Conwy (county borough)

The County Borough of Conwy is a local government principal area in north Wales.

Geography

It contains the major settlements of Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Llanrwst, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy,Colwyn Bay, Abergele, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan and has a total population of about 110,000.

The River Conwy (after which the county borough is named) lies wholly within the area: rising in Snowdonia and flowing through Llanrwst and Trefriw en route to the Irish Sea by Conwy. As the river forms the border between the historic counties of Caernarfonshire and Denbighshire, the borough contains settlements from each.

One third of the land area of the county borough lies in the Snowdonia national park, and the council appoint three of the 18 members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority.

According to the 2001 Census 39.7% of the population of the county borough have "one or more skills" in the Welsh language, which ranks it 5th out of 22 principal areas in Wales. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00NE-A.asp]

The amount of Welsh spoken in the county borough greatly varies from location to location, with generally the least being spoken on the coastal fringe.

Examples of the percentage speaking Welsh by electoral ward : [http://www.conwy.gov.uk/doc.asp?cat=2027&doc=1205]
*Mostyn (Llandudno) 19.7%
*Colwyn 22.6%
*Conwy 33%
*Trefriw 50%
*Eglwysbach 63%
*Conwy Uwch (Upper Conwy) 66.8%
*Llangernyw 69.3%
*Cerrigydrudion 76%

Government

The borough was formed on April 1, 1996 by merging the districts of Aberconwy and Colwyn when it was originally named Aberconwy and Colwyn. However, its council renamed the district a day later, on April 1, 1996 to Conwy. The new name has caused confusion with the town of Conwy; for instance, Royal Mail tell people to not use the name 'Conwy' on mail to the area lest it go to the town of the same name (NB: they advise against the use of the former postal counties generally).

Politics

Conwy is represented in Parliament by Betty Williams (Lab), Elfyn Llwyd (PC), and David Jones (Con), though these members all represent constituencies that only partially cover Conwy. In the National Assembly for Wales, it is represented by Gareth Jones (PC).

Coat of arms

Conwy County Borough Council was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms in 2001. [Letters Patent dated August 27, 2001] The new arms recall those of both Aberconwy and Colwyn Borough Councils. The main part of the shield depicts blue and silver waves for the river from which the county borough takes its name, and also recalls the gold and blue wavy field of Colwyn's arms. On top of the waves is placed a symbolic red tower, representing Conwy Castle. The "chief" or upper third of the shield is coloured green, the main colour in Aberconwy's arms. In the centre of the chief is a severed head from the heraldry of Marchudd ap Cynan, Lord of Abergele and Rhos. On either side are two black spears "embrued", or having drops of blood on their points. These come from the reputed arms of Nefydd Hardd, associated with the Nant Conwy area. In front of each spear is a golden "garb" or wheatsheaf, for the rural areas of the county borough.

Above the shield, placed on the steel helm usual to British civic arms, is the "crest". This takes the form of the Welsh red dragon supporting a Bible, rising from a wreath of oak leaves and acorns. The representation of the Bible is to commemorate the fact that the first Welsh language translation of the book originated in the area, while the oak circlet recalls that an oak tree formed the main charge in the arms of Colwyn Borough Council, and its predecessor the municipal borough of Colwyn Bay.

The motto adopted is "Tegwch i Bawb"'

chools

Top performing secondary schools in Conwy, (5 GCSEs, A-C grade, according to the latest inspection report by Estyn)

80% Eirias High School, Colwyn Bay

71% Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy, Llanrwst (Bilingual)

62% Ysgol y Creuddyn, Llandudno (Bilingual)

54% Ysgol Bryn Elian, Colwyn Bay

50% Ysgol John Bright, Llandudno

47% Ysgol Aberconwy, Conwy

36% Emrys ap Iwan Foundation School, Abergele

ee also

*List of places in Conwy county borough for a list of towns, cities and villages.

References