To ask whether you are aware of the NATO summit taking place in Wales in September?

[emsiewill]

If you live in South Wales you are probably aware that 82 of the world's leaders, including Obama will be at the NATO summit taking place at the Celtic Manor in Newport on 4 - 5 September.

If you aren't local, you probably aren't aware that this is the largest security operation ever undertaken in the UK. That steel fences have been erected around the Celtic Manor and all around Cardiff, already causing traffic chaos.

And that this is taking place a mile from my house, I am on the route of one of the "peaceful" protests, and, with the current conflicts taking place in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, I am shit scared that the summit will be targeted by militants of one persuasion or another, and I and my family and neighbours will be directly in the firing line.

So, if you are not local to me, have you heard about this summit?

Yes I knew but only because I travel along the M4 regularly and there are electronic signs announcing it. I have to admit when I first saw the signs I didn't think NATO could possibly mean that NATO, Newport seemed such an unlikely venue for something of that scale. :)

And as an aside, I remember the Celtic Manor when it was a smallish hotel.

I live close to where the G8 summit was last year. 8000 extra police were drafted in and large fencing with razor wire was erected. It was all pretty peaceful in the end, nothing to worry about.

Nope I hadn't heard of this in Wales, and I bet you hadn't heard of the G8 summit I am referring to!

Yes the signs that say "NATO 4-5 September, be prepared" don't really make much sense if you're not in the know...

Apparently the Celtic Manor was a maternity hospital before it was a hotel. I know a couple of people who were born there.

Was that the summit in Ireland? I'm sure the one here will be in the news when its happening. They are obviously trying to keep it quiet until then, as various people's posts on here would indicate.

I know about it, but I live in South Wales and am fed up with seeing it on local news!

Yes, because I've been to parties there and the name jumped out the News.

Can't work out why it should bother schools, it's up on the hill outside town. I can only pressume people are planning, pointless money wasting, protest marches in Newport or Cardiff. Non of the leaders will see them. You can't get near the CM it's on a hill surrounded by it's own golf course and the M4. That's no doubt why it's been choosen.

Also it was used for a big golf tournament, so the police have done full security there before.

Bolsher me too. I really really wanted to but couldn't face being away from home for so long.

Hang on it's 4-5th September? I've got friends who are police and they've been sent there for two weeks. What are they doing for the rest of the time.

I'm in Newport. I hadnt even thought of protesters and violence and stuff. Argh!!

My mum was born there :)

yes. it was on all the overhead signs on the M4. Glad it is not near here.

I thought that we weren't calling it Newport. The Celtic Manor now exists in Cardiff East daaarling!

I work in Cardiff City Centre and although I understand the security has to be tip top I would have thought a Castle would have been a pretty good place to go! The traffic will be a nightmare but I like seeing Wales as the host venue.

i heard of it but nothing official

Yes I've heard of it but only because I was in Cardiff recently and people were moaning about the disruption to the buses and the like!

There were signs on the motorway warning of traffic disruption due to NATO summit weeks ago.

We couldn't understand it, it seemed so unlikely, and thought that the acronym must mean something else!

Oh and the Celtic Manor hotel is a grim and ugly building, neither celtic-looking nor a manor.

The manor house (the bit that used to be the maternity hospital) is manor-y. The main bit is ugly.

It was on BBC World News during the night. Are you telling me that the rest of the world knew before the local people?

I've heard about it because a friend's husband is a police officer and is being sent there

I live in Newport, I sick of hearing about it.

DC will be off 4th and 5th of September, teacher training days are going to be used.

It's my birthday on 4th september and had booked to go out for lunch with DH in Cardiff Bay but on realising that there is an event on in the bay that day we have changed our plans!

I was down Cardiff Bay two weeks ago and police were insecting drains, lamp posts etc and marking everything they had opened to check with special security seals - it's a massive security operation.

My brother lives in Newport (other side with access to the coast road so should be ok!) so had heard about it but I was surprised to see all the fencing surrounding CM when we travelled down the Monmouth road and towards the M4 a couple of weeks ago. I too remember the hotel when it was just the original 'manor'. I think I went for my 18th birthday meal there (or may have been 21st?). The new building is awful - looks like something out of communist Russia looming over the landscape.

didnt have a clue

(hmms newport song to self)

I'm just across the water and heard about this a while ago- there is to be a no-fly zone for South Wales and parts of the South-West.