Wales!

Hey all!

Just got back from a 5-day field excursion in Wales. We were studying the development of British landscapes. VERY interesting... we saw and learned a lot. I figure the best way to share it all is pictures, so:So these are a bit out of order (historically and in terms of the trip), BUT this is the first IRON bridge built in the world (1779). It's become the symbol of the start of the Industrial Rev. Interestingly enough, we also visited (and went waaayyy underground) a BRONZE AGE copper mine where ancient people carved elaborate tunnels (miles) with animal bones (!!) to mine and smelt iron. With increasing evidence of mines like this one, historians are beginning to re-think human innovation and its impact on the environment. The charcoal required to smelt iron/copper comes from forests... millions of trees. Human impact may be far more extensive than post-Industrial Revolution after all...


This is the famous Caernarfon Castle!!! It was built by Edward I around 1283. Since around that time the Prince of Wales (today, it's Charles) has been crowned in this castle.

Hah, ok two things here. First, the Welsh flag. The people of Wales are very proud.. they speak a different language, have a distinct history, and a successful Rugby team (apparently this keeps anti-English hostility alive). Second, we stayed in an inn called the 'Black Boy Inn.' Ok, as a southerner, I am taught that this isn't done... BUT apparently, this 'black boy' was the first African to make it to Wales back in the 1400s.


Might as well put the best first... we spent 2-3 hours climbing a mountain in Snowdonia. This valley was carved by glaciers... It was covered in giant boulders dropped by the sliding ice, and the remnants of the ice can still be seen (lake!). Darwin came here before and after his Beagle voyage. Before he studied the flora and fauna, noted the boulders and some strange lines in the mountain-side, but made nothing of it. After the Beagle voyage, after he had seen glaciers and glacial valleys, he came back and pieced together the history of this valley.

This is part of a dune system on the coast of Wales (near Barmouth). The dunes are fairly new. Part of our assignment was to date the dunes... We actually used this ancient church which had gravestones partially covered by the dunes to guess their arrival (c. 1350) Geologically, the dunes are fairly new and are absolutely essential to the new tourist industry which has developed in this part of Wales. Ironically, this tourist industry is slowly eroding the dunes... Dr. A estimates that soon, between the anthropogenic erosion and rising sea levels, this area will be underwater.

View of Barmoth Harbor, which opens into the Irish Sea!

One of many Edward I castles we saw in Wales. To control rebels in the mountains of Snowdonia and to access grain supplies, Edward I built 9 (maybe more?) castles around the coast of Wales. This is Caerffili Castle. The name of the castle, Caerffili, give you a taste of how bizarre Welsh is. It's a Celtic language... and actually is related to Catalan in Spain.



Avesbury Stones. A bit like Stonehenge, only a MILE in circumference. The landscape is chalk (you can see the white color on the path). Just like Stonehenge, the purpose of these stones is unknown. A town is actually INSIDE of this henge.

This was taken INSIDE (!?!?) of a Bronze Age burial mound. It's on the top of a hill in the middle of farmland... there's a small entrance behind a boulder and a few chambers where bodies used to be.


This is still in the area near Avesbury and the burial mound. This is actually a GIANT mound which is the largest Neolithic structure in Europe. Because this landscape is chalk, when the mound was originally made, it was bright white, and could be seen for 600 km in all directions. Dr. A was saying it was a bit like an ancient version of a neon sign.


This is Tintern Abbey, founded by Cistercian monks in the 1200s. The Cistercian monks (google these guys) owned absurd amounts of land before Henry VIII destroyed them all. This abbey is in ruins, but honestly, that made it incredibly dramatic. It is in a valley with a huge river flowing through. I was telling Dr. A how it looked a bit like the Appalachian mountains back home and he told me that this part of Wales used to be attached to the Appalachian mtns (a few billion years ago) so the rocks, landscapes, and even plants are very similar!

Sorry these pics are a bit out of order, but that BRIEFLY sums up the field excursion. Seeing how human-impact has fundamentally changed this landscape was eye-opening. Unlike back home, the hills and mountains (as you may have noticed in the pics) are not covered in trees. This is NOT natural. This is because of centuries (millenia?) of deforestation and grazing (3/1 sheep human ratio here). It's definitely making me think.......

I've got two essays to work on this weekend, so I wont be posting much/at all... The essays are getting pretty exciting.. we are dealing with international mitigation to ATTEMPT to lessen the impacts of climate change. It's a bit terrifying... it's going to be a huge problem for my generation.. but older politicians are still ignoring it. Political rants aside, I am so glad I chose to study this. It's making me re-think economics and development, and honestly, my high-impact lifestyle.

Whew, sorry about these loopy rants.. It's been a long and incredible 5 days.. but I've got to attempt to sleep tonight for a Bodleian-filled tomorrow.

LOVE,
E