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122-536: The Museum of Cardiff ( Welsh : Amgueddfa Caerdydd ) is a museum in Cardiff , Wales that exhibits the history of the city. The museum opened on 1 April 2011 and entrance is free. The museum has a collection of 3,000 objects and Cardiff-related artefacts, many donated from Cardiff residents and communities. The Museum of Cardiff is situated in the Old Library, at the northern end of The Hayes . The building
244-738: A Flood Awareness Roadshow in the gallery. Visitors were able to search on a computer to find out whether their house is at risk of flooding, and took away freebies to make their own ‘emergency flood kit’. When We Were Young: growing up in Cardiff opened in July 2008. The exhibition brought together a range of stories about growing up in Cardiff over the past 150 years, including work, school, leisure and home life. Cardiff Story opened in April 2011 together with an exhibition, Big Little City , featuring memories, stories and photos submitted by local residents. It
366-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
488-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
610-433: A candidate at the renowned engineering school École Polytechnique , but as a foreigner, he was deemed ineligible for entry. Brunel subsequently studied under the prominent master clockmaker and horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet , who praised Brunel's potential in letters to his father. In late 1822, having completed his apprenticeship, Brunel returned to England. Brunel worked for several years as an assistant engineer on
732-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
854-405: A fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase the number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered
976-598: A fire aboard the ship as she was returning from fitting out in London. As the fire delayed the launch several days, the Great Western missed its opportunity to claim the title as the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power alone. Even with a four-day head start , the competing Sirius arrived only one day earlier, having virtually exhausted its coal supply. In contrast, the Great Western crossing of
1098-642: A grade II listed monument in 2007) and at Starcross . A section of the pipe, without the leather covers, is preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre . In 2017, inventor Max Schlienger unveiled a working model of an updated atmospheric railroad at his vineyard in the Northern California town of Ukiah. Brunel had proposed extending its transport network by boat from Bristol across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City before
1220-542: A happy childhood, despite the family's constant money worries, with his father acting as his teacher during his early years. His father taught him drawing and observational techniques from the age of four, and Brunel had learned Euclidean geometry by eight. During this time, he learned to speak French fluently and the basic principles of engineering. He was encouraged to draw interesting buildings and identify any faults in their structure, and like his father he demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics and mechanics. When Brunel
1342-411: A large six-bladed propeller into his design for the 322-foot (98 m) Great Britain , which was launched in 1843. Great Britain is considered the first modern ship, being built of metal rather than wood, powered by an engine rather than wind or oars, and driven by propeller rather than paddle wheel. She was the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Her maiden voyage
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#17327805825031464-585: A larger ship would take proportionately less fuel than a smaller ship. To test this theory, Brunel offered his services for free to the Great Western Steamship Company, which appointed him to its building committee and entrusted him with designing its first ship, the Great Western . When it was built, the Great Western was the longest ship in the world at 236 ft (72 m) with a 250-foot (76 m) keel . The ship
1586-610: A major means of transport for goods. This influenced Brunel's involvement in railway engineering, including railway bridge engineering. In 1833, before the Thames Tunnel was complete, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway , one of the wonders of Victorian Britain, running from London to Bristol and later Exeter . The company was founded at a public meeting in Bristol in 1833, and
1708-399: A new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded,
1830-427: A series of steamships including the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship , and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting his father in
1952-618: A series of technical achievements— viaducts such as the one in Ivybridge , specially designed stations, and tunnels including the Box Tunnel , which was the longest railway tunnel in the world at that time. With the opening of the Box Tunnel, the line from London to Bristol was complete and ready for trains on 30 June 1841. The initial group of locomotives ordered by Brunel to his own specifications proved unsatisfactory, apart from
2074-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
2196-459: A specific Cardiff Museum. As a result, consultants were appointed in 2002 to produce the feasibility study for a Living Museum of Cardiff, jointly funded by Cardiff Council and The Council of Museums in Wales (now CyMAL). The study concluded that an estimated 130,000 visitors per year are expected based on free entry, a city centre site is essential for a museum accessible to visitors and the community,
