The Moorfield Hotel

Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza

by sue_stone

Held each year on the May Bank Holiday weekend is the Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza. We just so happened to be in Llandudno on the applicable weekend, so of course got caught up in the extravaganza frenzy!

The Victorian Extravaganza takes over the town, with some streets closed off to house the festivities. There are the usual fair rides and amusements, and local bands belting out their bad cover versions. Many people dress up in Victorian costume and wander about town.

But, the highlight of the Victorian Extravaganza is the old Steam engines and the funky old buses, trucks and cars that take part in the daily parades around the town. Everywhere we turned we saw beautifully restored old buses and crazy looking steam engines chugging down the street.

Obviously it is a busy weekend to be in town…making parking and dinner reservations difficult, but we were pleased to be there and be a part of the Extravaganza!

As a Pier it is peerless, peer at it, but no pair!

by sourbugger

Some years ago when I was marking an exam script on Sociology, the subject being population.

One hapless dork replied to the question "Give an example of an ageing structure" with "a seaside pier" and the supplementary question "What dangers might this result in ?" with "It may get rusty and hurt people by falling on their heads"

The Pier at llandudno is widely considered to be one of the finest Victorian piers in the country, with a somewhat 'Indian' feel to it. Hence this terribly piece of purpelly prose from a
British Tourist Authority report in 1975 - "It zooms out of the sea all 1,400ft (424m) of it, in a spectacular Indian Gothic style rather like a Maharajah's palace floating on a lake. Cast iron, brackets of iron lacework, an outstandingly pretty balustrade like an enlarged fish net, ogee roofs curling away to the sky, all add up to a totally pleasurable experience"....

It just seems a pity therfore that the pier is nowadays filled with the whiff of dodgy cheap food, the clank of amusement arcades and a motley collection of tatty fairground rides.

It was orginally envisaged that LLandudno would have two piers - but the second one never materialised.

Entry is free, and at over 1,000 feet long it is still a bracing walk.

Highest Lighthouse in Wales

by sandysmith

The Great Orme lighthouse was the highest lighthouse in Wales and the most northerly point on the Orme. It was built for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, by George Lister in 1862.

The lighthouse was built of stone, 37ft. high on a cliff 325ft. above sea level, and could be seen for about 21 miles. It was built like a fortress using dressed limestone and vast bulks of Canadian pitch pine.
The light was originally provided by a paraffin wick lamp and was elecrtified in 1965.
In 1985 the lighthouse ceased to fuction and it is now a luxury private hotel - see accommodation tip.
The old light can still be seen in an exhibition in the summit complex on the Great Orme, on the site of the old Telegraph Station.

Llandudno

by annebeth

"A weekend in Wales"

We stayed in Llandudno for a three day weekend during our trip to the United Kingdom. The road around the point has a small fee, but its a beautiful drive and well worth it. I also enjoyed doing a geocache while I was there. It was on the south hill, and gave a beautiful view of the city and the ocean. If your into geocaching go to www.geocaching.com and do a keyword search for Nant-y-Gamar, you won't be dissappointed.