Three Towns Forum
The Local => Three Towns Blog => Topic started by: thaithyme on June 03, 2019, 05:38:16 am
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PHOTO OF Colwyn BEACH 1943 the tram would come over the little Orme and run around Colwyn beach on it's way to Colwyn
Reg
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Nice pic ... but that's Conway (or Conwy as it is now)!
... and isn't it a shame they built the new bridge to block the view of the old one?
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Thank you for your answer, I have a Question to ask.
Dose any one remember a WW2 sea mine being washed up on Conway beach , I can remember seeing it on the beach when on the Llandudno to Conway tram around 1943/4. I was about 7/8 years old then, and terrified every time I looked out of the tram window and saw it. It looked like a very large metal ball with many spikes sticking out of it. I can recall it as if it was yesterday.
Reg
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I remember seeing an old mine being used as a collection box for the Shipwrecked Mariners Society (possibly in Rhyl near the entrance to the open air swimming pool (brrrrr) or the old pier).
Apparently the Admiralty gave 200 to the Society after the war of which there are only 60 left.
More info here....
https://shipwreckedmariners.org.uk/news-and-events/mine-mine-challenge/
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There is more information about the mines on this site....open it up and scroll down to 30 Jan (1943)...
https://homefrontmuseum.wordpress.com/tag/second-world-war/
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Thanks for posting those links Rhuddlan, i found them very interesting. As far as I remember the tram went from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay and the only place I can think of that had a mine on display and that you were able to see it from the tram would be Rhos on Sea.
The tram did go as far as Old Colwyn at one time but when I went on the tram it only went as far Colwyn Bay
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I found this site which has some good photos:
http://www.swissitalianpaddlesteamers.com/lcbtramsoc/home.html (http://www.swissitalianpaddlesteamers.com/lcbtramsoc/home.html)
http://www.swissitalianpaddlesteamers.com/lcbtramsoc/photos56.html (http://www.swissitalianpaddlesteamers.com/lcbtramsoc/photos56.html)
Helig
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I'll add Helig's and rhuddlan's links to our links page.
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I had to satisfy my curiosity about the "rhyl mine" and found a pic in one of my old books of the old outdoor swimming pool. It should be attached. The mine is in the top right hand side of the photo and for those interested in Piers it shows the remains of the old pier which finally was dismantled in the 70's
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Thank you Hugo, Helig, Ian, DVT, & Rhuddlan for Your wonderful response . I love the info about the Trams together with your info about the Rhyl mine. I shall have to go through this and try and remember any further info , From what I remember the mine was about 150 yards from the tram track & some 100 yards from the sea don't know if this was full tide, or low tide, I do recall that the bottom of the mine was imbedded in the sand due to sand being washed around it as the tide came in and out. We would have passed it about 10 times, never saw any person
near it. and no passenger ever passed comment .
Reg
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Hello thaithyme, I've attached some photos of the tram to bring those memories flooding back. There were 3 different trams, the double decker and the single decker and also the open topped single decker tram which may have been called the Toast Rack
My last memory of the tram was when I went across the Bodafon Fields in a Toast Rack and the noise that the tram made when it went along the rails
1st photo is of the Toast Rack in Colwyn Bay by St Paul's Church
2nd photo is of the tram leaving Rhos promenade (notice Rhos pier in the background )
3rd photo is of the tram by Rhos on Sea golf Club, the road was owned by the tram company and was unmade as was Glan Y Mor Road in Penrhyn Bay
4th photo is of car No 3 coming across Bodafon Fields and there is another car in the background in the loop waiting to for car 3
5th photo is of the tram in Mostyn Street by Marks and Spencers
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Hi Hugo.
Thank you for these photos, They indeed prompted my memory but I am not 100% sure of the facts.
I would meet my mother after school and we would take cakes and a flask of coffee and have it some ware on the Great Orme. To get there we took tram which took us up the steep hill to a half way point. Now this tram had water tanks under the tram floor, there was two trams one would be at the bottom and the other at the top the 2 trams must have been coupled some how the tram at the top would fill its tanks with (I think ) waste water the tram at the bottom would drain its tanks this would course the tram at the top to be heavier than the bottom tram thus it would be pulled up The two trams each had a man that controlled the brakes.
