it was renamed to "Plas Menai" in 1980.
Plas Menai, even though it is governed by different bodies, is a complementary centre to Plas y Brenin, in that it is the major water-sports centre for Wales, however in the past it has undertaken mountain activities as well. John A Jackson was initially an advisor to Sport Wales but then became Plas Menai's first Principal in 1978. The centre was fully functional even before phase II of the building was complete.
Like Plas y Brenin, Plas Menai was intended to have a dry ski slope, even to the extent of building a small hill, some 80 feet high, however this was eventually shelved at the request of business interests in Llandudno, which had its own quite lengthy dry ski slope and were somewhat negative about competition. However the latter assumption proved incorrect, dry ski slope usage has flourished in Wales. In 2006 the hill that was to be the dry ski slope was successfully converted into a mountain biking training facility and has been called "Trac Jackson" in memory of its first principal.
The architects Bowen Dann Davies Partnership won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the National Eisteddfod of Wales of 1985 for their work on Plas Menai. [1]
Plas Menai is owned by Sport Wales and provides general and specialist training courses in sailing keel boats and dinghys . It also trains windsurfers, power boat operators and those taking up or improving their skills in canoeing and kayaking. Some non-aquatic training includes mountain sports and mountain biking. [2]
A swimming pool on site is also open to the general public at specified times each day.
February 2023 Following an open tender process, Sport Wales have contracted Legacy Leisure to manage the day to day operations of the Centre in a 10 year agreement. Legacy Leisure is a Charitable Body that forms part of the Parkwood Group
The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) is the national representative body for England and Wales that exists to protect the freedoms and promote the interests of climbers, hill walkers and mountaineers, including ski-mountaineers. The BMC are also recognised by government as the national governing body for competition climbing.
Menai Bridge is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, just over the water from Bangor. With a population of 3,376, it is the fifth largest town on the island. The built-up area including Llandegfan had a population of 4,958.
Capel Curig is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 at the 2011 census. It lies at the junction of the A5 road from Bangor and Bethesda to Betws-y-Coed with the A4086 road from Caernarfon, Llanberis, Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd. It is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Moel Siabod and Pen Llithrig y Wrach.
HMS Conway was a naval training school or "school ship", founded in 1859 and housed for most of her life aboard a 19th-century wooden ship of the line. The ship was originally stationed on the Mersey near Liverpool, then moved to the Menai Strait during World War II. While being towed back to Birkenhead for a refit in 1953, she ran aground and was wrecked, and later burned. The school moved to purpose-built premises on Anglesey where it continued for another twenty years.
Plas y Brenin, located in Conwy County Borough, Wales, is a National Outdoor Centre owned by Sport England. The centre is situated in Dyffryn Mymbyr, the Mymbyr Valley, in Snowdonia and is less than a quarter of a mile south-west of the centre of Capel Curig on the A4086 road.
Moel Siabod, is a mountain in Snowdonia, Wales, which sits isolated above the village of Dolwyddelan. At 872 metres (2,861 ft), it is the highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range. The UK National Mountain Centre, Plas-y-Brenin, is located at the foot of Moel Siabod. From the top of the mountain, it is reputedly possible to see 13 of the 14 highest peaks in Wales on a clear day without turning one's head.
Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance athletic training and for recreational purposes by the general public. Canada Olympic Park was one of the venues for the 1988 Winter Olympics, being the primary venue for ski jumping, bobsleigh, and luge.
Coed y Brenin is a forest in the Snowdonia National Park, North Wales near Dolgellau at grid reference SH7127. It is popular for its mountain bike trails and hiking paths. It has several man-made mountain bike singletrack courses in a woodland setting, varying in length from 12 to 38 km, and one dual slalom course.
Plas Newydd is a country house set in gardens, parkland and surrounding woodland on the north bank of the Menai Strait, in Llanddaniel Fab, near Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, Wales. The current building has its origins in 1470, and evolved over the centuries to become one of Anglesey's principal residences. Owned successively by Griffiths, Baylys and Pagets, it became the country seat of the Marquesses of Anglesey, and the core of a large agricultural estate. The house and grounds, with views over the strait and Snowdonia, are open to the public, having been owned by the National Trust since 1976.
John Angelo Jackson was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1987 to Wales and its people.
Dyffryn Mymbyr is a valley in Snowdonia, in north-west Wales, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) in length, and leading up from Capel Curig to the Pen-y-Gwryd hotel.
Bukovel is the largest ski resort in Eastern Europe situated in Ukraine, in Nadvirna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. A part of it is in state property. The resort is located almost on the ridge-lines of the Carpathian Mountains at elevation of 900 m (3,000 ft) above the sea level near the village of Polianytsia. It is one of the most popular ski resorts in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains and is situated 30 km (19 mi) southwest of the city of Yaremche. In 2012, Bukovel was named the fastest-growing ski resort in the world.
Alan Blackshaw OBE was an English mountaineer, skier and civil servant who was President of the Alpine Club from 2001 to 2004 and President of the Ski Club of Great Britain from 1997 to 2003.
Sport Wales is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales. Working alongside partners such as governing bodies of sport and local authorities, they aim to encourage sporting ambitions in the young and promote championship standards nationally.
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.
Most leisure centres in Cardiff, capital of Wales, are owned by Cardiff Council. Since 2016, the running of eight formerly Council-run leisure centres has been outsourced to Greenwich Leisure Limited, operating under their 'Better' branding. Channel View Leisure Centre continues to be managed by Cardiff Council, whilst the Cardiff International Pool in Cardiff Bay is run separately by another private company.
The Gold Medal of the National Eisteddfod of Wales is awarded annually in three categories for excellence in Fine Art, Architecture, or Craft and Design.
Bryce Resort is a 400-acre member-owned resort the northern part of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley that is open to the public. The facility opened in 1965 and is located near the West Virginia border, 11 miles west of Mount Jackson, Virginia. The resort is very popular with residents of the valley, as well as families and tourists from the Washington, D.C. area, some 115 miles (185 km) away. Principal activities include skiing, golf, mountain activities, mountain biking, tennis, fishing, and water sports at Lake Laura and the resort pool.
Plas Madoc is a housing estate and former electoral ward near Acrefair, in the Cefn community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is located seven miles to the south-west of Wrexham, and contains The Land adventure playground, and a community-run leisure centre with a swimming pool. The area is one of the most deprived areas in Wales, and the fourth most deprived LSOA in Wrexham County Borough.