2318-479: A train ferry across the Hamoaze —the estuary of the tidal Tamar , Tavy and Lynher . The bridge (of bowstring girder or tied arch construction) consists of two main spans of 455 ft (139 m), 100 ft (30 m) above mean high spring tide , plus 17 much shorter approach spans. Opened by Prince Albert on 2 May 1859, it was completed in the year of Brunel's death. Several of Brunel's bridges over
2440-516: A year, from 1847 (experimental service began in September; operations from February 1848) to 10 September 1848. Deterioration of the valve due to the reaction of tannin and iron oxide has been cited as the last straw that sank the project, as the continuous valve began to tear from its rivets over most of its length, and the estimated replacement cost of £25,000 was considered prohibitive. The system never managed to prove itself. The accounts of
2562-797: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( / ˈ ɪ z ə m b ɑːr d ˈ k ɪ ŋ d ə m b r uː ˈ n ɛ l / IZZ -əm-bard KING -dəm broo- NELL ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859)
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#17327805825032684-420: Is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for the creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as
2806-586: Is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave the Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of
2928-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
3050-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
3172-683: The Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in the history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by
3294-730: The East London Line now incorporated into the London Overground . Brunel is perhaps best remembered for designs for the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol , begun in 1831. The bridge was built to designs based on Brunel's, but with significant changes. Spanning over 702 ft (214 m), and nominally 249 ft (76 m) above the River Avon , it had the longest span of any bridge in
3416-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
3538-576: The Marlborough Downs —an area with no significant towns, though it offered potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester —and then to follow the Thames Valley into London. His decision to use broad gauge for the line was controversial in that almost all British railways to date had used standard gauge . Brunel said that this was nothing more than a carry-over from the mine railways that George Stephenson had worked on prior to making
3660-546: The North Star locomotive , and 20-year-old Daniel Gooch (later Sir Daniel) was appointed as Superintendent of Locomotive Engines . Brunel and Gooch chose to locate their locomotive works at the village of Swindon , at the point where the gradual ascent from London turned into the steeper descent to the Avon valley at Bath . After Brunel's death, the decision was taken that standard gauge should be used for all railways in
3782-519: The Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of
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3904-686: The Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to the people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into
4026-964: The Royal Albert Bridge spanning the River Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth , Somerset Bridge (an unusual laminated timber-framed bridge near Bridgwater ), the Windsor Railway Bridge , and the Maidenhead Railway Bridge over the Thames in Berkshire . This last was the flattest, widest brick arch bridge in the world and is still carrying main line trains to the west, even though today's trains are about ten times heavier than in Brunel's time. Throughout his railway building career, but particularly on
4148-588: The SS ; Great Western (1838), the SS Great Britain (1843), and the SS Great Eastern (1859). In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the " 100 Greatest Britons ". In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name Brunel 200 . Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Britain Street, Portsea , Portsmouth , Hampshire , where his father
4270-567: The South Devon and Cornwall Railways where economy was needed and there were many valleys to cross, Brunel made extensive use of wood for the construction of substantial viaducts; these have had to be replaced over the years as their primary material, Kyanised Baltic Pine, became uneconomical to obtain. Brunel designed the Royal Albert Bridge in 1855 for the Cornwall Railway, after Parliament rejected his original plan for
4392-459: The Teredo [Shipworm] suggested to Mr. Brunel his method of tunnelling the Thames." The composition of the riverbed at Rotherhithe was often little more than waterlogged sediment and loose gravel. An ingenious tunnelling shield designed by Marc Brunel helped protect workers from cave-ins, but two incidents of severe flooding halted work for long periods, killing several workers and badly injuring
4514-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
4636-542: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
4758-473: The 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
4880-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
5002-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
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5124-420: The 20th century. Like many of Brunel's ambitious projects, the ship soon ran over budget and behind schedule in the face of a series of technical problems. The ship has been portrayed as a white elephant , but it has been argued by David P. Billington that in this case, Brunel's failure was principally one of economics—his ships were simply years ahead of their time. His vision and engineering innovations made
