"Een maand in Noord-Wales"

Name of traveller

M. C. van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal

Reason for travel

• leisurely travel and holidaying

Date of travel

October 1911

Voor de veiligheid en de openbare orde wordt gewaakt door een politiekorps van twee agenten, met geen ander wapen dan een klein, dun stokje. Ze zien er waarlijk niet zeer dreigend of indrukwekkend uit, maar ze hebben dat ook niet noodig, want men merkt nooit iets van herrie of opstootjes. . . . Des Zondags wordt gerekend op den verzachtenden invloed van de in Engeland zoo strenge Zondagsheiliging en rukt het "Korps" slechts op de halve sterkte uit! (Van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal 148)

Content

• architecture: predominant use of natural stone instead of timber for construction of houses
• art:
  • contains a number of photographs of town views and landscape
  • description of street musicians and their various instruments
• clothing: hoped to see people wearing folk dress in rural Wales as seen on advertisements, but without luck
• language:
  • pride of Welsh-speakers in their first language, but everybody has learnt English in school
  • some notes on relation to other Celtic languages
• history: brief references to late medieval history
• recreation:
  • comparatively low number of foreign tourists
  • provision of tours for tourists either by horse-drawn coach or car with space for groups of about 20 people
  • Wales as tourist destination with advantages and disadvantages for the foreign visitor
  • hotels perceived as rather primitive, but with very welcoming and friendly staff
  • mild climate as ideal condition for resident patients even in winter
  • fashionability of Barmouth as sea-side resort and its various attractions
  • notes production of various types of bric-a-brac with pictures of Welsh folk costume
  • souveniers sold on Snowdon of poor quality as if they had been "Made in Germany" [the label originally warned against the purchase of German products owing to their poor quality]
• terrain:
  • describes Wales as a relatively unknown part of England
  • mild climate allows wide spread of exotic plants
  • romantic descriptions of villages and landscape around Barmouth
  • description variety of shops and shop-keeping in rural Wales
  • telephone and telegraph installed on Snowdon summit
• transport: 
  • modes of travel: bike; horse carriage; on foot; train
  • good road conditions in Wales, ideal for use of cars and bikes, but with certain dangers for the latter
  • provision of combined tickets for train, coach and car services
  • description of Snowdon Mountain Railway

Nationality of traveller

Dutch

Language of publication

Dutch

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

illustrated essay

Citation

Rouveroy van Nieuwaal, M. C. van. "Een maand in Noord-Wales." De Aarde en haar Volken. Vol. 48 Haarlem: H. D. Tjeenk Willink & Toon, 1912. 145-160. Print.