In Pictures: Highlights from Wales in 2021

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

While the pandemic continued to have a massive impact across Wales in 2021, there was some distraction provided by royal and political visitors and a Hollywood duo brought more than a sprinkle of stardom to Wrexham.

Here are some of the best images from across Wales in 2021.

The start of the year saw snow atop Pen y Fan as hardy walkers braved the wintry conditions.

A coronavirus vaccination centre opened at Cwmbran Stadium in South Wales as the rollout gathered pace.

In politics, the Senedd election brought Westminster leaders to Wales, with Labour equalling its best-ever result by winning 30 seats – just one short of a majority.

A giant patchwork art installation Bridges, Not Walls, by Luke Jerram – was unveiled on a bridge to mark the beginning of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod music and dance festival.

The artwork consisted of 800 handcrafted squares of fabric made by people from the local community and around the world.

The slate landscape of north-west Wales joined the likes of the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon National Park and Machu Picchu to become a Unesco World Heritage Site. The landscape, which runs through Gwynedd, became the UK’s 32nd Unesco World Heritage Site and the fourth in Wales, following the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Blaenavon Industrial Landscape and the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd.

Hollywood glitz and glamour was transported to North Wales when Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney bought National League club Wrexham in February.

The were present at their first game – a 3-2 defeat at Maidenhead – in October.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returned to Wales for a second year due to coronavirus travel restrictions preventing filming at its usual location of the Australian jungle.

Partway through the ITV series, the contestants were removed from Gwrych Castle after extreme weather conditions during Storm Arwen caused production difficulties.

In November, an injured man was rescued from a cave after spending more than two days trapped inside.

In the summer, Charles and Camilla spent a week touring Wales. Camilla carried out a solo event visiting Llanerch Vineyard in Pontyclun. The duchess had met the vineyard’s owner, Ryan Davies, at a Buckingham Palace event and made good on a promise to visit his business.