A matter of convenience....

St. Tudno's Church, Great Orme, Llandudno (Photo Credit)

It may not be the prettiest building in the world, but if you're out walking on the Great Orme headland in Llandudno and have been 'caught short', then the public toilet block by St. Tudno's Church (just out of sight to the left in the above photo) has always been a welcome sight. Similarly, worshippers at St. Tudnos and visitors to the graveyards have also made regular use of the facility.

Unfortunately, cutbacks by Conwy Council have meant that the Toilets at St Tudnos (along with many others in the County) are scheduled for closure, unless another organisation can be found to take over their management. Personally, I'd cut back on the penpushers in Bodlondeb and keep all the public toilets open but that's another story...

Anyway, Conwy Council recently published their Appraisal of Public Toilets here and I was interested to see that, true to form, they have made an error in the Methodology that has resulted in the St Tudnos Toilets being given a low ranking in importance for being kept open.

Page 56 of the document lists Footfall (usage) for the various Toilets in the County. St Tudnos (or Great Orme Cemetary to give it its correct title) is allocated a usage of 0 visitors per year. Why? Because:

"0 assumed in absence of recorded data; however anecdotal evidence suggests that very little footfall traffic exists at public conveniences within a cemetery."

So, not only did they not bother to actually record how many people used it, they also assumed no-one used it because it was 'within a cemetery'. As we all know, this is incorrect, its actually on a public road near to a small car park outside the Church/cemetery and is well used by both worshippers at St Tudnos and ramblers/visitors to the Great Orme.

The Public Toilets at St. Tudno's

I understand that, following representations from the Parish of Llandudno, a Working Party has been set up by Llandudno Town Council to look at the problem. Let's hope that the Town Council overcome their usual timidity and seize this opportunity to maintain a very valuable public service. While they're about it, how about reopening the Public Toilets on Happy Valley Road (opposite the Grand Hotel) that have been closed for a couple of years?

"Sponsor A Slate" at St Tudno's Church

St. Tudno's Church, Great Orme, Llandudno (Photo Credit)

In the sixth century the Celtic monk Tudno (pronounced “Tidno”) left the monastery of Bangor Is Coed and brought the message of Christianity to the people living on the Great Orme and farming the windswept hillside. God has been worshipped at this site ever since St. Tudno’s time and St. Tudno’s Day is celebrated on 5th June. Nothing remains of St. Tudno’s original church but it is likely to have been a small, wooden building with a few dwellings nearby and all surrounded by an enclosure – a typical Welsh llan. The present church was built in stone in the 12th century in the Celtic style of a double square but was enlarged to its present size in the 15th century, after which there was probably little change to the building until a severe storm destroyed part of the roof in 1839. In 1855, the ancient church was re-roofed and restored thanks to the generosity of one benefactor, Mr. William Henry Reece.

Time and the exposed position of the church have taken their toll and St. Tudno's Church once again needs to be re-roofed. It is estimated that 1000 new slates will be required and there is an exciting opportunity for anyone to be a benefactor by sponsoring a slate. Sponsor-a-Slate is being organised by the Friends of St. Tudno's Church and was launched at the Friends' Fair on the 5th September 2009. For £10.00 you can sponsor a slate and have your name, or that of someone whom you would like to remember, engraved on a slate when the roof is repaired.

The names will be engraved on the under sides of the slates, and so protected from the weather, but whenever a future generation repairs the roof the names will be clear to see. All sponsors are invited to enter their names, and any messages, on the application form which will become part of the parish archive and will thus be a more accessible record of contributors.

More information on this very worthy project is available here.

Historical information courtesy Parish of Llandudno

Curious Case of Beatrice Blore-Browne

One of the most interesting gravestones in St Tudnos Church on the Great Orme in Llandudno is this one:

Photo Credit

It is the grave of Beatrice Blore Browne - born September 26th 1887 at Middlesboro, Yorkshire, died November 23rd 1921 at Delamere, Penmaenmawr (age 34).

For a long time, mystery surrounded both her life & death; it was believed that she was a racing driver who died in a car crash but the recent appearance of her death certificate reveals that she actually died from cancer. Her inscription concludes with 'She feared naught but God'.

