Oops! One thing I have noticed it is very easy to do, is start blogs and websites, and then find that a few months have gone by without adding anything! Mind you, I do run a lot of websites (as part of my business), so I hope fellow Llandudno fans can forgive me for letting this blog lapse a little – despite the fact I visited Llandudno a couple of months ago, and have just got back from the most glorious, sunny weekend there (and in Betws-y-Coed) – which has prompted me to get the dust off my Llandudno blog and start to make some use of the material I have archived, together with fresh material – this weekend I took around 500 photos, and about half an hour’s worth of video clips.
I will begin with this weekend’s visit, although I do have some interesting material from my visit in April, which I will hopefully cover in due course. This trip had something of everything – sun, sunsets, beach walks, boat rides, bus rides, cable car rides, walks, fireworks on the beach and even a set of bruised ribs!
Life has been pretty hectic for me of late (I have trouble remembering when it wasn’t!) so a trip to Llandudno seemed just the remedy. I pulled in to Llandudno train station from Manchester (or Manceinion as the Welsh describe it) at about 2.30 on Friday June 6th, 2008, and the weather was lovely and sunny, so much so I had to buy a baseball cap to keep my head unburned until I could unpack my sun hat! So I checked into the lovely Seaclyffe Hotel, unpacked, and was off – in fact at that point I decided to jump on a bus to venture out to Colwyn bay, as I fancied a walk on the beach there, having seen the beach front and promenade so many times from the train en route and on the way out of Llandudno. The beauty of Llandudno is that there are so many beautiful places within easy reach, as well as the joys of Llandudno itself!
So I got there and found Colwyn Bay beach, and had a lovely walk, looking out to sea and watching the people walking their dogs. Later on, as I waited for the bus, there was a crazy altercation between some locals outside a pub, which thankfully didn’t develop into a full blown fight! Anyway, it was back to Llandudno, where I made my way to the West shore to watch the sunset – and a spectacular and beautiful West shore sunset it was!
Saturday I rose early, and after gathering provisions, I headed off to Betws-y-Coed, a place I always like to visit if I can – the weather looked promising, and I reckoned if I was going to visit again, I had better do it on the Saturday rather than be at the mercy of Sunday trains! In any case, I got there, and because I had started to develop sore feet (due to running a lot lately), I didn’t get as far as I had envisaged, although I did enjoy a meal at the Swallow Falls cafe, and enjoyed an intriguing walk – I thought I was venturing out into the middle of nowhere, after crossing a bridge a few miles down from Swallow Falls, and heading into thick forest, I headed down a hill and came to a nice picnic area, then climbed over a stile and followed a river until I ended up back at the small waterfall down from Swallow falls – a round trip! Later on I started to feel a little unwell, so headed back down into Betws-y-Coed, and had a wander through the little park next to the Pont-y-Pair bridge. I saw a notice nailed to a tree and a stile, which I thought looked quite familar, and was struck with the similarity between it and my earlier surroundings – then it clicked that it was the same place, and somehow my long walk into the wilderness had in fact led me right back into the middle of Betws-y-Coed!
I headed back into Llandudno, where I took a walk along the promenade, and noticed some police tape out on the sand, and also at the edge of the promenade. It became apparent that a fireworks display was in the offing, so I decided to stay out and watch. It grew dark, and I saw the Chap in his boiler suit (with “Celebration Displays” across the back) run into the St George’s Hotel (the first hotel to be built on Llandudno Promenade back in 1854!) and then run back out, and watched as he donned his safety wadding and helmet.
Then I watched as smartly dressed guests filed out of the hotel – so I assumed they were holding a wedding reception, and this was to be their fireworks display! So off we went with fireworks, to end a lovely day, as multicoloured explosions echoed off the pebbles and buildings and lit up the night sky. Whoevers wedding it was, congratulations – I wish you well – and if it was your wedding fireworks display, why not post a comment and let us know!
My second day was so packed full of activities, I hope to post more about each in more details in coming days – but for now offer a summary! What a glorious sunny summer’s day it was – just the kind of day Llandudno was made for. I started with a soya caramel latte in Costa over on the retail park, and ended up watching the sky darken over the great Orme. In between, I enjoyed Codman’s Punch and Judy, the official tour on the bus, rides on Gorgeous Gussie and a speedboat (jumping into which I hit my left ribs with all my weight, and it still hurts…), and then headed up on to the Orme via the Cable Car, which I had never been on before! What an eerily silent experience that was, like floating through the air! Except when the car went past the support poles, which made quite a racket!
In any case, I enjoyed a Coffee in the Captain’s Table, before dozing in the sun for an hour, then headed off around the Orme, returning to town via Happy Valley (not before finding my old friends the Kashmiri goats once again!). Almost exhausted, I spent another couple of hours wandering around the beach, and taking photographs as the sky turned a lovely shade of flushed pink, and those plaintive seagull cries marked the end of my last evening in Llandundo – until the next time.
I’ve interspersed a few photos of Llandudno here in the blog post – have only just got back, so when I’ve done more sorting of the pictures, I will make another gallery with higher resolution photos 🙂
