Anglesey By Heart: Ffair y Borth, Two Bridges & Island Stories from Môn

Ffair y Borth is older than the bridge. People were coming to the fair field in Porthaethwy to sell cattle, hire farm hands and find someone to walk out with the best part of 150 years before Telford hung a single chain across the Strait. This year the bridge turned two hundred and everyone made a fuss, quite rightly. The fair just turned up in October like it always has. That's the kind of thing this book is full of. Not a brochure. The island the way the people who grew up on it remember it, written down by someone whose nain never stopped talking about it. Who it's for Born-and-bred islanders from Holyhead, Llangefni, Amlwch, Menai Bridge, Beaumaris, Benllech, Rhosneigr and every village in between Anyone who left Môn for work and still feels it every time they cross the bridge home The families who came back every summer to the same caravan, the same beach and the same chippy Newer islanders who want to understand the place properly, starting with how to say Porthaethwy Anyone planning a first proper trip who wants more than the castle and the long name What's inside Two bridges, two hundred years. Telford's chains, the January morning in 1826 when the first coach crossed, the night the Britannia burned in 1970, and what the wind restrictions mean when you need to get across. Moch Môn. Why the Anglesey tower of the suspension bridge stands on a rock called Ynys y Moch, the drovers who swam cattle across the Strait, and where the nickname comes from (as far as anyone can agree). Ffair y Borth. The old hiring fair, the rhyme every Menai Bridge child knows, and nearly three and a half centuries of rain, waltzers and toffee apples. Pick the side out of the wind. Anglesey has coast facing every direction, so there's nearly always a sheltered beach somewhere. The simple rule for finding it, with a beach-by-wind table you can keep on your phone. Llanddwyn and the saint of lovers. Dwynwen and the 25th of January, the red squirrels of Newborough, and timing the tide so you're not cut off. The church in the sea. When St Cwyfan's becomes an island, and how to time your walk out to it. Nain's corner. Amlwch, Parys Mountain and the port that once sent Anglesey copper all over the world, plus the north coast most visitors never reach. Moelfre and the lifeboat men. The Royal Charter in 1859, the Hindlea a hundred years later, and a village that has never stopped going out. Gwyndod. What's really coming to Wylfa, what it could mean for jobs and homes, told straight. Living here, honestly. Housing, second homes, the tourism tax vote, Welsh-medium schools and the parts of the island the visitor money never reaches. Dilys's spot. Saved for the last chapter, with exact directions. Plenty of people born on Môn have never stood there. Get Anglesey By Heart What it isn't It isn't written by someone pretending to be a local. It's written by someone who spent thirty summers here before moving over, who is still learning Welsh, and who has been corrected by Dilys more times than he can count. Every place name is spelled properly, and there's a pronunciation guide at the back so you don't make the mistakes he made. Who wrote it Joel Wander's nain was born in Amlwch. In 1957 she went to Ffair y Borth with her best friend Dilys and came home having met a lad doing his National Service at Valley. She married him, moved to Warrington and spent the rest of her life talking about Anglesey. Every summer of Joel's childhood was spent back on the island, and four years ago he moved over for good. This book is her stories, Dilys's stories and everything the island has taught him since. Free updates for life When Gwyndod gets going, or the island changes, the book gets updated and you get the new version free. A lovely Christmas present for the nain, taid, mam or dad who left Môn years ago and still calls it home. Love it or your money back If it doesn't earn its place, email us within 30 days and you'll get a full refund. No forms, no fuss. Buy now This is a digital ebook (PDF), 80 pages across 20 chapters plus cheat sheets. It's emailed to you straight after you buy and opens on any phone, tablet or computer, or you can print it at home. Joel Wander is a pen name.