out and about - 2014
04 April 2014 .............. Llandudno and Great Orme
Great Orme dominates the skyline when you look eastwards from around the Penmon and Puffin Island area on Anglesey, and I have often wondered what it was like.
I had to go over to the Glan Conwy area to visit Mr Rubberman, so I took the opportunity to go visit Llandudno and Great Orme.
This is looking along the beach towards Llandudno and Great Orme from along at the other end of The Parade.
Turn around, and this is looking in the other direction at Little Orme.
I found the whole area a fascinating place - I had expected Llandudno to be a very touristy place, I didn`t expect it to be a major retail centre, with large retail parks right inside the town.
I didn`t take any pictures of the retail centres, but the older Llandudno is really quite attractive - I don`t think it has the very long history of nearby Conwy - but here are a few pictures looking in various directions from the roundabout at the north west end, just below Great Orme.
And of course, like any self-respecting seaside town, it has a pier -
This end of the town is just below the south end of Great Orme, so I headed off up the road to the summit.
What a hill !
I have no idea what the gradient is - 1 in 3 perhaps - but it felt like 1 in 1.
On and on it goes, up and up and up and up - after a while the road gets joined by a mountain climbing tramway, but none passed me.
Eventually I got to Half Way Station, and the road flattens out a bit.
Just up from the station, there is an old mine you can look down on - or go visit if you want.
Then it is more climbing up and up, till eventually you get to the summit.
Oh dear - the Half Way Station is built in stone and slate, and is reasonably compatible with its environment.
But the buildings on the summit seem to have been to built to stand out as much as possible, and they certainly succeed in that, they are just so out of place.
There is quite a good view out in most directions - you can look across to the main coastline across to Penmaenmawr and Dwygyfylch and the foothills of the Carneddau.
Looking east down the line of the cable car over the top of Little Orme, and on to the north east corner of Wales.
Looking north and west across the rest of the Great Orme, and across to Anglesey, and up to Point Lynas.
To the west, and you see a long stretch of the south east corner of Anglesey and Puffin Island.
Looking down on the cemetery on the north side -
The summit of Great Orme would be a nice place to be if it wasn`t for the road - and the car park - and the busses - and the buildings - and the tramway - and the cable car - and does it really need a crazy golf course ?
Time to go back down - and the journey down the steep bits is a bit nerve-wracking on a bike - but I got there in one piece.
Now to try the road right round the peninsula - here is the start of it - it starts off going uphill, and goes on going uphill right up to the top end.
Up the road a bit, and there are some undercuts at the base of the cliffs - is it evidence of a higher sea level a long time ago ?
A bit further up, and there were several people climbing on bolts - I am afraid I am totally opposed to any kind of bolting on natural cliffs.
If people haven`t got the skills or bottle to climb a face without bolts, then they should go somewhere else that is in line with their capabilities.
If they want a safe and sterile climbing experience they should go to a climbing wall.
Leave the cliffs for climbers that have the skills to match the grade.
The road continues to climb way above the sea cliffs far below -
Looking back down reveals more cliffs far below - it looks like Great Orme would be a good place for a sea kayaking trip.
The road up the hill up the north side of Great Orme is more spectacular than the run back down the south side, but just a wee bit down, and you get a better view down the North Wales coastline than from up on the summit, which is further southeast.
Away in the distance you can now see what I think is Bwlch Mawr and Gyrn Goch / Gyrn Ddu away down the Lleyn Peninsula.
I have already mentioned the possible potential for Great Orme as a sea kayaking trip, but Llandudno also has places of interest to white water paddlers as well - after a run or two down the more extreme bits of water around the area in your Spud, you can pop into Llandudno and have your tea.
website design by ron-t
website hosting by freevirtualservers.com
© 2024 Ron Turner
