The Older the better....

[menatworkwales]

Good evening guys (currently out at sea, working nights)

Thought I'd introduce myself, and what I set out to do last year.

My Name is Danny, I live up the orme on St Beunos road (where my little girl is the 6th gen)
Last year during the first lockdown, I got deeply into local history. I had been into it before, but I mean I utilised a lot of man hours.

My aim, was to find the earliest 'photographic' images I could find of Llandudno, and also our area up the Orme (I have family on Pyllau and Cromlech roads)
So, I added to my book collection in a major way, and I used my internet skills to the best, and dived deep into archives where people hadn't been so bothered before.

I've shared some of these images on 'Old photographs of Llandudno' on Facebook, But I'll start with a couple.

The first one is looking over Pyllau road, and the back of St Beunos, Photographed in 1889 by Godfrey Bingley
You can see that St Beunos is single storey stone cottages, the 3 central houses are still just like they were, with additions (the first one in picture being my Nain and Grandads)

The second one being a very very early Mostyn street (1850s) Roger Fenton (World famous early photographer)
The building you can see on the left in the front, is the old Market place, later the Palladium, nowadays the Wetherspoons.

I'll post a couple of photos each day to share
 

[Fester]

Hey Danny.
My favourite of yours is the incomplete Upper Mostyn Street picture, I’ve never seen an earlier one than that.  Taken from where the roundabout is now.

[Hugo]

Menatwork,  I don't do facebook so unfortunately I haven't seen the photos you have posted there.    I've posted some which I've seen but they may be ones that you have already seen.

In the second photo the white things at the top right hand side of the photo are clothes that have been washed and then left on bushes so they could dry in the sunshine

Tom Parry lived near you in Cromlech Road and knows more about the Great Orme than anyone I know.    In the past I have contacted him about things that no one else knew but he was always able to get the answer for me

[menatworkwales]

This is another I love

📍Upper Mostyn Street, 1860(ish)

The Empire building looks as though it is only just completed.
Central Library can be seen on the right hand side, and the smaller Tabernacle on the left hand side.

[menatworkwales]

Menatwork,  I don't do facebook so unfortunately I haven't seen the photos you have posted there.    I've posted some which I've seen but they may be ones that you have already seen.

In the second photo the white things at the top right hand side of the photo are clothes that have been washed and then left on bushes so they could dry in the sunshine

Tom Parry lived near you in Cromlech Road and knows more about the Great Orme than anyone I know.    In the past I have contacted him about things that no one else knew but he was always able to get the answer for me

Tom Parry is still there We've had many good chats also.
This one is really early.

[Hugo]

I'm not sure of the date of the photo of the Llandudno Pier and whether it is of the original pier or not.    The original pier was destroyed in the storms of 1859.
The second photo I believe is of the jetty on the West Shore that had a short life span when it was used to take passengers up Conwy River to Trefriw

[Fester]

Yes Hugo.
Picture one is indeed the original wooden pier at Llandudno.
There aren’t many photos of it in existence, but interestingly.. (to me anyway) you can still see several of the original footings at low tide.
They are square posts, protruding about 12 inches out of the sea, either side of the current pier, if you look down from the area of the first kiosks.

[Hugo]

I didn't know that about the original footings Fester so I'll have to have a look there after a Spring Tide.     I believe that there are also tree stumps visible in that area and I've never seen those either so they'll be on my bucket list to see.

In one of those old photos taken from the copper mine it looks like there was a Church or Chapel in what is now Cromlech Road so there must have been at least 3 or 4 places of worship within 100 yards of each other in St Beuno's Road.   

[Ian]

There are the remains of an ancient petrified forest around there, somewhere.

[Nemesis]

I didn't know that about the original footings Fester so I'll have to have a look there after a Spring Tide.     I believe that there are also tree stumps visible in that area and I've never seen those either so they'll be on my bucket list to see.

In one of those old photos taken from the copper mine it looks like there was a Church or Chapel in what is now Cromlech Road so there must have been at least 3 or 4 places of worship within 100 yards of each other in St Beuno's Road.

A few years ago I went on a GOES walk with my then neighbour and the group. We were shown the original footings, stumps and other fascinating things. I found the whole thing very interesting, BUT if you are thinking of exploring please be very careful. It is very rocky, uneven and slippery. I wouldn't be able to tackle such a thing these days, much as I would like to !

[Ian]

This is one such forest, from around five thousand years ago. It's not alone, as there are quite a few dotted around the North Wales coast.

[Hugo]

Thanks for posting that link Ian,  I found it very interesting.   They have also found evidence just below the surface of Lafan Sands in Llanfairfechan proving that there were trees there many years ago