Three Towns Forum
The Local => Times Past => Topic started by: suepp on March 13, 2011, 05:32:01 pm
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Bear with me I'm in the process of extracting these from the Old Forum that Dave has kindly posted
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GOGARTH MANORThe medieval parish of Llandudno comprised three townships, each established on the lower slopes of the Great Orme. The township of Y Gogarth at the south-western\''corner'' of the Great Orme was latterly the smallest but it contained the the palace of the Bishop of Bangor.
The Manor of Gogarth (which included all three townships) had been bestowed on Anain, Bishop of Bangor by King Edward I in 1284, in recognition of services rendered to the crown, notably the baptism of the first English Prince of Wales, newly born at Caernarfon
The significant agricultural yet north facing township of Cyngreawdr includes the original parish church and rectory of St Tudno.
Following the Owain Glyndwr uprising, the villagers of the Creuddyn peninsular were harshly taxed and by 1507 they had nearly all fled their homes. Henceforth the cultivated land lay vacant, and is now grazed by sheep and goats.\
The third township was Yn Wyddfid clustered below the Iron Age hill fort of Pen-y-Dinas at the north eastern corner of the Great Orme. With the reopening of the copper mines from the 18th century onwards, this township grew considerably in size with the streets and cottages of the mining village laid out on the largely abandoned agricultural holdings
'THE GREAT ORME WELLS; Natural wells were greatly prized in limestone districts and the Great Orme was no exception. Water was required for copper mining purposes as well as for domestic and agricultural use. The following Great Orme wells are known and most still supply running water: FFYNNON LLYGAID - (Eye well) possibly one of the wells supplying the needs of the once populous Gogarth community before much of it was lost to coastal erosion.; FFYNNON GOGARTH - The main water source for Gogarth and in the later 18th and early 19th centuries the power source to operate the famous ''Tom &Gerry'' engine that, through a long series of Brammock rods, powered the mine water pumps at the higher shaft near the summit above Pyllau.; FFYNNON POWEL - One of the water supplies, together with Ffynnon Tudno and Ffynnon Rhufeinig serving the medieval farming community of Cyngreawdr; FFYNNON GALCHOG - This well, near Mynydd Isaf, to the north of Pen-y-Dinas, is a source of lime-rich water known for its petrifying qualities, it is one of two wells known to have been used in the washing of copper ores.; FFYNNON TUDNO - Situated beyond the road, near the north-east corner of St Tudnos church, Ffynnon Tudno was, together with Ffynnon Rhufeinig, a principal source of water for the community settled round the church; FFYNNON RHUFEINIG - (Roman well) It takes its name from the tradition that Roman copper miners used its waters to wash the copper ores mined nearby.; FFYNNON LLECH - A spring of water located in Ogof Llech, a cave on the headland very difficult to access and claimed to have been used as a hermitage by St Tudno; FFYNNON GASEG - (Mares well) This spring was revealed, at the side of the road, about half way round and near the highest point (and where it can still be seen just passed the''Rest & be thankful caf''), during the construction of the Marine Drive in the 19th century. It was thus ideally situated to refresh the horses on that five mile carrige drive round the base of the Great Orme
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The Feast of Saint Tudno is celebrated each year on 5th June. ''Y Gwylmabsant'' or the Patronal Festival was observed on the Great Orme on that date as late as 1813 (recorded in the Cambrian Travellers Guide of 1813 as reported in ''The Old Churches of Snowdoni\'' by Harold Hughes & Herbert North, 1924 reprinted 1984)
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Bear with me I'm in the process of extracting these from the Old Forum that Dave has kindly posted
&well&
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''Llety'r Filiast, loosely translated as ''lair of the female greyhound'', is the earliest known archeologically site on the Great Orme. It is a burial chamber used for collective burial during the Neolithic period between 3,500 and 2,500 BC. It is thought that the most important or prominent member of the community would have been buried here.
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The Feast of Saint Tudno is celebrated each year on 5th June.
Thanks for the snippet, suepp.
