LLANDUDNO

LLANDUDNO, a photo by davidrobertsphotography on Flickr.

Once the word LLANDUDNO was picked out in colourful flowers visible to everyone that walks along the pier, now they are just filled with concrete - what a shame.

Queen's Gardens Fountain

Queen's Gardens Fountain, a photo by davidrobertsphotography on Flickr.

Very pleasing to see a powerful new fountain in Queen's Gardens, Colwyn Bay, a replacement for a rather feeble one that rarely worked due to vandalism. Well done to CCBC's Parks & Gardens Dept for getting this sorted out.

Next on their 'To Do' List - the Cascade water feature in Happy Valley, Llandudno....

All The World's A Stage...

A new blog post from Carneades has reminded me of one of my favourite bugbears in Llandudno - the fact that the Open Air Theatre in Happy Valley was not replaced as part of the Heritage Lottery funded renovations about 10 years ago. The Theatre had been entertaining the Summer visitors since the very inception of Llandudno as a seaside resort back in the 1860s, yet that proud tradition all came to an end in 1985, when Alex Munro became ill and the theatre was forced to close, eventually being damaged by fire in October 1987.

Open Air Theatre in its final years

Alex Munro entertains the Visitors at the Open Air Theatre

In the initial HLF Renovation plans, a new outdoor stage was clearly mentioned - to be sited where the old Open Air Theatre stood behind the Cafe:

(Click image to view Full Size version)

Yet, when the work was carried out, no stage materialised, just a rather odd looking semi-circular tarmaced area that has never been used for anything but the siting of a small childrens roundabout. Indeed, quite a bit of work went into removing every trace of the old Theatre, even to the extent of regrading the land levels completely to remove the terraced seating areas.

Similar view as the Postcard above today

Looking down at the site of the Open Air Theatre today

Of course, Happy Valley retains the natural beauty that has made it a favourite spot for visitors since those early days, but it has to be said that it feels a little lifeless now, even at the peak of the Summer season. Imagine how much better it would be with some live entertainment, be it the Llandudno Town Band, Local Amateur Musical Groups like the Trinity Players or Llandudno Musical Productions, maybe a Buskers' Stage...or even the revival of the Talent Competition. so beloved of Alex Munro. With the current enthusiasm for Talent Shows on tv, you'd have thought it would be a winner?

You'd have thought this sort of thing could be organised by Llandudno Town Council but, apparently, having endless meetings is all they are capable of doing. Maybe a new Friends of Happy Valley could get stuck into pressing for the construction of a new stage area and organising a few shows...?

A little sheepish...

Over the last few weeks, I've noticed a large group of sheep whenever I walk through Happy Valley park, Llandudno, probably 20 or more of them. Having cropped the grass to a fine trim, they have now started munching their way through the plant stock of the Rock Gardens.

Now, I see council gardeners working up there maybe once or twice a week but no-one seems to have done anything about removing the sheep. Whilst keeping the grass short is perfectly fine, destroying the hundreds of plants and shrubs in the gardens is not so desirable. - not to mention the trails of droppings they leave over all of the paths! Their backs are marked with a a 'J' - I assume they have come down off the Orme but can we hope that someone at CCBC will read this and take the initiative in returning them back home before all the plants are eaten and need replacing at great expense?

Happy Valley, Llandudno

One of my favourite spots in Llandudno is Happy Valley:

The Great Lawn at Happy Valley (Photo Credit)

Looking down at the lower part of Happy Valley (Photo Credit)

Situated on the lower slopes of the Great Orme overlooking Llandudno Bay, it was originally called Y Fach and contained a Limestone quarry. The quarry was where Elephants Cave is now, indeed the cave is mainly man-made as a result of the quarrying work. The lower area of Happy Valley (where the Great Lawn is now) was already in use for public entertainments by the late 1850s, as it was in 1855 that the daughter of a Mr. C. R. Hall first coined the phrase 'Happy Valley' to describe the area. At this time, Archery contests were the most favoured pursuit.

The Quarry was closed in 1887 by local landowner Lord Mostyn and the area was landscaped and then donated to the town to make the 50th Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign. Happy Valley was described as "a charming natural amphitheatre on the slopes of the Great Orme's Head, where a large concourse of pleasure seekers meet daily during the season".