5246-621: The Admiralty included, the experiments were judged by Brunel to be a failure on the grounds of fuel economy alone, and were discontinued after 1834. In 1865, the East London Railway Company purchased the Thames Tunnel for £200,000, and four years later the first trains passed through it. Subsequently, the tunnel became part of the London Underground system, and it remains in use today, originally as part of
5368-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
5490-513: The Atlantic took 15 days and five hours, and the ship arrived at her destination with a third of its coal still remaining, demonstrating that Brunel's calculations were correct. The Great Western had proved the viability of commercial transatlantic steamship service, which led the Great Western Steamboat Company to use her in regular service between Bristol and New York from 1838 to 1846. She made 64 crossings, and
5612-517: The Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol ) is the label attached to the Welsh of
5734-582: The Cardiff Story Museum changed its name to the Museum of Cardiff. This was following a public consultation that was held. In January 2023 Cardiff Council launched a consultation on the future of the museum. One option involved the Museum of Cardiff leaving the Old Library and becoming a mobile exhibition, saving the council a potential £266,000 a year. Protests were held in February, leading to
5856-737: The Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and
5978-599: The Great Western Railway might be demolished because the line is to be electrified, and there is inadequate clearance for overhead wires. Buckinghamshire County Council is negotiating to have further options pursued, in order that all nine of the remaining historic bridges on the line can be saved. When the Cornwall Railway company constructed a railway line between Plymouth and Truro , opening in 1859, and extended it to Falmouth in 1863, on
6100-465: The Great Western Railway opened in 1835. The Great Western Steamship Company was formed by Thomas Guppy for that purpose. It was widely disputed whether it would be commercially viable for a ship powered purely by steam to make such long journeys. Technological developments in the early 1830s—including the invention of the surface condenser , which allowed boilers to run on salt water without stopping to be cleaned—made longer journeys more possible, but it
6222-406: The Great Western Railway. The Didcot Railway Centre has a reconstructed segment of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) track as designed by Brunel and working steam locomotives in the same gauge. Parts of society viewed the railways more negatively. Some landowners felt the railways were a threat to amenities or property values and others requested tunnels on their land so
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#17327805825036344-550: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
6466-522: The Old Library in January 2006, attracting 10,390 visits in just 6 weeks. River and Rail , how Isambard Kingdom Brunel shaped Cardiff exhibition opened in October 2006. Roots to Cardiff featured at the museum between February and June 2007. Preparations included interviews with people who would feature in the exhibition, as well as uncovering some interesting objects such as a Gypsy caravan, lent by
6588-581: The River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route. Brunel even designed the Royal Hotel in Bath which opened in 1846 opposite the railway station. Brunel made two controversial decisions: to use a broad gauge of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) for the track, which he believed would offer superior running at high speeds; and to take a route that passed north of
6710-433: The SDR for 1848 suggest that atmospheric traction cost 3s 1d (three shillings and one penny) per mile compared to 1s 4d/mile for conventional steam power (because of the many operating issues associated with the atmospheric, few of which were solved during its working life, the actual cost efficiency proved impossible to calculate). Several South Devon Railway engine houses still stand, including that at Totnes (scheduled as
6832-399: The Travellers' Education Service. There is a long tradition of Gypsy families coming to Cardiff as part of their nomadic life. Bats, Boots and Balls: the highs and lows of sport in Cardiff , closed in November 2007 with over 14,000 visits. Voting for Cardiff ’s Sporting Great in the exhibition was heated but the winner was Colin Jackson , followed by Ryan Giggs and Fred Keanor. Fury of
6954-433: The Waters: how Cardiff faced the floods exhibition opened on 15 December 2007. The exhibition weighed up the evidence for the Great Flood of 1607 being caused by a tsunami or a storm surge. The exhibition also features the skeleton of Billy the Seal , on loan from National Museum Cardiff . Over 11,000 people visited the exhibition in the first three months ago and over the Easter holidays the Environment Agency Wales held
7076-432: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
7198-436: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
7320-597: The Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak
7442-445: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
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#17327805825037564-426: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
7686-429: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
7808-418: The advice of Brunel, they constructed the river crossings in the form of wooden viaducts, 42 in total , consisting of timber deck spans supported by fans of timber bracing built on masonry piers. This unusual method of construction substantially reduced the first cost of construction compared to an all-masonry structure, but at the cost of more expensive maintenance. In 1934 the last of Brunel's timber viaducts
