Where In The World?

I've been finding bits of information about the towns and cities my son and his band are visiting. Today/tonight they are playing in Newport, South Wales. Some photos and fun facts follow. For instance: Newport is the hometown of Sir Anthony Hopkins. And some believe it may have been the location of Camelot. I received an email from the firstborn the other night. It was one sentence... "We are having a blast." Good enough for me.

A map of Newport from the 1830's.
Newport Castle
Tredegar House


Ruins of ship from the middle ages


From Wikipedia:
Newport (Welsh: Casnewydd) is the third-largest city in Wales (after Cardiff and Swansea). Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is the cultural capital and largest urban area of the traditional county of Monmouthshire and governed by the unitary Newport City Council. The population of the Newport urban area is in excess of 160,000 inhabitants (est. 2006).

The name Newport comes from the fact that Caerleon was the 'old port' on the river Usk, but as ships became bigger, they could no longer navigate the river to Caerleon so a new port/dock was built near to where the Riverfront Arts Centre stands today.

The Welsh name for the city, Casnewydd-ar-Wysg (IPA: [kasˈnɛʊɪð ar ˈwɪsk]) means 'New castle-on-Usk' (this is a shortened version of Castell Newydd ar Wysg). This refers to the twelfth-century castle ruins near the city centre. The original Newport Castle was a small Motte-and-bailey castle in the park opposite St. Woolos Cathedral. It was buried in rubble excavated from the railway tunnels that were dug under Stow Hill in the 1840s and no part of it is currently visible.

Newport also has the Latin name Novus Burgus, meaning new borough or new town. It is sometimes labelled Newport-on-Usk on old maps.

The city's importance as a trading port in the Middle Ages was emphasised when a 15th century ship, referred to locally as the Newport ship, was uncovered from the bank of the Usk in 2002, during the construction of the Riverfront Arts Centre.

The city is home to the world-class Celtic Manor Resort, Europe's leading five-star conference resort and home of the Celtic Manor Wales Open, the annual European Tour golf tournament. The resort is also venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup.