Let's Have A Day Out - To Llandudno

Driving out of Rhos-on-Sea up an incline alongside the Little Orme, the North Shore Beach and the 19th-century Pier, the longest in Wales, suddenly is there in full view. A beach of sand, shingle and rock curves two miles between here and the headlands of the Great Orme with a wide curving Victorian promenade. With such an elegant promenade with its pastel-coloured hotels and impeccably authentic seafront architecture, it is little wonder that it is known as the Queen of the Welsh Resorts and this very popular holiday destination has a rich hive of history and memories.

The Great Orme rises straight out of the sea to a height of 207m and you are able to walk up or maybe take the historic Great Orme Tram which has been ferrying passengers to the summit since 1898. Alternatively, you can test your head for heights with a ride on Britain's longest cable car. There is plenty to do on its summit, with The Summit Complex consisting of a Café/Restaurant, a boxing themed bar based on the famous Randolph Turpin and a gift shop, a visitor centre, a nature reserve with wild Kashmir goats, pitch 'n' putt golf, a play area, plus breath-taking views of Llandudno, some areas of Snowdonia National Park, the Isle of Anglesey and the Irish sea all the way up to the Lake District. As far back as 1862, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board built an enormous lighthouse on the rocky slopes of the headland. This magnificent castle-like structure still stands high above the wave lashed cliffs, but the great lantern no longer illuminates the jagged rocks below. Late in the 19th Century, Major General Sir Savage Mostyn acquired two of Queen Victoria's Windsor goats, whose ancestors once roamed the mountains of Northern India, and took them at first to the grounds of Gloddaeth Hall before releasing them onto the Orme. Over a period of almost a hundred years, these animals have existed virtually in isolation on the Great Orme, and have evolved into the unique breed they now are. The sheltered grassy hollow on Great Orme's eastern flank, viewed from the Pier, is Happy Valley which was originally a farm field with substantial quarrying nearby. In 1887, to mark Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, Lord Mostyn closed the quarries and gave the land to the town as a permanent park. Trees were planted and rock gardens and pools laid out by the council. The work was completed in 1890 with the unveiling of the drinking fountain, and in the centre of the grounds was a bust of the queen. The site, shaped like a natural amphitheatre, was in 1872 where Mr Round's Promenade Band gave alfresco performances. In 1873 a show called 'Nigger Minstrels' began ( a performer who puts on blackface ), with no formal stage and just a small bell tent for the artists to change in before permanent stages were later built. Here Perry & Allen's Minstrels, a company unusual at the time for performing white face, also performed. Churchill’s Minstrels on the other hand, a company formed by a member of the Perry and Allen group after the death of Joseph Perry in 1904, again performed in the more usual black face. The tradition was carried on until 1987 when changing tastes, and the constant interruptions of cable cars clattering into the lower station, ended it. A café now occupies the site.
The Old Rectory Tea Gardens are situated part way up the zig-zag road, leading from the Marine Drive to St Tudno’s Church. You can also walk from the town centre up the hill through the original old Llandudno near to the Tram stop. This hillside walk with luxuriant foliage has great views over Llandudno and beyond and the garden tea rooms must have one of the most scenic settings anywhere. The walk can continue on around the Great Orme or down to the West Bay.

Great Orme Tramway

The first reference to Llandudno in written history is about the Manor of Gogarth conveyed by King Edward I to Annan, Bishop of Bangor in 1284. Llandudno takes its name from the ancient parish of Saint Tudno, the patron saint of the town and its history can be traced back to as early as the Stone Age, but evidence of human development can be easily seen within the Great Orme Mines, showing that Bronze and Iron Age Man did live and mine in the area. We know this as over a few hundred years, settlements and relics were discovered on the slopes of the Great Orme. Copper is thought to have been mined from the Great Orme 4000 years ago. Mining on the Great Orme continued until the 1850's when accessible ore was exhausted.