The official opening was in August 1890 by the Third Baron Mostyn and Mr. Elias Jones, Chairman of the Llandudno Improvement Commissioners. The occasion was marked by the unveiling of the Drinking Fountain, which was been donated by Lady Augusta Mostyn:

Queen Victoria Drinking Fountain (Photo Credit)

By the 1930s, the rock gardens (developed at the rear part of the Happy Valley) had over 2,000 species of plants within them and have continued to be a major attraction in the town:

Rock Gardens in Happy Valley (Photo Credit)

Summer Flowers in the Rock Gardens at Happy Valley (Photo Credit)

There's also a series of carved Alice In Wonderland themed wood sculptures, created for the £500,000 Heritage Lottery Fund funded refurbishment of Happy Valley in 2000:

A grinning Cheshire Cat sculpture (Photo Credit)

Twin Thrones for the King & Queen of Hearts (Photo Credit)

A refreshing coffee or light meal is available during the warmer months from the Happy Valley Cafeteria. On a warm, sunny Summer afternoon, it's a great place to sit and relax:

Happy Valley Cafeteria (Photo Credit)

Looking across Happy Valley from the Cafeteria (Photo Credit)

Happy Valley also houses the lower Cable Car Station, a golf putting course, public toilets and is the main access up to Ski Llandudno ( a dry ski slope and toboggan run).

Llandudno Cable Car

The age old question...is it a Cabin Lift or is it a Cable Car? And just what is the difference anyway? The answer is...it's now officially a Cable Car! It started out life as the Llandudno Cabin Lift Co. Ltd in 1969 but changed its name to the Llandudno Cable Car Ltd in 1988. Nowadays, it's owned by Kinetics Industrial Ltd.

Start of the journey...the Happy Valley Station

Inside the Happy Valley Station

Looking down at the Happy Valley Station (Photo Credit)

Regardless of the answer, Llandudno's Cable Car is a fine attraction. Apparently, it's the Longest Aerial Cable Car in the United Kingdom, with the distance between the two stations at Happy Valley and the Great Orme Summit being 1 mile and 40 feet exactly (5,320 feet).

While we are dealing with the stats.....

• The Happy Valley Station is 135 feet above Sea level.
• The Summit Station is 651 feet above Sea level.
• There are 42 Cabins that travel at 600 feet per minute.
• There are 9 intermediate tapering steel trestles support the cable between the stations.
• The tallest trestle is 80 feet high with a base 5 feet 6 inches square - it weighs 15.3 tons.
• 675 tons of concrete were used for the foundations and the steelwork weighs over 100 tons.
• The longest span between the trestles is 1,023 feet.
• The Cabins reach a maximum height of 160 feet above ground.
• Each Cabin seats a maximum of 4 people
• Each Cabin takes 9 minutes to reach the Summit (or vice versa)
• Each Cabin is supported on an endless steel cable 2 miles long, weighing over 17 tons.
• The hourly capacity of the Cable Car is stated to be 500 persons.
• On an average day, each Cabin covers about 60 miles.
• The cable has a nominal breaking strain of 50 tons, the factor of safety is 5.2.
• The cabin lift is driven by a 100 h.p. slip ring electric induction motor at 1450 r.p.m.
• A 50 h.p. internal combustion stand-by engine is kept in readiness for bringing cabins into the stations in case of power failure.

Cable Car with the Pier in the background (Photo Credit)

Two of the cabins pass high over Llandudno

Built at a cost of £125,000 (the contractor was British Chairlifts Limited/British Ropeway Engineering Co. Ltd who had previously built the EXPO 67 Cabin Lift: Details here), it was the idea of a Uttoxeter businessman called Anthony Bagshaw who had previously been involved with the Alton Towers theme park (where a similar Cabin Lift had been installed in 1963). It was opened for business by Lord Mostyn on the 20th June 1969 (after a certain amount of local opposition in the Council Chamber to the 'new fangled' idea which was rejected outright the first time it was proposed). It was also fully renovated in 2006 following the sale of the business by Uttoxeter Investment Co. Ltd. The purchaser was a local man, Andrew Jones, of Pyllau Farm on the Great Orme, who says he used to tell people that one day he would own it. He was also one of the first passengers when it originally opened in 1969.

