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The Annual Gambo Race FAQ

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Gambo Race - FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

What is a Gambo?

A Gambo is basically a cart or trolley that has to be pushed/pulled by hand to move it. There are many variations of its name in force depending on an individual's location throughout the United Kingdom and around the world.

Cart Photos: [ Museum of English Rural Life ]

A Farm Cart

Traditionally a Gambo was / is a kind of cart without sides used in South Wales by farmers. A Gambo is a two wheeled flat bed vehicle native to Wales and the Marches and to some extent the Cotswolds and the South West of England. It was used mainly for harversting in hilly areas.

Dictionary Definitions

There is no entry in the Oxford English Dictionary for the word 'GAMBO'. However, as a gambo is much the same as a 'cart' and a 'trolley', the following entries are outlined below:

Cart /Ka:t/ n. & v. -n.1 a strong vehicle with two or four wheels for carrying loads, usu. drawn by a horse. 2 a light vehicle for pulling by hand. 3 a light vehicle with two wheels for driving in, drawn by a single horse. - v.tr. 1 convey in or as in a cart. 2 sl. carry (esp. a cumbersome thing) with difficulty or over a long distance (carted it all the way home).
Trolley /'troli/ n.(pl. -eys) 1 esp. Brit. a table, stand, or basket on wheels or castors for serving food, transporting luggage or shopping, gathering purchases in a supermarket, etc. 2 esp. Brit. a low truck running on rails.

Wenglish

Wenglish is the peculiarities of the Welsh/English dialect. A lifetime study by John Edwards, he named this dialectical oddity "Wenglish" and recorded it as it is spoken, mainly in the valleys and townships of South Wales (Old South Wales).

Originally a farm cart, a dray, but used in WENGLISH [ Talk Tidy - Official Website ] to mean a vehicle which is lacking in refinement and performance.

Example: That's car's a bit of a gambo like

Source: Talk Tidy - John Edwards

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Gambo Place Names around the World

There are a number of places located around the world named Gambo

Rest of the World

Official Town of Gambo website: Canada
MAP: Gambo - Nigeria, Africa
MAP: Gambo - Fishing Port east of Gyongiu, Korea

World Mountain Names

MAP: Mt. Gambo Utse (5200m) - Drepung Monastry, Lhasa, Tibet

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A Mysterious Creature

Gambo Wikipedia

A mysterious creature was discovered by Owen Burnham, on 12 June 1938, on a Gambian beach. Found dead on the shore the carcass was 14-15 feet long, it was dark on the top and light at the bottom. It had a long jaw with 80 pointed teeth and had nostrils at the upper jaws tip.

It also had a long pointed tail, a short neck and two paddle shaped limbs.

The creature closely matches the description of a thalattosuchian, something that was extinct long ago (or at least thought to have been extinct). The local people close to where the creature was found decapitated its head to sell as a souvenir and buried its remains.

Thalattosuchian - Means: Sea Crocodile

These were large marine crocodilians that lived from the early Jurasic Period to the early Cretaceous Period. They were well adapted to sea life having 4 paddle-like limbs, a long tail with a tail fin and a long snout. It probably ate fish. Geosaurus was a thalattosuchian.

Geosaurus ( Gee-oh-sawr-us ) - Means: Rock Lizard

This was an early acqatic crocodylian about 10ft (3m) long. This steamlined fish eater had a long pointed jaw with sharp teeth - 4 fleshy flippers (the rear ones larger than the front) and a long tail with a tail fin. Geosaurus was not a dinosaur but was a reptile that lived alongside Ichthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs in the seas during the late Jurrasic and early Cretaceous periods. Geosaurus fossils have been found in europe (South Germany and South Africa).

Classification:

Subclass Archosaur, Order Crocodylia.

Suborder Thalattosuchic Family Metriorhynchia

Genus Geossaurus Type species is G.gracilis.

Geosaurus was named by F.Cuvier in 1842

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A Tibetan Adventure

King Songtsen Gambo (617-665 AD)

The Potala Palace towers above the city of Lhasa in Tibet.

Originally built in the 7th century by King Songtsen Gambo (617-665 AD) for his bride Princess Wen Cheng. The 13-story Palace, standing atop a cliff is 3,700 metres high, this is the world's highest Palace. The Potala Palace has 1000 chambers and is the most sacred place for Tibetans. The Potala Palace is the primary residence of the Dalai Lama.

Songtsen Gambo was born in 617 and ascended to the throne at the age of 13 where he ruled for 20 years. Songtsen Gambo was the first Tibetan ruler to establish a palace on this outcrop, the Red Hill which dominates the city of Lhasa.

Although his palace which was called Kukhar Potrang, was burned down by an invading Chinese army during the reign of his successor, Mansong Mangtsen, there are two rooms inside the Potala that supposedly date from his time.

It was during the reign of Songtsen Gambo in the 7th century that Buddhism was introduced to Tibet and by the following century it had become the national religion.

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