Valley, Anglesey
| Valley Welsh: Y Fali | |
| Anglesey | |
|---|---|
 Valley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SH293794 |
| Location: | 53°17’2"N, 4°33’43"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | LL74 |
| Dialling code: | 01248 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Anglesey |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Ynys Môn |
Valley is a village on the west coast of Anglesey. It is on the main island of Anglesey, though the closest town is Holyhead on Holy Island, across the Four Mile Bridge.
RAF Valley is a nearby Royal Air Force station concerned with the training of fast jet pilots.
Valley railway station is on the North Wales Coast Line.
Name
There does not appear to be a traditional Welsh language name for the village. There is no actual valley here and indeed the area is very flat, although a dip in the land was created when the railway and bridge to Holy Island were constructed, and this may be the origin of the name.
In Welsh the village is generally called Y Fali (pronounced "valley"), or otherwise Y Dyffryn (meaning "The Valley"). There has been some vocal minority opposition to the name of Y Fali, though that given the number of original Welsh names reshaped into English, an original English name reshaped into Welsh ought to produce little heat. A suggestion was made that "Valley" might be a development from the Irish Bally (settlement), or Baile as it is spelled in Irish. There seems to be no evidence to back the suggestion up.
RAF Valley
RAF Valley (IATA: HLY, ICAO: EGOV) is a Royal Air Force station near Valley and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training Aircrew and Saving Lives'
No. 4 Flying Training School takes RAF and Royal Navy pilots from 1FTS at RAF Linton-on-Ouse and trains them to fly fast jets, prior to training on an Operational Conversion Unit. 4 FTS is divided into two squadrons; 208 Sqn provides the advanced flying training, students then move on to 19 Sqn to receive tactics and weapons training.
Valley is also home to C Flight of 22 Sqn with Sea King helicopters. These are busy in the Search and Rescue role, rescuing people from ships in the Irish Sea, from the mountains of nearby Snowdonia and elsewhere. The mountain rescue work in Snowdonia is coordinated with the North Wales Mountain Rescue Association.[1]
The base is also home to SARTU (Search and Rescue Training Unit), part of the Defence Helicopter Flying School, using AW139 and Griffin helicopters, and newly home to the relocated headquarters elements of both 22 and 202 Squadrons.
RAF Mona, also on Anglesey, acts as a relief landing ground.
HRH The Duke of Cambridge, second-in-line to the Throne, has been assigned to C Flight, 22 Squadron at RAF Valley, as a co-pilot flying the Sea King search and rescue helicopter.
Civilian Use
In 2007 it was decided that public service obligation (PSO) flights would be launched from RAF Valley in April 2007, connecting north Wales with Cardiff International Airport.[2]
A terminal facility, costing £1,500,000, was constructed at RAF Valley, named Anglesey Airport (Maes Awyr Môn), and was projected to handle up to ten such PSO flights each day. Inverness-based Highland Airways operated the original Cardiff route service, using BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft. The first public flight took place on 8 May 2007. Highland Airways ceased operations on 24 March 2010, and the service was taken over by Manx2, flying the same route with their Dornier Do 228 aircraft.
Outside links
References
- ↑ North Wales Mountain Rescue Association
- ↑ "North-south airline is revealed". BBC News. February 21, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6380141.stm.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Valley, Anglesey) |