A Cabin passes over one of the Trestles Photo Credit

View over the route of the Cabin Lift

The current operating season runs from 19th March to the 31st October, and it opens from 10am to 5pm daily during that time (may close earlier at beginning and end of the season). It's worth remembering that it cannot operate in high winds for safety reasons. Current ticket prices (2010) are £6-50 single and £7-00 Return, with a discount for families.

Top of the Great Orme! The Summit Station

The 100hp electric motor that drives the Cable Car
with the backup 50hp diesel engine to the left

Comment: I think the Cable Car is a fantastic asset to Llandudno but....one thing I've always wondered about it is...why don't they operate variable pricing? To explain, the Cable Car is like an airplane flight in that its costs are fixed, regardless of how many people are on the plane. So, as with the airline, it's in the Cable Car's interest to make sure that every seat is taken, even if you're occasionally selling it for a reduced price.

A lot of the time, the Cable Car seems to operate almost half empty - why not try offering discount fares for the beginning/end of the season and, also, for the beginning/end of each day, bringing the fare down to, say, £2? As someone with an interest in economics, it would be fascinating to see how demand increased or decreased based upon alterations to pricing.

Happy Valley Entertainers - the Return?

Over on his blog, Carneades makes a well thought out plea for talented amateur youngsters in the local area to step forward and grasp the opportunity to hone their skills on the amateur stage with Llandudno's musical groups. Which got me thinking....

Wouldn't it be great to try and revive Llandudno's long tradition of outdoor entertainment in the Summer? After all, open air entertainment in the Happy Valley has been a feature of Llandudno since the resort was founded, with the first performances believed to have been by a Husband & Wife Minstrel team in 1873:

They were followed by such resident acts as Perry's Happy Valley Minstrels, The Happy Valley Entertainers, Charles Wade's Concorde Follies and The Great Waldini and his Gypsy Band.

Of course, the heyday of this entertainment was when Alex Munro had his daily afternoon show at the Happy Valley Entertainers open air theatre in the Happy Valley in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. In the 1970s, Alex was holding 3 shows daily, 7 days a week, for an 18 week season.That added up to over 116,000 people watching his show in a typical year.

Sadly, the Open Air Theatre seen in the above photos was left to rot after Alex Munro left and ended its days as a wreck after a serious fire in October 1987. It was later demolished and the area landscaped as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund's £500,000 grant to renovate the park in 2000. Interestingly, the original plans by Howard Price of Ashley Price Associates for the redeveloped area included a stage for outdoor performances but this never materialised.

How it was...the 1970s

How it is now...(Photo Credit)

Obviously, the site of the Open Air Theatre is no longer suitable for use and I'm certainly not suggesting that a return to the daily afternoon show is a possibility...but...maybe a show or two every year on a balmy weekend afternoon or evening in August? Set up deckchairs in a semi circle on the large lawn in front of the Happy Valley Cafe, organise a small stage behind the Queen Victoria Statue, round up some talented individuals from Llandudno Musical Productions or the Trinity Players and you might just be in business. It would be just like the old days...and I'm sure Alex Munro would approve wholeheartedly!

The Happy Valley Lawn, suitable for outdoor entertainment? (Photo Credit).

Why does the water not flow?

Up in the Happy Valley, Llandudno, there is a great water feature that flows down amongst the rock gardens. It starts off as a cascade at the top of the gardens, splashing down over the rocks into a small pond, then runs under a path, racing along a channel from pool to pool until it finally ends up in a larger pool. Or rather...it would if it worked. It's not worked properly this year:

The cascade (to rear of photo). Note absence of....water!

Local authorities never seem to be very good at doing water features (and keeping them working). Are there any water features in the local area that do work properly? Conwy Lancaster Square? Nope. Colwyn Bay Queen's Gardens? Nope. Colwyn Bay Eirias Park Rock Pools? Nope. Colwyn Bay Civic Centre Gardens Pool? Nope.

And Colwyn Bay residents may well remember the infamous Slate Water Sculpture that stood in the redesigned Station Square after the motorway was built. Installed at vast expense, it was basically a massive piece of slate that had water jets fitted in the top. Honestly, it looked pretty rubbish even when it worked. Not that it worked for long - it then sat for a year or two gathering leaves and graffiti until it disappeared one day and was never mentioned again!

