Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
beautiful area, fascinating place |
| Disadvantages: |
can't see inside all the properties |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
We recently had a weekend in Wales and took the opportunity to visit Portmeirion Village near Porthmadog.
The Village is mainly famous for being the outside location where 1960's television show "The Prisioner" was filmed.
The Village is a collection of quaint, colourful buildings and it is well worth a visit.
WHERE IS IT?
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The Village is in North Wales and it is signposted off the A487 at Minffordd near Porthmadog. You turn off in the village of Minffordd and
travel down a long lane part of which is a one way system. There is a large car park beside the Castell Deudraeth Restaurant. (If you have a two course meal for £14.50 at the Castell then you get into the village for free).
ADMISSION TIMES AND COSTS
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The Village is open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm.
It costs £6.50 per adult, Concessions £5, and children are £3.50. A family ticket for 2 adults and 2 children is £16, or £18.40 for 2 adults and 3 children.
On the website there is a voucher that you can print off for free entry to the village between 1 November and 31 March for up to 2 adults and 3 children.
Guidebook costs £3.50.
(We visited in October and most of the smaller shops were shut).
HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE
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Portmeirion is a purpose built village on a peninsula off the cost of Snowdonia. Sir Clough Williams-Ellis was an architect who had a dream of building a village that complimented the natural beauty of the area without spoiling it. He purchased Portmeirion in 1925 for around £5,000. He then spent the next 50 years developing the village. He died in 1978 shortly after erecting his last building.
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis was a founder member of the CPRE (Council for Protection of Rural England) and actively encouraged the establishment of National Parks in Wales and England. Some of the buildings in Portmeirion have been rescued by Sir C W-E rather than see them being destroyed, in particular the Town Hall and the Bristol Colonnade.
OUR VISIT
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We visited on Saturday 21 October 2006. I had wanted to visit Portmeirion for a while. I remember seeing repeats of The Prisoner when I was a teenager and being fascinated by this colourful village. Then in more recent years, it featured in Cold Feet as being the place where Adam scattered Rachel's ashes. We were staying near Carmarthen so still had a nearly 4 hour drive up to Portmeirion, but it was a case of now or never, so off we went.
We nearly missed the Village turnoff as it is not all that well signposted, but we got to the car park and went off to pay at the little booth. We paid £16.50 for 2 adults and a guide book. Right inside the payment booths are toilets and a factory seconds shop for the famous Portmeirion Pottery. (Still very expensive though!).
There is a big sign up telling you the time of high tide, and this is also printed on the rear of your ticket. You are advised that if you go out onto the beach/estuary, that you must return 2 hours before high tide as the water comes in very quickly.
You start to notice the buildings as you come into the Village, going under archways.
I don't wish to describe and list every building in The Village as I don't think that is necessary and you should all go and see it for yourself!
Once you have passed under the archway and round the corner you notice the explosion of colour. There are so many little houses, some high above you and they are all so brightly painted, pinks, blues, orange, yellow. It's an amazing sight. There is a little cluster of shops, but these were all closed for the winter.
There are steps down onto the central Piazza with the pool and fountain and this is a spectacular sight. I really don't think that I can do Portmeirion justice in my review as it is too amazing to describe really! There are arches and gazebo's.
We wandered down a bit further and came across a shop selling souvenirs and pottery, then a little shop selling unusual sweets and dried fruits. Opposite here was the Town Hall, and Town Hall Restaurant. Going down further you can then walk around the Piazza and walk further down to the Portmeirion Hotel and the beach.
All properties in the Village are used for shops or for holiday letting accomodation. All of the houses have names and you can read the history about them, but you cannot go inside of them.
The Hotel was the original building in the Village and Sir C W-E's starting point. The Hotel was actually destroyed by a huge fire in 1981 and totally reconstructed afterwards.
We did not venture down to the beach as high tide was due shortly and we did not fancy drowning!
The Village is full of surprises and wonderful buildings. There is a wishing well, a Bell Tower, a boat and many
other odd buildings. There are actually 45 different buildings/locations listed in the guidebook.
There are two walks that it is possible to do, one which takes you through the fantastic woodland and gardens and the pet cemetary. We did not do these walks, but there are leaflets available on them.
THE PRISONER
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The Prisoner was filmed in Portmeirion in 1966-1967 and starred Patrick McGoohan as Number Six, the prisoner. The series was a bit strange in my opinion, with Number Six being trapped in this village and never being able to escape, in fact if he did, he was chased by these giant white balls. "I am not a number, I am a free man" is the catchphrase of this show.
You can see the house that Number Six "lived" in; this is now The Prisoner shop.
The Prisoner has a huge following and a fanclub who meet regularly.
PORTMEIRION POTTERY
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The other thing that Portmeirion is famous for is of course its pottery. Started by Susan, daughter of Sir C W-E in 1960, this famous pottery is now sold all over the world.
FACILITIES
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As previously mentioned there are eating places, shops and toilets available. Disable facilities aren't great, mainly due to the nature of the village. There is a steep hill down to the Hotel and beach and there is a large cobbled/paved area as well which is also sloping.
I personally wouldn't take very young children there as I think that they would be bored. Teenagers would probably be bored as well!
There is an audio show which runs every 30 minutes and tells the story of Portmeirion and Sir Clough Williams-Ellis and we found this to be very interesting. Be carefeul though as although it is supposed to start on the hour and half hour, the timing is all out!
ACCOMMODATION
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There is various self-catering and hotel accommodation available with the Village, but it seems very expensive to me and a bit of a bind to get too as cars are not allowed into some parts. The view from the village is spectacular though
WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS?
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Yes I would for an interesting day out. If you do both of the walks as well and stop for food then you could make it a full day out and well worth the admission fee.
I probably wouldn't wish to return here again for several years though as I feel its the kind of place that once you have seen it, you don't need to go there too often.
For anybody interested in architecture it must be a great day out. For fans of the Prisoner, its a great day out!
Ignore some of the ratings below as they don't really apply to this tourist
attraction.
www.portmeirion-village.com for loads of information and pictures. (I have taken a couple of pictures from this website as my camera ones are a little blurred).
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