Flint, Flintshire

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Flint
Welsh: Y Fflint
Flint, Flintshire (United Kingdom)
Flint, Flintshire

Flint shown within the United Kingdom
Population 11,936 (2001 census)
OS grid reference SJ245725
Principal area Flintshire
Ceremonial county Clwyd
Constituent country Wales
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town FLINT
Postcode district CH6
Dialling code 01352
Police North Wales
Fire North Wales
Ambulance Welsh
European Parliament Wales
UK Parliament Delyn
List of places: UK • Wales • Flintshire

Coordinates: 53°14′39″N 3°07′58″W / 53.24413, -3.13285

Flint (Welsh: Y Fflint) is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Dee. It was the county town of the historic county of Flintshire. It is the third largest town in Flintshire

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[edit] Geography and administration

Flint has the oldest town charter in Wales, dating from 1284.[citation needed] The Wirral can be seen from Flint . Views to the south of Flint include Halkyn Mountain.

[edit] History

Flint Castle by William Turner
Flint Castle by William Turner

Flint is known for Flint Castle, on which Edward I of England began construction in 1277. The castle is where Richard II was handed over to his enemy Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. As a consequence, it is the setting for Act III, Scene III of the Shakespeare play Richard II. The castle was the first of Edward I's royal castles to be built in Wales and the design served as the basis for larger royal castles such as Harlech and Rhuddlan.

The town did not have a wall, but a protective earthen and wooden palisaded ditch, the outline of which remained visible in the pattern of streets until the mid 1960's, although the medieval boundary can still be traced now. A particular example of this can be seen in John Speed's map of Flintshire.

In 1969 Flint hosted the National Eisteddfod, the town consequently has its own circle of Gorsedd stones. In July 2006 the stones became centre stage in the National Eisteddfod Proclamation Ceremony which formally announced the 2007 host town of the event as Mold.[1]

[edit] Famous links

Legendary Liverpool striker and former Wales Captain Ian Rush attended St. Richard Gwyn Catholic High school in Flint, some of his family live in the area.Other famous footballers who are from Flint include Ron Hewitt who stared in Wales' only World Cup appearance and his nephew Andy Holden. Other famous people connected with the town include the chemist John Thomas best known for his research into plant dyes[2] and Thomas Totty, an Admiral who served with Lord Nelson and inherited Cornist Hall, Flint.[3] The actor Ian Puleston-Davies, famous for his portrayal of paedophiles also comes from Flint.[4]

[edit] Present day

Eighteen per cent of the local population identify themselves as Welsh, a much larger proportion (eighty-two per cent) do not (source: 2001 Census). Many people in Flint have some knowledge of the Welsh Language, although competence does vary. Many people in Flint have some knowledge of the French Language, too, as it is given equal of higher status by local education programmes, competence in this language also does vary. English is the main spoken language to be heard across the town. There are more Polish speakers in Flint since the relaxation of trade and immigration laws within Europe. Many shops have English and Polish information displayed and there is a Polish Shop (Polski Skelp), specialising in Polish products.

Flint has its own low-powered television relay transmitter, designed to provide improved coverage of Welsh channels in an area that would otherwise receive only English television signals.

Flint has a local football team Flint Town United F.C.. They play in the Cymru Alliance.

Flint Castle appeared on an ITV Granada Regional Weather Forecast around June/July 2001. Fred Talbot, aka Fred The Weatherman, started the broadcast with some information about the castle which had nothing to do with the weather. He moved on to the forecast for the North West region and for the most part was accurate in his predictions.

The Flint accent is most often mistaken for a Liverpool accent. It is in fact a unique combination of speech patterns shared with other Welsh speakers, old Irish settlers and those found in nearby Cheshire, Wirral and Merseyside.[5]

Brian Fell's sculpture Footplate can be seen at Flint railway station. Initially it was thought to be an imitation of the famous Monty Python foot drawn by Terry Gilliam.

The Labour MP for Delyn, Mr David Hanson resides in Flint.

Perhaps one of the town's most iconic images apart from the Castle is the high-rise flats situated near the town centre. The first two blocks were built in the 1960's and named Bolingbroke Heights and Richard Heights. Both flats have had terrible problems with the lifts breaking down over the past few years. The third block of flats, Castle Heights, was built a short while after and doesn't have as much trouble with faulty lifts.

[edit] Royal Visits

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has visited Flint a few times. In 1984, she opened the Council Offices on Church Street, 'Delyn House', and returned in February 1998 to open the Flintshire Bridge. Travelling by Royal Train, she disembarked at Flint Station with HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (affectionately known as Prince Philip) and indulged in a short walkabout on the station forecourt before light rain forced Her Majesty into cutting her meet and greet session short. Both The Queen and Prince Philip then travelled by taxi (Flint Taxis gave them preferrential treatment; the driver changed radio stations from Wirral's 'The Buzz' to 'BBC Radio Three'. Well, one must keep up appearances), to the Flintshire Bridge in the nearby town of Connah's Quay.

[edit] Education

The town has two high schools; St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School and Flint High School. Primary schools in Flint include the Gwynedd School, Cornist Park School, Ysgol Croes Atti (Welsh Medium) and St Mary's Catholic skylar meyer.

[edit] Pubs and drinking

Flint is home to many pubs, most of which have been renovated over the past decade in order for the town to appeal to the wider community, with the most recent of the pubs to undergo a renovation being The Yacht in Oakenholt. Flint's association with pubs and drinking goes back a long way. A survey issued in 1900, from the office in Mold, of the Chief Police Constable for Flintshire, listed a total of 35 licensed Public Houses and off licensed premises retailing beers, wines and spirits.

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC - North East Wales Slideshows - National Eisteddfod Proclamation
  2. ^ BBC - Scifiles - Interviews - Thomas the Pigment
  3. ^ BBC - North East Wales Historical - Thomas Totty
  4. ^ BBC - Press Office - Funland Press Pack Ian Puleston-Davies
  5. ^ BBC - Voices - The Voices Recordings - Male voice choir members

[edit] External links