Just remembered though, the millstone water feature in Old Colwyn Wynn Gardens does work! And it looks great. I wonder if Conwy Council can work some magic and get the others working again? Especially the one in Happy Valley please.....

'Mr Llandudno' Alex Munro

When thinking of Llandudno's long history of live entertainment, one name ranks higher than all the others - that of Alex Munro (seen here in a 1950's publicity shot):

At his peak, in the 1970s, he was running shows in three of Llandudno's theatres - he staged variety shows at the Pier Pavilion, orchestral concerts at the Pierhead Pavilion and his daily afternoon show at the Happy Valley Entertainers open air theatre in the Happy Valley. It's astonishing to think that his Open Air Show ran for 30 Summer seasons.

"Alex Munro presents his ‘Startime’ in the Pier Pavilion from May to October, each night of the week excepting Sunday. Each afternoon excepting Saturday he presents another show in Happy Valley, an open-air theatre on the slopes of the Great Orme. His face, its trilby aslant, is to be seen all over town; it shines from handbill and hoarding; it hangs by coloured string in chip shops and gift-shops; it decorates the rear panels of the showman’s own mini-bus strategically parked on the road above the Grand Hotel. It promises ‘George Cormack and Irene Sharp, Scotland’s International Singing Stars’, ‘Benny Garcia, Television’s Dynamic Entertainer, ‘Billy Crockett, the Mad Musician from London’s Albert Hall’. It vouchsafes ‘melodious melodies, glamorous girls, clean comedy’ but, above all, the abundant personality of the man who is both star and licensee." Sunday Times magazine article - September 22nd 1974.

Born as Alexander Horsburgh in Shettleston, Scotland on the 6th March 1911, he joined his brother Archie and sister June in an acrobatic act called The Star Trio. They later changed their name to The Horsburgh Brothers and Agnes and became part of Florrie Forde's music hall company with Flanagan and Allen.

During World War Two, Munro toured with the RAF show, Contact, and had his own BBC radio series 'The Size of It' (a title which was also his catchphrase). He appeared on the big screen in Holiday On The Buses (1973) and an early episode of Z Cars (1963). He headlined in a number of British variety theatres, before finally making his home in Llandudno. Besides his Open Air Show, he was given creative control of the Pier Pavilion Theatre by the Llandudno Pier Company in the 1970s and staged his popular variety shows there. In 1972, he staged the Pavilion's first ever Pantomime, 'Babes In The Wood'. Sadly, it was to be marred by tragedy - Alex's film star daughter, Janet Munro, who had been due to take a starring role in the production, was found dead at her London home several weeks before rehearsals were due to start. The show went on, of course, but it was a tremendous blow for Alex.

Alex carried on with his shows into the 1980s but the changing fortunes of the British seaside and the country's economic problems must have taken their toll on their popularity. Alex carried on regardless though, until 1985 when the onset of illness in the Autumn mean that it was to be his last Summer Season on 'Aberdeen Hill'.

“I’m the last of what you call the old-time real showmen – there’s not many left like me...don’t you think it’s a shame that, when I’m gone there’ll be no one left doing my type of show? A simple man with a simple show.” - Alex Munro

And, in the end, he was right. Alex Munro died on the 20th January 1986, aged 74. The Pier Pavilion's final show had taken place two years earlier. The orchestral concerts at the Pierhead Pavilion had by then long ceased and it had been converted into an amusement arcade. And the Open Air Theatre in Happy Valley, home for over 80 years to live shows, had become a vandalised wreck. It was finally demolished a few years later and the area landscaped. It really was the end of an era.

Isn't it about time the town marked Alex Munro's contribution to its fortunes? Surely a simple memorial plaque on the site of the Happy Valley Theatre is the least we can do?

If you spot an error, please let me know, and I will update this article.

Credit Where It's Due

I took the camera with me for a wander through Happy Valley park in Llandudno today. The results are below. Credit has to be given to the gardeners who take care of the Happy Valley - they do a fantastic job:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/3774643099/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/3775299012/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/3774646901/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davellandudno/3774650643/