Wales Rally GB is going ‘home’…to Liverpool

When it was announced Wales Rally GB’s Ceremonial Start would take place on Liverpool’s iconic Waterfront on 3 October, some people said:

“But hang on — that’s not Wales, it’s England!”

If you thought that, read on to discover the rally — is in some ways, going ‘home’…

• For nearly two centuries, Liverpool has been home to a very large Welsh population. Even today, it’s sometimes referred to as the ‘Capital of North Wales’.

• Between 1851 and 1911, Liverpool attracted at least 20,000 people from Wales in EACH decade, peaking in the 1880s. That’s over 100,000 of its citizens were of Welsh origin. As a consequence, Welsh culture flourished in the city too.

• The Welsh population there was so large, the best known expression of Welsh cultural life — the National Eisteddfod of Wales — was held in Liverpool in 1884, 1900 and 1929.

• One of the first Welsh language journals, ‘Yr Amserau’, was founded in Liverpool by William Rees (Gwilym Hiraethog), and there were over 50 Welsh chapels in the city.

So, when WRC rolls into Liverpool later this year, don’t think of it as a departure. It’s actually a kind of ‘homecoming’.

See you there!

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