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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Snowdon
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(Y Widdfa in Welsh) The highest mountain peak in England and Wales (1085m/3560ft), in the northwest corner of Wales, in Gwynedd. Its top can be reached in one hour from Llanberis on the country's only narrow-gauge rack-and-pinion railway, opened in 1896 and still using steam engines. The mountain's Welsh name, meaning 'great tomb', derives from the legend that a giant killed by King *Arthur is buried at its summit.
The Snowdon Mountain Race has been held each summer since 1976 over a 16km/10m course from Llanberis to the peak and down again; the winner usually takes only a few minutes more than an hour.
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