7930-414: The air from a pipe placed in the centre of the track. The section from Exeter to Newton (now Newton Abbot ) was completed on this principle, and trains ran at approximately 68 miles per hour (109 km/h). Pumping stations with distinctive square chimneys were sited at two-mile intervals. Fifteen-inch (381 mm) pipes were used on the level portions, and 22-inch (559 mm) pipes were intended for
8052-403: The ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of
8174-412: The bridge finished, although his colleagues and admirers at the Institution of Civil Engineers felt it would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds and to amend the design. Work recommenced in 1862, three years after Brunel's death, and was completed in 1864. In 2011, it was suggested, by historian and biographer Adrian Vaughan, that Brunel did not design the bridge, as eventually built, as
8296-446: The building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry. Great Eastern was built at John Scott Russell 's Napier Yard in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 17 June 1860. Though
8418-452: The building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames ) and the development of the SS Great Britain , the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built. On the GWR, Brunel set standards for a well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimise gradients and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, and
8540-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
8662-437: The city has changed between 1905 and 2005. 20,947 people visited the exhibition over 6 months. These exhibitions were based on people’s stories with educational content and an interactive element. According to a Cardiff Visitor Survey 2005, an annual survey of around 1,000 visitors to Cardiff, 68% of respondents said they are very or fairly likely to visit a Cardiff museum. In February 2006, a Capital Scheme bid to Cardiff Council
8784-466: The council deciding to keep the museum in the Old Library while they undertook "a detailed examination" of the best way forward. A new five-year lease was secured in July 2023. The venue has hosted several exhibitions before its inauguration as a museum. The first Cardiff Museum Project exhibition, Moving Stories 1905–2005 , opened at the Old Library. During its 6-month run it attracted 16,873 visits. The Cardiff’s War: 1939–1945 exhibition featured at
8906-505: The country. At the original Welsh terminus of the Great Western railway at Neyland , sections of the broad gauge rails are used as handrails at the quayside, and information boards there depict various aspects of Brunel's life. There is also a larger-than-life bronze statue of him holding a steamship in one hand and a locomotive in the other. The statue has been replaced after an earlier theft. The present London Paddington station
9028-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
9150-479: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
9272-493: The focus should be on the last 200 years of Cardiff’s industrial rise, and that a strong interactive element is essential with things for children to do, such as sound and film. Proposals for the development of the Museum Project were approved. This included appointing a Museum Project Officer, based in the Old Library, to undertake exhibitions, workshops and consultation with communities and groups to develop material for
9394-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
9516-643: The full museum. According to a survey of Cardiff citizens, 81.3% were very or fairly likely to visit a museum dedicated to the history of Cardiff. Centenary celebrations for Cardiff commenced in 2005; Cardiff having become a city in 1905, and the capital city in 1955. Funding from the Millennium Commission and Cardiff Council for celebratory events financed the Museum Project’s first exhibition programme. Following on from Moving Stories , Cardiff’s Century exhibition opened to give an insight into how
9638-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
9760-476: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
9882-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
10004-423: The later changes to its design were substantial. His views reflected a sentiment stated fifty-two years earlier by Tom Rolt in his 1959 book Brunel. Re-engineering of suspension chains recovered from an earlier suspension bridge was one of many reasons given why Brunel's design could not be followed exactly. Hungerford Bridge , a suspension footbridge across the Thames near Charing Cross Station in London,
10126-402: The least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead, the shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson ,
10248-673: The material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This
10370-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
10492-525: The museum could look. In January 2008, a public consultation was held to see the museum plans so far. Most of the suggestions for themes for the museum were incorporated into the designs. This is in addition to the Access, Learning and Young People’s panels and focus groups, who advised on specific aspects of the design and content. In May 2008, the Scheme Design for the museum was completed. In 2019,
10614-609: The name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi , the Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic ,
10736-627: The other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been
10858-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