St. Tudno's Day is still celebrated at the church each year on 5 June. News of services will be posted on the parish website at:
http://www.llandudno-parish.org.uk/sttudno.html (http://www.llandudno-parish.org.uk/sttudno.html)
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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
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From one of Abel Heywood & Son’s Guide Books... ''Llandudno has a low general death rate, and a low infant mortality, and the good health normally enjoyed here testifies to its sanitation and salubrity. It has a water supply so pure that it has been described as “one of the softest waters in the world”
Also from Abel Heywood: ''Proceeding up the Happy Valley Road past the Grand Hotel, visitors will find the local authority has provided for their comfort a magnificent colonnade shelter which is 560 feet long and 14 feet deep. It is surmounted by a promenade deck, and will shelter thousands in case of necessity”
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The badge of the RAF was designed by Charles L Pepper of Gloddaeth Avenue. Even though the RAF say it is an Eagle Mr Pepper used a stuffed Albatross at the British museum as his model.
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Did you know there was a HMS Llandudno, a 656-ton Bangor-class minesweeper. It was built in 1941 by William Hamilton & Co. Capable of 16 knots and carried a crew of 60 men. The ship lived a relatively short life serving most the war in Iceland and the south coast of England before being sold by the Navy in 1947. After being Decommissioned by the navy in 1947 she was given the name Roverick and served in the merchant navy until she was scrapped in 1952.
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Llandudno's history of ship building totals 1 ship launched in 1863 and named the Sarah Lloyd after the wife of the last owner of the great orme mines. She was built to carry copper from the mines.
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The Winter Gardens opened on 25th March 1935 and was built by a coach operator Zach Brierley, as a dual purpose theatre/cinema. He employed local architect Arthur S. Hewitt to design this magnificent building. The exterior was quite austere, but inside was an Art Deco delight. Seating was provided for 1,079 in the stalls and 809 in the circle. The proscenium was 40 feet wide, the stage 30 feet deep and there were 14 dressing rooms. The Winter Gardens was equipped with a Christie 3Manual/8Rank organ and the building also contained a cafe and a dancehall. In December 1936, it was taken over by Oscar Deutsch's Odeon Theatres Ltd. chain and was re-named Odeon in 1943. On 13th October 1969 the Rank Organisation sold the Odeon to the independent Hutchinson circuit and it was re-named Astra Cinema. In the early 1970's it was operating in the Summer only (Llandudno being a seaside town), but organ concerts were regularly held in the theatre, organist H. Robinson Cleaver being one of its players. The Astra Cinema closed in October 1986 and in 1988 the Christie organ was removed from the building into storage for possible preservation. Unfortunately whilst in storage the instrument was destroyed. The Astra Cinema was soon demolished and housing, known as Ormside Grange, was built on the site.
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The Farman biplane piloted by Robert Loraine, landed safely about 100 yards from the club-house on Rhos-on-Sea Golf Course, Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno, on August 1 1910 and was the first airplane to land in Wales. Robert, aged 34, flew from Blackpool, and completed a record-breaking over-sea flight. (63 miles).
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The earliest 'named' resident of the Llandudno area was a female who resided in a cave on the Little Orme nearly 6,000 years ago. Her remains were discovered in 1891 by workers at the Little Orme quarry, and she was nicknamed 'Blodwen'. In 1996, J. Roberts, D.W. Shimwell and M.E. Robinson of the Palaeoecological Research Unit at Manchester University performed a scientific analysis of her skeleton and these are some of the findings from their report - "The bones are thought to be from a female who died between the ages of 54 and 63 years. Her death occurred around 3,510 B.C. She was approximately 5 feet tall and of a fairly robust build. Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, right knee and the rugged acromial ends of both her clavicles indicate that she had led a physically arduous life. More specifically, these features suggest that she was used to carrying heavy loads on her head and heavy weights with her arms extended by her sides. These heavy weights may have been water or milk containers. It is possible that she was suffering from, and perhaps died of metastatic (secondary) cancer which may have spread from a primary site in the breast."
