YOUR FACTOIDS AND SNIPPETS HERE!

[DaveR]

The Marine Drive was completed in 1879 at the cost of £14,000, and was owned by a private company until 1897, when it was purchased by the Urban District Council, which in 1910 abolished the toll for pedestrians. So that to make it free to foot-passengers, the Council relinquished a sum equal to nearly a penny in the pound on the rates. At each end of Marine Drive is a toll-house, the distance between is 4 1/4 miles, the total circuit of the Ormes Head is nearly 6 miles.

[DaveR]

There were six sister ships built by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co between 1946-1955. These ships regularly sailed from Llandudno pier to Douglas in the Isle of Man and to Liverpool during the holiday season. Each vessel was 345ft long, weighed 2490 tons and could carry over 2000 passengers. The ships were - King Orry (1946-1975) Tynwald (1947-) Mona's Queen (1946-1962) Snaefell (1948-1978)\ Mona's Isle (1951-1980) Manxman (1955-1982) The last of the six sisters, the Manxman, just about survives in a run-down condition as a bar & club.

[DaveR]

Testo Reaction Meters were wall mounted novelty machines produced in the 1950's & 60's by Arthur Brown, a T.V. and radio repair man who ran Browns T.V. & Radio in Mostyn St, and also Deganwy Swimming Pool. The machines were placed in pubs and clubs all over North Wales and the North West of England. You had to place a coin in a slot at the top of the machine which lit-up a red coloured light. You then pressed a green button, and the light would go out after a few seconds. After the light went out you had to react quickly by pressing a red button to stop a sliding scale on the front of the machine from dropping too far. If you reacted quickly enough your coin was returned, but the chances of this happening diminished as the evening progressed. The main purpose of the machines were to deter drunk-driving, as reaction times when behind the wheel increase as more alcohol is consumed. There was also a picture of a lorry approaching a zebra crossing on the front of the machine.

[DaveR]

On September 6th 1952 Julie  Andrews was at the Pier Pavilion in Llandudno,  she was sharing the bill with Max Bygraves, then a rising young comedian. Also appearing were Tommy Fields, Canfield Smith (an American ventriloquist) and puppeteers Paul and Peta Page

[DaveR]

The earliest recorded shipwreck on the Great Orme was in January 1642 of the warship 'Phoenix'. It was one of three ships forming the Irish Sea fleet of Charles I. There was no record of any survivors.

[DaveR]

Llandudno's oldest post-box is situated in St Georges Crescent outside the Queens Hotel. It is of the hexagonal style designed by John Penfold in 1866 and is still in regular use.

[DaveR]

Llandudno's first seafront hotel was the St George's. It was built in 1884.

[DaveR]

The Palladium Theatre was built on the site of a market and was opened in 1920. The traditional theatre is a tall building by Llandudno standards, and has a splendid Edwardian Baroque stuccoed façade. The building was later converted to a cinema and bingo hall and is now a Wetherspoons public house.

[DaveR]

In 1848, The Ocean Monarch, an American emigration vessel on it's way from Liverpool to Boston, caught fire at sea approx 5-6 miles east of the Great Ormes Head with the loss of 178 lives.

[DaveR]

There is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa named Llandudno after our famous Welsh resort. In Llandudno South Africa, there is a beach called Sandy Bay - Cape Town's nudist beach!

[DaveR]

Miners who worked in the Victorian copper mines on the Great Orme were never lowered or raised to and from work. They had to climb the 120 to 160 metres at the beginning and end of their shifts.

[DaveR]

The stone circle in Happy Valley is relatively modern, having been constructed in 1963 for the Llandudno Eisteddfod.

[DaveR]

St Paul's Church on Mostyn Broadway, Craig-y-don, was built in 1893/95 as a memorial to Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence.

[DaveR]

Hwylfa'r Ceirw (path of the deer) is a double avenue of small limestone rocks running for approximately 100m towards the sea to Cliffin Ceirw (precipice of the deer) on the Great Orme. Legend has it that this is the track by which deer ascended the Orme to a lush forested area when there was dry land at the foot of the headland and not sea as today.

[DaveR]

In the precipitous cliff face between the north toll gate and Pen-trwyn is a small cave, called Ogof Hanner Dydd (the midday cave). It is said that at twelve noon on the days of the Spring and Summer equinoxes, the sun shines directly into the mouth of the cave.