84-535: Pembrey ( Welsh : Pen-bre ) is a village in Carmarthenshire , Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly , overlooking Carmarthen Bay , with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,301. It is in the community of Pembrey and Burry Port Town . The name Pembrey is an Anglicisation of the Welsh , Pen-bre . "Pen" is a Welsh word meaning head or top, and "bre"
168-441: 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
252-594: 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
336-663: 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
420-405: 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
504-658: A move to Burry Port . Today, the village has lost most of its former sources of employment and is largely a dormitory for the nearby urban areas of Llanelli and Carmarthen . Tourism has been successfully developed at the Country Park, along the Millennium Coastal Path and at nearby Burry Port although accommodation is limited to caravanning,a few bed & breakfasts and the Ashburnham Hotel. In August/September 2006, Court Farm appeared in
588-399: 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,
672-574: A number of Luftwaffe raids over the village during World War II . One airman based and living in Pembrey, Wing Commander Guy Gibson , went on to lead the Dambusters . Flying ace Robert Stanford Tuck was at Pembrey with 92 Squadron in 1940. An attempt to establish a munitions testing range in Pembrey was made during the 1960s but was resisted by villagers, who mounted a SOS (Save Our Sands) campaign. The opposition proved successful, leading to
756-479: A number of vessels were certainly lost around Pembrey, including "La Jeune Emma" bound from the West Indies to France and blown badly off course in 1828. 13 of the 19 on board drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, the 12-year-old niece of Napoleon Bonaparte 's divorced wife Josephine de Beauharnais . She is buried at St. Illtyds Church, Pembrey. The last large ship to be lost was the four-masted windjammer,
840-872: A port. Pembrey Mountain ( Welsh : Mynydd Penbre) was thoroughly mined by both Welsh and English companies for about 100 years and some reserves are said to remain underground. Pembrey's harbour was prone to silting and was abandoned in favour of Pembrey New Harbour - soon renamed Burry Port Harbour, just a mile further upstream on the Burry Estuary . The original harbour is now known as Pembrey Old Harbour. Pembrey's mountain and beach Cefn Sidan are reputed to have provided some villagers with careers as wreckers, known locally as Gwyr-y-Bwelli Bach (translated as People with Little Hatchets) - attracting sailing ships with fires purporting to be beacons, then raiding them when they foundered. However, no firm evidence of wrongdoing such as booty has ever been discovered. Nevertheless,
924-479: 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
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#17327798866651008-518: Is an old Celtic word for a promontory . The coastline began its retreat from the foot of Pembrey Mountain some 6,000 years ago, revealing land which shows human occupation since the Iron Age , with hill forts dating from around 400 BC. The population of the region was known to the Romans as Demetae . Roman pottery remains have been unearthed in the oldest parts of the village. Later, the village
1092-674: 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. Royal Ordnance Factory Royal Ordnance Factories ( ROFs ) were munitions factories run by
1176-420: 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
1260-400: Is now derelict. The le Boteler (Butler) crest can be seen in the village church of St. Illtud , established during le Boteler's lifetime with its saint's name connected to his other estate of Dunraven, Southerndown , near Llantwit Major , Bridgend . St Illtyd's is a grade II* listed building. Most of the village was created during the 18th and 19th century coal mining boom, when Pembrey was
1344-781: Is now the Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre and run by Accenture . ROF Elstow was taken over by the CEGB and became a storage depot. The site has been cleared, and became the new town of Wixams . In July 1974, the Royal Ordnance Factories were set up as a trading fund , under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973 . As part of its privatisation process in the 1980s, the UK government transferred some of the, formerly separate, research and development capability of
1428-671: Is on the West Wales line with regular services to Milford Haven and Manchester via Cardiff as well as twice-daily to London . Between 1909 and 1953 Pembrey station on the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway served the village. The village is served by bus on routes from Carmarthen and Swansea . The nearest motorway is the M4 . Pembrey Airport has no scheduled services but provides facilities for visiting private and corporate aircraft, including executive jets, Pembrey Airfield
1512-811: Is one of the most military active civil airports in Britain so PPR is often needed, Pembrey Airfield does offer facilities for passenger aircraft but only as charter flights. 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
1596-549: Is one of the village's two main thoroughfares and the Ashburnham Hotel one of its hostelries. Military connections include the past use of areas of the Ashburnham estate as a firing range. In the 20th century, a RAF station, RAF Pembrey was situated in Pembrey and played a role in Britain's defences as home to both fighter and bomber aircraft. Close by, a Royal Ordnance Factory , ROF Pembrey , provided high explosives for Britain's war effort. Both these facilities attracted
1680-638: 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
1764-500: 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
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#17327798866651848-466: 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
1932-683: 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
2016-647: The Defence Research Establishments into the ROFs. Other parts of the UK's defence research and design capability were later closed down; remained with the UK Ministry of Defence , as Dstl ; or became part of QinetiQ . On 2 January 1985 the majority of the Royal Ordnance Factories were vested in the UK government-owned company Royal Ordnance plc . It was bought by British Aerospace in 1987. The Ministry of Defence Police left most of
