Year of Legends follows on from the success of the 2016 Year of Adventure. The Year of Legends 2017 will explore Wales’s distinctive history, culture, heritage and mythology.

Welshman Gerald of Wales, Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald de Barry) was a distinguished writer, historian, and ecclesiastic of the early Middle Ages

The Welshman’s writings were prolific, but it is generally agreed that his most distinguished works are those dealing with Wales and Ireland, with his two books on his beloved Wales the most important: “Itinerarium Kambriae” and “Descriptio Kambriae”.

It was Giraldus who wrote, of the Welsh, that “If they would be inseparable, they would be insuperable,” and that, unlike the English hirelings, who fight for power or to procure gain or wealth, the Welsh patriots fight for their country. He had pleasant things to say about the poetic talents of his people, too:

“In their rhymed songs and set speeches they are so subtle and ingenious that they produce, in their native tongue, ornaments of wonderful and exquisite invention both in the words and the sentences… They make use of alliteration in preference to all other ornaments of rhetoric, and that particular kind which joins by consonancy the first letters or syllables of words.”

This is obviously an island worth a visit, not only for its history and way out mystery but for its scenery and vast panoramas of Snowdonia. The 2017 Year of Legends will be a 12 month tribute to this nation’s epic myths and legends past, present and future.

If you just want to escape from work for a few days, Anglesey is the place for it. It’s a quiet island at this time of year. If the weather is kind you can enjoy a walk on an empty beach. Even if the elements aren’t behaving, a bracing walk on a windy day is wonderfully invigorating. Ready to start planning your trip?

Check out our selection of self-catering properties at www.coastalholidays.net