10980-463: The permanent use of the Old Library since the closure of the Cardiff Centre for Visual Arts in 2000. The Cardiff Strategic Tourism Growth Area Action Plan, supported by Cardiff Council and Wales Tourist Board (now Visit Wales ), looked at major elements essential to developing Cardiff as a tourism destination, and came with £2 million funding towards projects from such as the development of
11102-475: The planning process for the new museum, Redman Design and the Cardiff Museum project brought together a diverse group of 25 people representing local history societies, community organisations, historians, archives, libraries, the media, educators, tourism and artists. The group discussed the ‘why’, ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the museum, coming up with ideas that Redman Design would be able to turn into how
11224-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
11346-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
11468-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
11590-482: The project to create a tunnel under London's River Thames between Rotherhithe and Wapping , with tunnellers driving a horizontal shaft from one side of the river to the other under the most difficult and dangerous conditions. The project was funded by the Thames Tunnel Company and Brunel's father, Marc, was the chief engineer. The American Naturalist said, "It is stated also that the operations of
11712-579: The railway could not be seen. Though unsuccessful, another of Brunel's uses of technical innovations was the atmospheric railway , the extension of the Great Western Railway (GWR) southward from Exeter towards Plymouth , technically the South Devon Railway (SDR), though supported by the GWR. Instead of using locomotives , the trains were moved by Clegg and Samuda's patented system of atmospheric ( vacuum ) traction, whereby stationary pumps sucked
11834-542: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
11956-409: The steeper gradients. The technology required the use of leather flaps to seal the vacuum pipes. The natural oils were drawn out of the leather by the vacuum, making the leather vulnerable to water, rotting it and breaking the fibres when it froze during the winter of 1847. It had to be kept supple with tallow , which is attractive to rats . The flaps were eaten, and vacuum operation lasted less than
12078-485: The two-mile-long (3.2 km) Box Tunnel . One controversial feature was the " broad gauge " of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ), instead of what was later to be known as " standard gauge " of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ). He astonished Britain by proposing to extend the GWR westward to North America by building steam-powered, iron-hulled ships. He designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering:
12200-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
12322-518: The world at the time of construction. Brunel submitted four designs to a committee headed by Thomas Telford , but Telford rejected all entries, proposing his own design instead. Vociferous opposition from the public forced the organising committee to hold a new competition, which was won by Brunel. Afterwards, Brunel wrote to his brother-in-law, the politician Benjamin Hawes : "Of all the wonderful feats I have performed, since I have been in this part of
12444-408: The world's first passenger railway. Brunel proved through both calculation and a series of trials that his broader gauge was the optimum size for providing both higher speeds and a stable and comfortable ride to passengers. In addition the wider gauge allowed for larger goods wagons and thus greater freight capacity. Drawing on Brunel's experience with the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western contained
12566-555: The world, I think yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity among 15 men who were all quarrelling about that most ticklish subject—taste". Work on the Clifton bridge started in 1831, but was suspended due to the Queen Square riots caused by the arrival of Sir Charles Wetherell in Clifton. The riots drove away investors, leaving no money for the project, and construction ceased. Brunel did not live to see
12688-402: The younger Brunel. The latter incident, in 1828, killed the two most senior miners, and Brunel himself narrowly escaped death. He was seriously injured and spent six months recuperating, during which time he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge . The event stopped work on the tunnel for several years. Though the Thames Tunnel
12810-500: Was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engineering giants", and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution , [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions". Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR),
12932-471: Was constructed mainly from wood, but Brunel added bolts and iron diagonal reinforcements to maintain the keel's strength. In addition to its steam-powered paddle wheels , the ship carried four masts for sails. The Great Western embarked on her maiden voyage from Avonmouth , Bristol, to New York on 8 April 1838 with 600 long tons (610,000 kg) of coal, cargo and seven passengers on board. Brunel himself missed this initial crossing, having been injured during
13054-400: Was cutting-edge technology for her time: almost 700 ft (210 m) long, fitted out with the most luxurious appointments, and capable of carrying over 4,000 passengers. Great Eastern was designed to cruise non-stop from London to Sydney and back (since engineers of the time mistakenly believed that Australia had no coal reserves), and she remained the largest ship built until the start of
13176-425: Was designed by Brunel and opened in 1854. Examples of his designs for smaller stations on the Great Western and associated lines which survive in good condition include Mortimer , Charlbury and Bridgend (all Italianate ) and Culham ( Tudorbethan ). Surviving examples of wooden train sheds in his style are at Frome and Kingswear . The Swindon Steam Railway Museum has many artefacts from Brunel's time on
