The City of Swansea Quiz | Europe

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The place names of Welsh towns, villages and cities often give away their geographical location. The city of Swansea is known amongst Welsh speakers as Abertawe and it is named as such because it is located somewhere along the River Tawe. Where exactly on the River Tawe can Swansea be found?

Answer: Mouth

The Welsh word 'aber' relates to the mouth of a river such that Abertawe means 'mouth of the River Tawe'. Other places in Wales that are named like this include Aberystwyth and Abergavenny who are located along the rivers Ystwyth and Gavenny respectively.

2. Part of the City and County of Swansea includes the Gower peninsula. What body of water does this stunning piece of land, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AoNB), protrude into?

Answer: Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel stretches from the mouth of the River Severn to the massive expanse of water that is the Atlantic Ocean. It is not just the Gower peninsula that has a coast along the Bristol Channel as most of the south coast of Wales borders the stretch of water. Welsh speakers know the Bristol Channel as 'M�r Hafren' which actually translates as the 'Severn Sea'.

3. Like most of the British Isles, Swansea has a temperate climate with erratic weather that goes from very warm temperatures to the complete opposite from one day to the next. The Met Office, who officially monitor and predict incoming weather systems in the UK, released information that ranked Swansea as what?

Answer: Wettest city in Britain

Oh and boy do I know about this! Rain followed by rain and then just a little bit more rain. There have been countless times I have walked to college and arrived there like a drenched rat with the bottom of my jeans saturated in water. Despite Swansea being of a similar latitude to Moscow, Russia the annual snowfall barely rises above zero due to the presence of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean.

4. Education, one of the pillars of society and of ever increasing importance in the world. True or False: There is only one university in Swansea.

Answer: False

In fact there are two universities in the city of Swansea and they are Swansea University and Swansea Metropolitan University that were established in 1920 and 1992 respectively. Throughout history however, many have been sceptical of formal education such as Mark Twain who said,"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".

5. Wales has many place names that are quite strange and a few that are unappealing such as the north Walian town of Mold. In the city of Swansea there is a village which shares its name with a verb which means 'speaks in an unclear manner'. What is the name of this village?

Answer: Mumbles

The Mumbles has a wonderful pier that was constructed during the later years of the reign of Queen Victoria. The actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and her husband, actor Michael Douglas owned a home in Mumbles. Editor and broadcaster Ian Hislop, best known for his appearance on the TV show 'Have I Got News For You' and for his influence over the satirical magazine 'Private Eye', was born in this part of south Wales.

The Welsh name for Mumbles is 'Y Mwmbwls' and no, I'm not actually sure how you pronounce that!

6. Despite being modest in comparison to many beaches around the world such as those in Hawaii and the Pacific islands, Swansea is home to some wonderful coastal scenery. Which of the following is the name of a beautiful beach in the Swansea area?

Answer: Oxwich Bay

Oxwich bay is one of the few beaches that can be found on the Gower peninsula. This particular beach has had the honour of being named the 'most beautiful beach' in Britain by a team of over one thousand travel writers who submitted their decisions to 'The Travel Magazine' in 2007.

A writer for the magazine stated "What makes Oxwich so special is its Arcadian quality: there are 2.5 miles of wonderful pale sand, with safe, shallow seas. Even on the hottest of days, this secluded beach is quiet. The scenery is magnificent and unspoilt.

The beach is overlooked by Penrice Castle, and surrounded by extensive dunelands and wooded areas, which are great for children and adults alike to explore." (Source: 'The Travel Magazine')

7. Within the City and County of Swansea is a geological land formation known as the Three Cliffs Bay named after the three, twenty metres high cliffs that protrude into the bay. Of what type of rock are these cliffs composed?

Answer: Limestone

The geology and ecology of the Three Cliffs Bay attract the interest of tourists, botanists, travel writers and climbers alike. This bay, repeatedly given Blue Flag status, is home to one of the very few (if not the only) British populations of the yellow Whitlow-grass which is a type of plant from the family Cruciferae.

The bay is overlooked by the remains of a quaint and intriguing castle that was built back in the 12th century. Having visited the area many times I can vouch for the breathtakingly splendid views from the castle.

8. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Swansea was a fast-growing settlement with population figures increasing at percentages well over 100% decade by decade. The population grew at such a fast rate due to the booming industry that has been the metaphorical backbone of south Walian society for centuries. However, in the 1800s which particular industry underwent a massive expansion to the extent that Swansea was given a nickname related to the produced material?

Answer: Copper

From the late 18th century until well into the Victorian era, Swansea was nicknamed 'Copperopolis' due to the huge volume of the material manufactured in the city. Other British cities have been given nicknames in a similar manner such as Manchester being called 'Cottonopolis'.

9. As ever in society there are issues that unite and divide, however, the local authorities managed to unite the people of the county of Swansea back in 1960 against the formalised cessation of which form of transportation?

Answer: Tram

The tram service offered in the county, known locally as the 'Mumbles Train' was stopped much to the despair of the nearby communities. In 1960, the realisation came that this mode of transportation would never be brought back to the area when the tracks were removed. What makes this such a disappointment is that by digging up the tracks they were indeed removing a piece of international history as this was the first track used to provide a passenger railway service in the world (1807).

10. The county of Swansea has its very own nature reserve, albeit a small one. Yes the gloriously titled Crymlyn Bog which is named after a typically industrial local suburb, Crymlyn Burrows, is home to many organisms that are rarely found in the UK. The area is a designated SSSI, but what does the 'I' stand for in this abbreviation?

Answer: Interest

An SSSI is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is used in the UK if there is a particular geographical location that holds particular interest to the fields of biology (both zoology and botany) and geology. Crymlyn bog [pronounced: Krum-lyn] is technically a fen rather than a bog, but we love the glamorous names here in south Wales so we decided to stick with bog.

I hope you enjoyed your trip around Swansea and its surrounding communities. Thanks for taking the quiz!

Source: Author jonnowales

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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The City of Swansea Trivia Quiz

This quiz is about the geography of the Welsh county and city of Swansea as well as the surrounding area. I hope you enjoy! :)

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