2100-538: 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
2184-681: The First World War . The emerging threat of aerial bombing prompted the government to consider dispersing its ordnance factories around the country. The majority of the ROFs were built during the re-armament period, just before the start of the Second World War , to enhance the capacity of the three ordnance sites that had continued in operation after the end of the First World War: the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich,
2268-683: The Ministry of Works , and two other private companies were agents for the construction of the remaining ROFs. A number of Second World War munitions factories were built, and owned, by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). These ICI Nobel Explosives owned factories were not considered part of the Ministry of Supply's Royal Ordnance Factory organization, and they were not called ROFs. ICI also managed munitions factories constructed with Ministry of Supply funding. These were known as "agency factories" and three of them became part of Royal Ordnance upon
2352-519: 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
2436-633: 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
2520-643: The Royal Arsenal , Woolwich . In the late nineteenth century, the term 'Royal Ordnance Factories' began to be used collectively of the manufacturing departments of the Arsenal, principally the Royal Laboratory , Royal Gun Factory and Royal Carriage Works, which, though they shared the same site, operated independently of one another. This use of the term is seen in the name of the 1893 Royal Ordnance Factories Football Club and it continued through
2604-798: The Royal Gunpowder Factory (RGPF) Waltham Abbey, Essex and the Royal Small Arms Factory , (RSAF) Enfield . These three sites were in or near London and were considered to be vulnerable to aerial bombing from continental Europe. The Royal Arsenal designed many of the ROFs and was also the agent for the construction of all of the Rifles ROFs, the Medium Machine ROF and the Small Arms Ammunition ROFs. The Ministry of Supply,
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2688-492: The SS Paul , carrying a cargo of timber and grounding in a storm in 1925. From the days of le Boteler to the early 20th century, Pembrey was generally dominated by at least one leading family. Latest of these was the Ashburnham family ( Earl of Ashburnham ) who lived until the 1920s at Pembrey House, lost to fire some 50 years ago. The Ashburnham Golf Club championship course is the area's main sporting attraction, Ashburnham Road
2772-640: 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
2856-542: 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
2940-473: 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
3024-596: 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
3108-536: 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 ,
3192-413: The 42 Royal Ordnance factories (24 engineering, 8 explosives, and 10 filling factories), of whom 60% were women. Many were girls with secondary school education. MPs voiced concerns about large numbers of workers occupying factories and workers' hostels designed with a lower capacity, and also stated the need to retain open spaces in the hostels in case workers' homes were destroyed in a blitz. A number of
3276-486: 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
3360-517: 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
3444-737: 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
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3528-550: 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
3612-566: The Ministry of Defence as ammunition storage areas. Others became government industrial estates or trading estates. Others were used as brownfield sites to build prisons or open prisons. Part of ROF Thorp Arch became the Boston Spa depository of the British Library . Three of the seven hostels that served ROF Swynnerton became a training school for General Post Office (GPO) Telephones, which later became British Telecom , and
3696-555: The ROFs were designated temporary , for use during the war's duration only. They closed shortly after the end of the Second World War. Other ROFs were designated permanent and they remained open into more recent times. In 1957, a Defence white paper led to a reorganisation of the aircraft industry, a restructuring of the British Army and a concentration on missile systems. A number of the permanent ROFs closed in
3780-695: The ROFs' privatisation. Some of the ROF filling factories built later, during the Second World War, were government-owned, but managed, as agency factories, by private companies unconnected with the explosives industry. For example, Joseph Lyons & Co ran ROF Elstow throughout the war. Other filling factories were run by Imperial Tobacco , Courtaulds , the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), Metal Closures and Lever Brothers . The new ROFs were to be built in areas regarded as "relatively safe". Until 1940, this meant from Bristol , in
3864-419: The UK government during and after the Second World War . The three main types of factories were engineering, filling and explosives, and these were dispersed across the country for security reasons. ROFs were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply and later the Ministry of Defence until privatisation in 1987. Prior to the 1930s, Britain's ordnance manufacturing capability had been concentrated within
3948-496: 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,
4032-704: 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
4116-895: 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
4200-445: 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
4284-426: 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
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#17327798866654368-429: 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
4452-403: 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
4536-404: The building; an in-principle Cadw grant of 40% has been awarded for consolidation works to start the restoration project. Pembrey Burrows and Cefn Sidan are now part of extensive leisure areas run by local authorities. Attractions include the Millennium Coastal Path, Ski Pembrey, an artificial ski centre and toboggan ride, St. Illtyd's Church and village square, mountain walks and picnic areas,