Beatrice was certainly a unique woman - she drove a 10hp Singer car up Old Road on the Great Orme in, I think, 1911 - a daring feat which resulted in a lot of press attention, there are photos of her driving the car and reports of onlookers watching with 'bated breath' as to whether she would make it or not. I think it was this event that drew the attention of the man that later became her husband, a George Wilkins Browne.

He was another unique character - a racing driver who had held the land speed record at Brooklands (110mph I think?) for about 2 years. By 1914, he lived at 'Sunnyside' on Curzon Road, Craig Y Don, and was the manager of the Llandudno Automobile Touring Company which had a garage on Mostyn Broadway. He was renowned for being ruthless in business and there is a long history of lawsuits he brought against various people in the local area. By 1920, he had become Managing Director of Silver Motors Limited. In later years, he also became a councillor on Llandudno UDC.

In December 1920, he became the first person to drive a car both up and down Snowdon. He drove up and down the railway track in an Angus Sanderson 14hp car. This event was filmed for cinema audiences. The ascent took 1 hour 22 mins, the descent 1 hour 5 mins. He was accompanied by two of the staff from Silver Motors Ltd.

In 1920, she changed her name from Beatrice Blore to Beatrice Blore-Browne and was living at a house called Bodeon in Cadnant Park, Conwy. Her death, on the November 23rd 1921 at the early age of 34, cannot have come as a surprise as she had been suffering from cancer for the previous two years. Her unique gravestone has kept her memory alive, a reminder of a woman keen to push the boundaries of what it was considered acceptable for women to do.

Note: I am keen to find a photo of Beatrice to add to this article; if you happen to have one then please get in touch!

'Professor' Walter Beaumont

'Professor' Walter Beaumont was a professional diver, he gave regular diving exhibitions from the pierhead in Llandudno.

Born in 1856 in Bromley By Bow, he had already saved 7 lives by the age of 12. He became a professional diver and, whilst on tour, he created the World Record for remaining underwater in a tank - 4 minutes 35 seconds!

He settled in Llandudno in 1895, performing diving exhibitions at the Pierhead from 1895 to 1904 (for which he received 'substantial fees'), as well as completing several World tours.

One of his specialities was the 'Handcuff Dive', in which he would dive into the water with his hands firmly handcuffed behind his back with Police handcuffs, only to emerge from the water seconds later with his hands free. His 'Fire Dive' was also famous; he would be bundled into a sack that was sprayed with inflammable liquid, set alight and then dive into the sea - an enthralling sight when performed at dusk! From 1895 to 1909, he also gave spectacular underwater displays in a glass sided tank in the Eqyptian Hall (part of the Pier Pavilion building's basement).

By May 1903, he had saved over 120 lives and was rewarded by a Banquet given in his honour at the Prince of Wales Hotel by Llandudno Council, who presented him with an Illuminated Scroll and gold watch chain.

He was also Licencee of the Kings Head pub from 1898-1910 - unfortunately, he was not a businessman and bankruptcy proceedings were eventually brought against him in 1910 by the brewers Ind Coope. His debts amounted to £596 and the insolvency hearing cannot have come as a surprise, as it was revealed that '"he kept no books or accounts and had been aware of his insolvency for six or seven years"! Mr Beaumont blamed his insolvency on the sickness of himself, his son and daughter. There was much laughter in the Court when he revealed that he indulged in betting on horse-racing occasionally but only only bet large sums 'when the horse told him it was going to win'.

At the time of his death in 1924, Walter was living a relatively quiet life as the Licencee of the Ferry Hotel in Tal-Y-Cafn. At this time, he owned a small pleasure craft used for trips on the River Conwy. It's believed that the boat ran into difficulties on the river and Walter made sure that everyone got to dry land safely. In doing so, he spent far too long in the cold water for a man of his advancing years and the resulting chill he caught eventually resulted in his death at the age of 69

His daughter Alice, who joined the act when she was only 6, married Belgian violinist Henri Verbrughen, from the Pier Orchestra. On 16 May 1964, their daughter Gabriel Woodward, of Las Vegas, returned to Llandudno aboard the luxury cruise liner Kungsholm, for a 6 month holiday with her aunt, Maud Deacon at St Margaret's Drive, Craig Y Don, Llandudno.

His son, Walter Jones Beaumont, became a well known and successful Criminal Lawyer in Canada, eventually dying in 1960.

Walter is buried in St. Tudno's Church, Great Orme, Llandudno.

Does anyone have a photo of the man himself that I can add to this post or any further information?