Llandudno (Wales)

I'm going to tell you about a little seaside resort that I hold very dear to my heart. Llandudno, My mum and dad first took me to this small town when I was a baby, I don't remember much of them younger holidays but I do remember them, as I got older. I was very close to my nanna before she passed away and would enjoy numerous times with her in Llandudno. We used to always stay in the Clarence hotel, she loved it there because it was full of Scottish people like her and she could have a good old natter and sing along with all her new friends.

When she died it was awful for me as we were so close, but I still had all my special memories especially those surrounding our little holidays. When I had children the first place we took them was Llandudno. I even had my honeymoon there. There is just something there whenever I go it seems as though my Nanna is there watching over, its like she is with me and whenever we go its sun shining no matter what the whether is like anywere else it shines down on me in Llandudno.

I'm now going to tell you a bit about the place. Llandudno is situated in the north of Wales. Llandudno is Wales's largest resort, situated between the Great and Little Ormes with The North Shore and the quiet, sand dunned West Shore. It is a Victorian town and still has many of its old Victorian elegance even though it now has many modern attractions. They have a Victorian weekend every year around the end of May, where throughout the whole town everything is Victorian. Everyone dresses up and they have steam trains and old-fashioned stalls and gypsy carts around.

During the Victorian era, roads on the Great Orme were still fairly primitive and the steep slopes prevented all but the most active from reaching the summit. Llandudno was fast becoming a very popular tourist resort, so it wasn't long before local businessmen latched on to the idea of a cable tramway. A little over 15 months after construction work started at the bottom of the Orme, the line was declared safe by the Board of Trade. On 31st July 1902 the first car moved off from Victoria Station, to the sound of the town band playing "God save the King". Suddenly, Llandudno's Mountain did not seem quite so big as it once had. Now people of all ages and physical abilities could enjoy the rugged scenery, fascinating wildlife, and spectacular views. The Great Orme had gone public.

You can take the Tram from the bottom of the orme to several stops including a stop at the great orme Bronze Age copper mines. The oldest metal mine open to the public in the world. They have introductory films before exploring the 3,500 year old passages leading to the prehistoric cavern. You can go into the Great Opencast, the oldest part of the complex mined out over 4,000 years ago. Or you can go straight up to the top of the orme were there is the great orme summit complex which includes shops, restaurants, amusements, Victorian picture house and a bar dedicated to champion boxer Randolph Turpin. On the way down you can stop at the Great Ormes country park and visitors centre. Were there is a limestone headland known for its wildlife and history. Refurbished in 2002, the Visitor Centre includes: interactive displays, a video introduction to the Great Orme and a live camera link-up to enable viewing of one of the seabird colonies.

If you don't want to go up the orme there are loads of other attractions such as, the Llandudno cable Cars, which go all over Llandudno so you can see views such as, the Little Orme, the Conwy Estuary, and the whole of Llandudno. This ride operates from a station in the Happy Valley Gardens. Also close to the cable cars there is the Ski and snowboarding centre. The Ski Centre is situated on the Great Orme With a 300m Dry ski slope. There is also a 700m toboggan run which is great for kids. My eldest loves it and I loved it as a kid. I still do. There is also the pier, which has two arcades, and a wide range of fairground rides for young children. They have a helter skelter type slide and bouncy castles go karting and loads more. And they are all reasonably cheap. Llandudno also has its own train station for easy access if you wish to go by train, and also Conway and Colwyn bay are close by too.

There are thousands of hotels to choose from with most of the expensive ones being on the beachfront. There is a wide range of shops and a small shopping mall. Parking can be horrendous but there is a multi story car park but it is quite dear. There is also for young children a little underground shop all about Alice in wonderland, which has a scene, built that you walk around and they tell you the story. You can also buy Alice in wonderland costumes. There is a wonderful restaurant situated close to the trams where they do a Calvary. When I was pregnant with my first child we went there and I ate 3 full Calvary meals…lol…no wonder I put on 5 stone. I just love this little seaside town and would recommend it to anyone we often just pop down for the afternoon just to have fish and chips on the sea front. It is so peaceful and quite and when all my children leave home I am planning on moving there to live out my old life in the place that I love.

Thanks for reading

Lynsey xx