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The Happy Valley, a former quarry, was the gift of Lord Mostyn to the town in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The area was landscaped and developed as gardens, two miniature golf courses, a putting green, a popular open air theatre and extensive lawns. The ceremonies connected with the Welsh National Eisteddfod were held there in 1896 and again in 1963. The popularity of the 'Happy Valley Entertainers' open air theatre having declined, the theatre closed in 1985 and likewise the two miniature golf courses closed and were converted in 1987 to create a 280 metre artificial ski slope and toboggan run. The gardens were extensively restored as part of the resort\\''s millennium celebrations and remain a major attraction.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Llandudno's first seafront hotel was the St George's. It was built in 1884.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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The stone circle in Happy Valley is relatively modern, having been constructed in 1963 for the Llandudno Eisteddfod.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Hornby Cave on the Great Orme is the scene of the shipwreck of the brig 'Hornby' in 1824, when all on board but one perished.
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A popular boat fishing venue off the Great Orme, is the area around Austen's Rock, a large, jagged, hazardous and menacing expanse of submerged limestone pavement, only visible at low water, and named after the first keeper of the Great Orme lighthouse.
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Two similar boulders, and a crescent shaped indentation in the boulder clay form one of the more unusual and well known boat fishing marks, 'The Frog's Head.' Bearing an amazing resemblance to the head of a frog, and sited on the precipitous grassy slopes below St Tudno's Church, it is visible only from seaward. It is said, usually by boatmen, that the frog's mouth always points upward during fine weather.
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Craig-y-Don was named by the Victorian landowner Thomas Peers Williams, after his own home and estate of Craig-y-don near Beaumaris on Anglesey.
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If you take the path above the grassy parking area above St Tudno's cemetery on the Great Orme, pass Ffynnon Rhufeinig on your left, eventually you will find 'The Free Trade Loaf' to your right. This is a large boulder which resembles an old fashioned loaf of bread. In Medieval times trade bargains were struck against this boulder. The boulder is a Glacial Erratic. During the last Ice-age, the area was covered with huge glaciers, which moved over time, very slowly. As they moved, they scooped up rock and debris, like giant bulldozers. Eventually, when the glaciers melted the rocks and debris were left in-place on the landscape.
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In July 1939, the 69th Medium Regiment of the Caernarfon & Denbigh Yeomandry was formed as a Territorial Army regiment based in the Argyll Road Drill Hall in Llandudno. By May 1940, after training in St Asaph, they had just arrived at Le Harvre and marched across half of Northern France to Coutrai in Belgium when they found themselves caught up in the massive evacuation of retreating Belgian troops. They soon found themselves subjected to intensive aerial fire and suffered their first casualities. In the retreat, this lightly armed artillery regiment (who after fighting for many days, until almost without ammunition, they, under orders, had destroyed their artillery) found themselves led into an ambush at the Flanders town of Wormhout. The ambush had been laid by the notorious Wilhelm Mohnke commandant of the S.S. Regiment Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Just a few reached nearby Dunkirk and were among the very last to be evacuated on the Isle of Man Steam Packet vessel 'Tynwald'. All the remainder (except one who lived to tell the tale) were shot or taken prisoner and then massacred by the Germans in a barn at Esquelbec. It was two days after the massacre that a burial party of Austrian soldiers discovered Gunner Parry still alive and took him to a field hospital manned by captured members of the Royal Medical Corps, which included Staff Sergeant Eric Fernhead (a Chemist from Llandudno) who recognised Gunner Parry and nursed him back to health. Only after they had both safely returned back to Llandudno did the world learn of the massacre at Esquelbec in Wormhout on 28th May 1940. Llandudno was formally twinned with Wormhout on 14th April 1989.
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The first Victorian Turkish Baths in Wales were in a house in Llandudno named Ty Aildro, built in 1864 by the Llandudno Turkish & General Bath Co Ltd. It had facilities for six bathers.
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St Tudno was a saint of the Celtic Church and belonged to that period of the British Church famed for missionary zeal. he was the son of a chieftain of considerable power and wealth, who lived early in the 6th century, and was sometimes called Seithenyn Feddw - Seithenyn the Drunken - associated with the legendary drowned city of Cardigan Bay.