4620-408: 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
4704-462: The country park, several abandoned bunkers are visible, these being the remains of the former Royal Ordnance Factory that closed in 1965. The woods and bunkers provided a focus point for an episode of Living TV 's Most Haunted , which was aired in April 2008. The village's name has also been applied to Pembrey, Delaware , in the United States , a short drive from Philadelphia . Actually located in Burry Port, Pembrey and Burry Port railway station
4788-414: 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
4872-481: The danger of frozen explosives, they tended to be located at or just above sea level. Some ROFs located in Wales and Scotland were the result of political lobbying as these areas had high unemployment rates in the 1930s. The ROFs were guarded by what was to become the Ministry of Defence Police . The Royal Ordnance Factories were set up with six generic types of factories: The three main types were: engineering, filling and explosives. The largest ROFs tended to be
4956-408: 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
5040-460: The establishment of Pembrey Country Park instead. Royal Air Force training continues on a bombing range to the west of Pembrey Country Park near Kidwelly . The RAF Red Arrows aerobatics display team performed over Kidwelly's carnival, with many of their stunts taking place over the village of Pembrey itself. Pembrey had a RNLI lifeboat station from 1863 to 1887, succeeding a station at Llanelli , when accumulation of sand at Pembrey forced
5124-871: The explosive ROFs and the filling factories, as these needed an explosives safeguarding zone around the perimeter of the factory, as well as separation, or reduced separation and traverses between buildings. ROF Bishopton occupied over 2,000 acres (8.1 km ) and ROF Chorley was 900 acres (3.6 km ). Each ROF tended to be self-contained, apart from its raw materials : with their own coal-fired power stations , for generating steam for heating and process use, and electricity via high-pressure steam turbines if needed; engineering workshops; plumbers and chemical plumbers; leather workers; electricians; buildings and works departments; housing and hostels for workers; canteens ; laundries and medical centres. The UK's ROFs were set up and operated as production factories. The design of explosives , propellants and munitions
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#17327798866655208-415: The first round of BBC2 's Restoration Village programme. Experts agreed that the building mainly requires a new roof and could be restored to form a cultural centre. The manor did not progress through the competition and has subsequently been passed to the Cadw Sir Gaerfyrddin Cyf. (Carmarthenshire Building Preservation Trust) who, along with The Friends Of Court Farm, are actively seeking funds to restore
5292-431: 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
5376-411: 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
5460-413: 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
5544-405: The individual ROFs north and west of this line was of vital importance. ROFs involved with explosive manufacture or filling needed, on safety grounds, to be located away from centres of population. They needed access to good transport links, such as railways, the availability of adequate workers within reasonable travelling distance, and a plentiful guaranteed supply of clean process water. To avoid
5628-431: 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
5712-413: The late 1950s, after the end of the Korean War . Others closed in the 1970s. The largest of these, based at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich , closed in March 1967. The temporary ROFs, or ROFs which closed in the 1950s and 1970s, tended to be taken over by other government departments. Some closed ROFs and Admiralty explosive sites, such as the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent , were retained by
5796-402: 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 ,
5880-495: 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
5964-468: 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
6048-609: 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 ,
6132-627: 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
6216-473: 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
6300-471: 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
6384-502: 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
6468-407: 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
6552-490: 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
6636-545: The south, and then west of a line that ran from (roughly) Weston-super-Mare , in Somerset, northwards to Haltwhistle , Northumberland; and then northwestwards to Linlithgow , in Scotland. The South, South East and East of England were regarded as "dangerous" and the Midlands area, including Birmingham as "unsafe". This definition of "safe" area was later changed, and in 1940 ignored in the case of ROF Chorley. Siting of
6720-562: The traditional links golf course, Pembrey Old Harbour, Pembrey Country Park , the Pembrey Circuit - the National Motorsport Centre of Wales, horse-riding, a working airfield and flying club at Pembrey Airport , and St. Illtyds Church. The Carmarthenshire Land Sailing Club is allowed to use the beach for wind traction activities, including Land sailing , kite buggying and Kite landboarding . On entering
6804-526: 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
6888-588: Was carried out at separate government-owned research and development establishments such as the Research Department, which was initially based at the Royal Arsenal , Woolwich and then Fort Halstead , in Sevenoaks , Kent; and at PERME Waltham Abbey, Essex, which later moved to become RARDE Fort Halstead. In 1942, Sir Andrew Duncan reported to the House of Commons that 300,000 people were employed in
6972-406: Was part of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth . Evidence of an early Norman motte-and-bailey castle has been suggested close to the village square and buildings remain in the village from later Norman times. The village was home to Arnold le Boteler , a Norman squire of the 12th century. His manor, Court Farm, Pembrey , subsequently extended into a Jacobean manor house and then a farm,
7056-518: 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
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