13298-497: Was dismantled and replaced by a masonry structure. Brunel's last major undertaking was the unique Three Bridges, London . Work began in 1856, and was completed in 1859. The three bridges in question are arranged to allow the routes of the Grand Junction Canal , Great Western and Brentford Railway , and Windmill Lane to cross each other. In the early part of Brunel's life, the use of railways began to take off as
13420-667: Was eight, he was sent to Dr Morrell's boarding school in Hove , where he learned classics . His father, a Frenchman by birth, was determined that Brunel should have access to the high-quality education he had enjoyed in his youth in France. Accordingly, at the age of 14, the younger Brunel was enrolled first at the University of Caen , then at Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. When Brunel was 15, his father, who had accumulated debts of over £5,000,
13542-456: Was eventually completed during Marc Brunel's lifetime, his son had no further involvement with the tunnel proper, only using the abandoned works at Rotherhithe to further his abortive Gaz experiments. This was based on an idea of his father's and was intended to develop into an engine that ran on power generated from alternately heating and cooling carbon dioxide made from ammonium carbonate and sulphuric acid. Despite interest from several parties,
13664-448: Was generally thought that a ship would not be able to carry enough fuel for the trip and have room for commercial cargo. Brunel applied the experimental evidence of Beaufoy and further developed the theory that the amount a ship could carry increased as the cube of its dimensions, whereas the amount of resistance a ship experienced from the water as it travelled increased by only a square of its dimensions. This would mean that moving
13786-573: Was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835. It was Brunel's vision that passengers would be able to purchase one ticket at London Paddington and travel from London to New York, changing from the Great Western Railway to the Great Western steamship at the terminus in Neyland , West Wales. He surveyed the entire length of the route between London and Bristol himself, with the help of many including his solicitor Jeremiah Osborne of Bristol Law Firm Osborne Clarke who on one occasion rowed Brunel down
13908-536: Was made in August and September 1845, from Liverpool to New York. In 1846, she was run aground at Dundrum, County Down . She was salvaged and employed in the Australian service . She is currently fully preserved and open to the public in Bristol, UK. In 1852 Brunel turned to a third ship, larger than her predecessors, intended for voyages to India and Australia. The Great Eastern (originally dubbed Leviathan )
14030-761: Was officially opened by the Duchess of Cornwall at the end of June 2011. Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It
14152-618: Was opened in 1882 by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art, which included an art gallery. The Schools of Science and Art were housed in the building until 1890 when it moved to buildings that were part of the University College. The Central Library was moved to a new building located on St David’s Link on 3 December 1988. Cardiff Council had been seeking
14274-527: Was opened in May 1845. Its central span was 676.5 feet (206.2 m), and its cost was £106,000. It was replaced by a new railway bridge in 1859, and the suspension chains were used to complete the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The Clifton Suspension Bridge still stands, and over 4 million vehicles traverse it every year. Brunel designed many bridges for his railway projects, including
14396-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
14518-556: Was sent to a debtors' prison . After three months went by with no prospect of release, Marc Brunel let it be known that he was considering an offer from the Tsar of Russia . In August 1821, facing the prospect of losing a prominent engineer, the government relented and issued Marc £5,000 to clear his debts in exchange for his promise to remain in Britain. When Brunel completed his studies at Henri-IV in 1822, his father had him presented as
14640-500: Was successful. Revenue commitments for developing the project were approved together with agreement in principle to support the capital costs of £4 million. In March 2006, the South Wales Echo launched Our Cardiff Museum campaign, which asked readers what themes should be included in the final museum, what objects and stories they might have available, and generally voiced strong support. In April and May 2007, as part of
14762-493: Was the first ship to hold the Blue Riband with a crossing time of 13 days westbound and 12 days 6 hours eastbound. The service was commercially successful enough for a sister ship to be required, which Brunel was asked to design. Brunel had become convinced of the superiority of propeller -driven ships over paddle wheels. After tests conducted aboard the propeller-driven steamship Archimedes , he incorporated
14884-501: Was working on block-making machinery . He was named Isambard after his father, the French civil engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel , and Kingdom after his English mother, Sophia Kingdom . His mother's sister, Elizabeth Kingdom, was married to Thomas Mudge Jr, son of Thomas Mudge the horologist . He had two elder sisters, Sophia, the eldest child, and Emma. The whole family moved to London in 1808 for his father's work. Brunel had
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