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The Farman biplane piloted by Robert Loraine, landed safely about 100 yards from the club-house on Rhos-on-Sea Golf Course, Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno, on August 1 1910 and was the first airplane to land in Wales. Robert, aged 34, flew from Blackpool, and completed a record-breaking over-sea flight. (63 miles).
Here's a photo of the biplane on the golf course at Penrhyn Bay.
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If you take the path above the grassy parking area above St Tudno's cemetery on the Great Orme, pass Ffynnon Rhufeinig on your left, eventually you will find 'The Free Trade Loaf' to your right. This is a large boulder which resembles an old fashioned loaf of bread. In Medieval times trade bargains were struck against this boulder. The boulder is a Glacial Erratic. During the last Ice-age, the area was covered with huge glaciers, which moved over time, very slowly. As they moved, they scooped up rock and debris, like giant bulldozers. Eventually, when the glaciers melted the rocks and debris were left in-place on the landscape.
The Free Trade Loaf.
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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.
:)
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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.
:)
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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.
:)
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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!
Sandy Bay, Llandudno. S.A.
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Llandudno's first seafront hotel was the St George's. It was built in 1884.
1854 actually, by Isaiah Davies.
It's "remoteness" to any built up area was such that the deeds refer to the original plot of land which it was built on as being near to the village of Llandudno.
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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.
:)
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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!
There's a guy who lives in Llandudno called Bob, he's been in the Merchant Navy for years. He was telling me about the time he was in South Africa and on his way home the pub one night, he spotted the sign for Llandudno. He wanted a photo of him and the sign so he started to climb the post. The local police came by and puzzled they asked him what he was doing? He answered "going home." _))*
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Hornby Cave on the Great Orme is the scene of the shipwreck of the brig 'Hornby' in 1824, when all on board but one perished.
The Hornby, Captain Wade, which sailed from Liverpool on the 27th August for Rio de Janeiro, had been totally wrecked on the rocks of the Great Ormshead and only one person John Williams was saved. The individual so miraculously preserved states, that they were once so far down as far as Point Lynas another at Black Comb, and on Thursday morning at Puffins Island near Anglesea, where, after making a stretch forward to the northward, with the wind N.W or W.N.W
The Captain intended to keep an offing and to run to Liverpol in the morning. They did not think they were so near land until about 10 minutes before she struck. When they percieved it, they were standing in, with a close reefed main topsail, foresail and trysail. He (John Williams) was then ordered out to loose the jib to wear her: when finding himself over a shelf of a rock, he dropped upon it, and seeing no more of the vessel, nor hearing any noise, he supposed she had backed off, and did not know the vessel had gone to pieces till morning, by which time he had managed to reach the top of the cliff, where his story was for some time misbelieved, more from the impossibility they thought there was of his getting up the precipice, than from the way he mentioned being thrown upon a rock.
The cargo was valued at from fifty to sixty thousand pounds, very little of which has been saved:; even the little that has been cast ashore has for the most part been plundered by the country people, hundreds of them flocking to the coast, and carrying off all that could be found.
(Shrewsbury Chronicle, 23 January 1824)
Eight persons have been committed to Caernarfon county gaol, from the neighbourhood of Llandudno, charged with plundering from the wreck of the Hornby, lost on the Great Ormshead.
(shrewsbury Chronicle 5th March 1824)
William Davies of Bryn Llandudno, Charged with plundering the wreck of the Hornby on the 2nd of January 1824, twelve months imprisonment.
John Jones, John Jones, William Davies and John Griffiths charged with ditto, nine months hard labour.
John Roberts, Robert Jones, Owen Owens, Edward Jones and Griffith Griffiths, charged with ditto, six months hard labour.
William Roberts and Robert Williams charged with ditto, discharged on their recognizances of thirty pound each.
(Shrewsbury Chronicle 23rd April 1824)
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Powell's Well is one of the many springs rising on the Orme, and never seems to dry up. A local story tells how one day the spring rose from nowhere. After a family dispute, the Powell family were in great need of water, and went to pray at St Tudno''s church. On their return they found the spring!