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Bala ''(Welsh: Y Bala)'' is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales. Formerly an urban district, Bala lies within the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake (Welsh: Llyn Tegid), 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Dolgellau, with a population taken in the 2001 and 2011 census' of 1,980. It is little more than one wide street, ''Stryd Fawr'' (High Street, literally "Great Street"). The High Street and its shops can be quite busy in the summer months with many tourists. Bala is ranked 11th in the list of the highest percentages of Welsh language speakers in Wales. According to the (2011 census), 78.5% of Bala's population can speak Welsh fluently, with the highest percentage in the 5-9 age group, 95.7%. ==History== In the 18th century, the town was well known for the manufacture of flannel, stockings, gloves and hosiery. The Tower of Bala ''(Welsh: Tomen)'' (30 ft. (9 m) high by 50 ft (15 m) diameter) is a tumulus or "moat-hill", formerly thought to mark the site of a Roman camp. The large stone-built theological college, ''Coleg Y Bala'', of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school, which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with the statue of the Rev. Thomas Charles (1755–1814), the theological writer, to whom was largely due the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society.〔 Other famous people from the Bala area include Michael D. Jones, Christopher Timothy, Owen Morgan Edwards, born in Llanuwchllyn, and T.E. Ellis, born in Cefnddwysarn. In 1800 a 15-year-old girl, Mary Jones, walked the 25 miles from her home village Llanfihangel-y-Pennant to purchase a bible in Bala. The scarcity of the bible, along with the determination of Mary to get one (she had saved for six years), was a major factor in the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804. Betsi Cadwaladr, who worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, and who gave her name to the Health Board, came from Bala. Bala hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1967, 1997 and 2009. The 2009 Eisteddfod was notable because the chair was not awarded to any of the entrants as the standard was deemed to be too low. Bala hosted the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd Gobaith Cymru, National Eisteddfod for the Welsh League of Youth, in 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bala, Gwynedd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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