I’ve previously written a bit about the art gallery Mostyn but this was my first time actually going inside of the building to see one of the exhibitions. Lady Henrietta Augusta Mostyn, of the Llandudno land owning family, was a patron of the arts and an artist herself and lent her name and support to the creation of the gallery. The building was designed by G A Humphreys and officially opened in 1902.
There are many ways to travel around the Great Orme. On my last trip I ended up walking it a great deal. I’ve already written about going up to see the Pen-Y-Dinas Hillfort, but later that same day I walked down from the Botanical Gardens and along Marine Drive. I wasn’t particularly planning on going all the way round or to the top – the Drive is around four miles long and it was quite late in the afternoon when I started, but I decided just to wander for a bit and see what I found.
One of Llandudno’s most famous sites is of course its pier. Dating from 1878 this is not the original pier – the first was in 1836 by a group wanting to turn Llandudno into a harbour – the idea was defeated by parliament and they got a new railway line instead. Then a wooden pier was built in 1858 that was damaged a year later by a storm. Repairs were made and it stood for another 18 years until the Llandudno Pier company was given permission to build directly over the old pier which was then demolished once the new one was completed. It was, and still is, the longest pier in Wales.
I hadn’t particularly planned on walking up the Great Orme on this trip since I’d been up there before, but then found myself doing so on three different occasions. On this journey I simply decided I was still in a walking mood after being at the Happy Valley Botanical Gardens so I followed the road from the top of the gardens until I came across a trail going upwards and decided to see where it went. At it turned out it was to the site of the Pen-Y-Dinas Hillfort.
Happy Valley Botanical Gardens are tucked away at the side of the Great Orme just along from the pier. The land was that of a former quarry which was gifted to the town by Lord Mostyn in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. The quarry was turned into gardens with an open air theatre and miniature golf course which has since been turned back into gardens and a ski slope and toboggan run.
After exploring the castle we set off to walk around the grounds and gardens, using the free map we’d been given at the entrance to navigate. Since it was a very hot day and we were travelling with my elderly father we’d already decided that we wouldn’t do the whole three mile walk but concentrate on the nearest of the gardens to the castle and part of the woods.
Back in May we headed to Belvoir Castle in Grantham, Lincolnshire, for my birthday. Despite the fact that it’s only a half hour drive from Nottingham I hadn’t managed to visit until now.
Llandudno’s promenade is approximately two miles long and is a great place for a walk with historic buildings and hotels on one side and the sea and the sands on the other. I’d walked part of the promenade along the North Shore nearest the Pier on a previous trip but this time I also walked to near the end of the promenade as I went to visit a farm nearby (more of which next time).
The Llandudno Museum and Gallery is another place we missed out on visiting on our previous trip to the town so I made sure to explore it this time around. The museum has six permanent galleries that tell the history of Llandudno from its very earliest beginnings up to the modern day. Adult tickets are £6.
Nottingham Castle (re)reopened on 26th June after a controversial opening after COVID lockdowns with accusations of racism and bullying amongst the staff, unjustifiably high prices for entry and generally shambolic management. (I’ve written about this elsewhere so I won’t rehash that or the history of the castle – you can read some of that here when I visited after the first re-opening). Adult tickets now cost £12 for an annual pass which is far more reasonable for what you get. There is also now no charge for under-15s.
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