I cannot find any info on this on the internet then again I do not know what these trams are called .
I could be on the wrong track, but came remember watching the water being flushed out at the bottom and topped up at the top,
Reg
Dose anyone remember this .,
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Hi
I think those devices were called hydraulic funiculars but I thought the Gt Orme tramway is/was cable based(indeed you can see it exposed at road level) .Here is a youtube clip of the Gt Orme tramway
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2yi_EWQ5YQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2yi_EWQ5YQ)
As a child I was taken on several funiculars, Bridgenorth and Lynmouth to name just two. I did find a youtube clip which might jog you memory ..you can see the water going in to propel it downwards.,,but that is Folkestone way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=rGAr6EY00JE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=rGAr6EY00JE)
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Hi again,
I thought I would add a youyube clip of the tramway that went from Colwyn Bay to Llandudno to see if that brings back some memories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Yn7YYlC2g (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5Yn7YYlC2g)
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I see the car driving was far worse then than now, if that's possible. Wonder if it's worth starting a topic specifically devoted to you tube clips of the three towns?
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Thanks Rhuddlan, I enjoyed the youtube film . Brought back many happy memories.
Pity They could not keep the trams going a few more years I am sure parts would have been preserved and today have been a big tourist attraction.
If I remember correctly the council had a lot to do with closing it down instead of helping the company. Complaining about the state of the roads/track. Like most councils as short sighted then as now.
Its the same all over the UK. When you see the Mull and Iona Ferry Committee report into the state of our pier at Craignure you wonder how the Chief Executive sleeps at night, only a matter of time before there is a serious accident. These people seem to be teflon coated.
Thats my rant over for this morning. Have a nice day everyone.
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Here are a couple of recent photos of the tram going up the Great Orme and it had just left the tram station on it's way to the half way station that you mentioned.
Passengers then get off that tram and catch the other one that goes to the summit. There is a cafe and shop there now but when I first went up there when I was a young boy, Randolph Turpin the boxer owned the place.
Now if you are referring to the mine then the only place that you would have seen it was either at the start of the journey or by the summit cafe but I have no lasting memory of seeing a mine there but others may remember better than me.
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Pity They could not keep the trams going a few more years I am sure parts would have been preserved and today have been a big tourist attraction.
Maintaining the service for the sections where track crossed the fields and had its own reserved stretch - such as down the hill as it left Llandudno would have been possible, but the sections along roads might have been problematic. However, I always wondered why Mostyn Estates didn't opt to lay track along the prom and down Gloddaeth Ave to West shore. It would have left plenty of room for the polluting traffic and been a great little tourist attraction in its own right.
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This article has a little bit about mines washed ashore on N Wales beaches during World War 2
https://homefrontmuseum.wordpress.com/tag/llandudno/
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Whatever method of transport took you to Conwy all those years ago, you would have gone across the old suspension bridge as the other road bridge wasn't built until much later.
From there you may have been able to see the quay and possibly this mine, assuming that it was there at the time. The first photo shows the mine but there are other photos of Conwy that you may enjoy looking at.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/52959720/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/52959720/)
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Hi Hugo, Ian, Mull & Rhuddlan.
I thank you for your enthusiasm I have spent the last few days going through my memory bank
(1) The Mine on the beach was round seemed to be very rusty in colour , it did have combe shaped spikes all around it.
(2) Regarding the water counterbalance Tram, I have found an old letter inviting our family to visit am aunt in Aberystwyth for a few days. I cannot remember much about our stay but now I cam recall a ride on the Cliff railway. and the water gushing from the tram at the bottom So this memory had nothing to do with the Great Orme Tramway.
I now recall the lower station and getting off at the half way point with my mother, She would bring a flask of coffee and cakes with her. I do recall we would sit on a seat which overlooked Llandudno .
I attended a pre school on the ( I think) East shore , do remember getting a double decker Tram to and from this school, one thing I remember well was getting off the tram wile the tram was going , and got off facing the way it had come from thus falling flat on my face this taught me a lesson that even to day I remember.
I am still going through your posts and enjoying every one of them.
Reg