West Shore Issues

[Hugo]

Not that good.            they are brilliant Dave.     

[SteveH]

Dave, As Hugo says brilliant,  I loved my time living up there, and its nice to your photos, my photos were taken on an  Instamatic                         thanks for the link.

[hollins]

Not that good.            they are brilliant Dave.     

I agree with Hugo. Brilliant. You are very modest Dave. I can always remember your stunning photos of the big ship in Liverpool dock. I think you are the same Dave!

I love this one.....No Crop with PP-3 on your Flickr page. Such beautiful soft colours. It would make a beautiful card.

[Dave]

Thanks Hollins, you are too kind.
The ship was the Queen Mary 2, I found the post when I was looking for the Crafnant ones.
http://threetownsforum.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,7.msg35734.html#msg35734
It was a stunning sight from the relatively small Mersey Ferry.

[Dave]

Anyway, sorry for taking the whole of the West Shore issue off topic.
I think it's a lost cause too which is a shame because it has been a superb link up with the existing cycle track not only for bicycles but walkers too.I always feel sorry for residents of West Shore who face having their gardens full of sand every time the wind blows.

[PhilMick]

My mother in law, Amy, who lived in Mowbray Road until 2015 (she moved in during 1926 with her family when she was , often reminsced about how the west shore sandhills used to come up to the back gate. Obvioulsly long before Bryniau Road. She never mentioned the sand coming into garden in those days.

Does anyone know when Bryniau Road's houses were built?

[Hugo]

I don't know when the Bryniau Road houses were built but some of the houses on the western side of Bryniau Road back on to the North Wales Golf Club where I've played golf a few times many years ago.   Most of the course is built on sand and I've copied an extract on the course for you.

The course was founded in 1894 by Tancred D Cummins, from Bowden in Cheshire, who was a prominent Manchester cotton businessman. He first saw the land at Christmas in 1893. At that time it was composed of sand hills and valleys running West to East formed by the prevailing Westerly winds, which still blow, as many a golfer has found to his cost.

I can however remember sand hills also being where the cafe and car park and miniature railway are now but the land was cleared for building some time ago

[PhilMick]

My wife and I used to walk to the beach frm the western end of Trinity Avenue, over Bryniau Road, passed the white cottage on the right, onto the gap of waste land alongside the sandhills. It was always wet and muddy.

Incidently, the white cottage was later bought by my wife's cousin, Freddie Kavanagh. I believe he was a very talented chef who later went onto manage the Royal Oak in Betws y Coed for many years.

Amy also used to reminisce about the Flying Foam foundering on the beach at West Shore. She and her friends were sent down to collect as much coal as they could. I believe it was lost in 1936. I noticed that the Cottage Loaf has a sign that states that some of its timbers in the building came from the Flying Foam.

[Hugo]

You could always tell when there had been a very high tide on the West Shore because the sea breached the shingle bar and formed a small salt water lake on the dunes at the end of Trinity Avenue.

Funny you should mention the Flying Foam because my mother who lived in the Penmorfa Cottages  (Min Y Don)  was also sent out by my Taid to collect coal from the ship.  The owners must have got wise to that because I've seen a photo of a group of men moving coal from the wreck.

The timbers from the ship were originally used in Dunphy's warehouse in Market Street but when that got demolished and the Cottage Loaf was built they were recycled there

[Hugo]

Dave,  it's only an observation because your photos are so good, but I noticed that you had not put your name on the photo.
It's not just the copyright thing but if anyone does copy it then other people will see it but you won't get the credit for it.
DaveR  one of the Administrators on here has had that happen to him and it's not fair to either of you.

I have a walking friend who just uses cheap Olympus compact cameras but he can produce excellent quality photos from them and on one photo I would not download it for him until he put his name to it.    It was so good anyone could have used it for a postcard or calendar

[Hugo]

I was reading the NWWN this week and noticed a small article on coastal maintenance taking place on the West Shore this month.    This includes the removal of blown sand from the promenade area, the cycle path,  boating pond and nearby residential streets.   The work is scheduled to take about three weeks during which the cycle track would be closed       
The Contractor Jennings and the Council will be in regular contact with each other to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.

Now I am not an expert on coastal maintenance, unlike Councillor Dave Cowans the CCBC  Member for the Environment and Jennings the contractor but I still feel a bit cynical over CCBC's handling over the sand problems on the West Shore. 
Removing sand from the stated areas is one thing but where to put it is another.   As both of them are fully aware, blown sand can only be put back onto the beach below the high water mark if they have obtained a licence from DEFRA to do it.
As for the cycle track it's no use just piling the sand on the western side of the cycle track as that will be blown back onto the track and that won't take as long as three weeks.
I'm sure that the experts won't make the same mistakes again and could even finish the work on 1st April
Sand removed from the cycle track should also be deposited below the high water mark

[norman08]

Hugo have you ever stood and watched them clearing the cycle path ,if not you would have a good  ,they just pile it up sea side to blow back , if you were in charge would you have done the work when storms were forecast ,don't you dare say yes  , I would love to know how much Jennings have made from this cycle path fiasco (  Would anyone in sane mind create a cycle path there knowing it's fine sand ) ,, don't tell me it's not a pals game ,, talking to one of the lads one time even he laughed and said keeps me in work ,,it's ok only our council tax wasted . :rage:

[Hugo]

All I can say Norman is that we should be glad that the CCBC don't run all the pubs in Llandudno.      It's not the Panto season but it is just a farce like one of those Carry On films.

Look at the first photo and you'll see that they have dumped the sand above the high water mark and they keep doing it again and again after each clearance.  It's just crazy, I had a look there the other day and part of the beach is now above the top of the defence wall.    We can see what damage is being caused to streets and property there but it's what we can't see that bothers me.  Could those drains cope with another flood?

As for the "cycle track"  they should have asked a local about the wisdom of putting the track there in the first place (sorry about the pun Norman )      It's exactly as you said, they heap the sand on the western side of the path but surely with a prevailing westerly wind where do they expect the sand to go?        In the second photo, my friend Tellytubby is standing on the top of the cycle track and it gives you an idea of how bad the problem is.   It'll be interesting to take a before and after photo of the cycle track but we'll have to be quick as the track won't be visible for long.

[Hugo]

It's a bit windy today so I hope that Jennings have not cleared the sand yet because it will be on its way back again.
Nice little earner there for the firm, just like the Forth Bridge.

[SteveH]

It's a bit windy today so I hope that Jennings have not cleared the sand yet because it will be on its way back again.
Nice little earner there for the firm, just like the Forth Bridge.

I was going to make a cheeky comment....at least they have managed to sort out the problem of the Forth bridge and the problem..... finish at one end, start again, however after checking the facts, I dont think we want CCBC to go along the same route........

The painting of the Forth Bridge has finally been completed and the structure is now scaffold-free for the first time in a decade.
The repair and repainting project to paint the rail bridge took 10 years and cost £130m.
It has been claimed it will not now need another paint job for at least 25 years. New techniques and products are behind the project's success.
A 400-strong team applied a triple layer of new glass flake epoxy paint.
It creates a chemical bond to provide a virtually impenetrable layer to protect the bridge's steel work from the weather.
The project, delivered by Network Rail and main contractor Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering, involved encasing the bridge in up to 4,000 tonnes of scaffolding, painting over 230,000sqm of steel and all 6.5 million rivets in the structure.
Over the life of the project more than 1,500 people worked on the structure, with up to 400 people a day on the bridge at the height of the refurbishment works.