A group of entrepreneurs formed the St George's Harbour Company in 1836 and intended to turn Lllandudno into a harbour to serve as a ferry and terminal for London - Dublin traffic. However the move was defeated in Parliament. Llandudno's population grew to over 1000 people in 1847, all served by the new Church of St. George. Most of these men worked in the copper mines, the others in fishing or subsistence agriculture. In 1848, a Liverpool architect by the name Owen Williams proposed the owner of the estate Lord Mostyn develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiastically pursued by Lord Mostyn and it developed into the seaside town that it is today. The town boomed, and became a popular holiday destination for visitors from Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe and the West Midlands. Having narrowly escaped being named St George and turned into a busy port, the town submitted a new bill to Parliament which then allowed them to build a railway line from the new Llandudno Junction train station to Llandudno - which was meant to include a harbour, lighthouses, piers, docks and quays. Despite running out of funds for the grand plans, in 1858 a modest wooden pier was built - near to the old entrance of the current pier. Connected to the national railway network in 1858, the town was to become a major ferry port to Ireland, but in 1859 a storm damaged the pier and development was moved to Holyhead. It was quickly repaired, and remained in limited use for another 18 years. In 1875, a new Llandudno Pier Company was granted permission to build on the original structure. The second pier was built directly over the old pier, which was demolished after work on the new one had been completed. At 1,200 feet it was the the longest in Wales, and with extensions later added, it is the pier we know today. The Pier Pavillion was the premier venue for the best entertainment from the Victorian era right up until its heyday in the 1950s. Shows at the Pavilion were listed in the national press alongside other famous resorts and the basement held what was claimed to be the largest indoor swimming pool in Britain. It also became host to major political conferences with notable attendees including Winston Churchill, Oswald Mosley and David Lloyd George and it is said that after attending a Tory Conference in 1948 at the Pavilion, a young Margaret Thatcher made the decision to move into politics.

The Great Orme and North and West Shores

The fictional Alice in Wonderland was inspired by real-life Alice Pleasance Liddell, who used to holiday in Llandudno as a child, and there is a White Rabbit statue to be found on Llandudno's second beach, the West Shore which looks out towards Anglesey and Conway. The sculpture, which is part of the town's 'Alice Trail', has a plaque that reads, 'On this very shore, during happy rambles with Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll was inspired to write the literary treasure 'Alice in Wonderland'. However, Dean Liddell, Alice's father, used to bring his wife and his children to a lodging house in Llandudno from Oxford for their holidays. In 1861 he decided to have a holiday home built to his specification on the West Shore which was completed in August 1862 and called Pen Morfa. Lewis Carroll had in fact told the 'Wonderland story' to Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boat trip on the river Isis, Oxfordshire, in July 1862 and finished writing the book in 1863. His sequel, 'Through the Looking Glass' refers to local Llandudno landmarks. The two rocks out in the bay were known locally as the Walrus and the Carpenter and the mine entrance nearby and the zig-zag path also tie in to the story.

Llandudno promenade is home to the longest-running Punch & Judy puppet show in Britain, founded by Richard Codman in 1860. He was born in Norwich in 1831 into a family of Hungarian Romany origin and became a travelling entertainer playing a banjo and fiddle at fairs and sometimes took part in bare-knuckle fights. In 1859 he married Charlotte Asker of Birmingham and inherited a showman's caravan drawn by two horses. They travelled around to fairs before one of the horses died, just after they'd reached Llandudno in 1860. Unable to afford another horse, Richard sought inspiration and employment. This he found it in driftwood on the beach, from which he carved his Punch and Judy puppets. All of the puppets used today are the originals, as is the proscenium (the décor around the miniature theatre). His shows were originally near the Empire Hotel in Church Walks. In 1864 he performed for the Mostyn Estates, and was then given a pitch on the prom. When the Queen of Romania stayed in Llandudno, she had his booth relocated opposite her hotel so she could watch the show through her window. He gave four command performances to Queen Victoria and the Prince and Princess of Wales, at Sandringham and Windsor. Needing winter employment, he started performing outside Liverpool's Lime Street station where he was awarded a prime site on an open cobbled square known as the 'Quadrant' between the market and Lime Street Station. It stood in the square at St Georges Place from the 19th century up until 1957 when it was decided to make a huge roundabout which went around St George’s Hall, and the show was literally in the way. "There was a big hoohaa about retaining it, but of course the authorities won in the end and suggested an alternative site, which was St George’s Plateau. His eldest son Richard had taken over the show at this time after turning 18. The show was eventually moved to Williamson Square until they received a request to go to the Museum of Liverpool Life, which is where it is today. 

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