Progress?

Litten Tree, Station Road, Colwyn Bay (Photo Credit)

The closure of the Litten Tree bar in Colwyn Bay's Station Road may actually mark something of a revival in the town's retail fortunes.

Far from it being reopened as yet another cheap booze bar with a new name, the premises are actually earmarked for conversion back into retail premises, specifically The Original Factory Shop. Readers with long memories will recall it was once a Tomms store, then a Poundstretcher back in the 1980/90s before conversion into a bar.

Even further back, in Colwyn Bay's heyday, it was a high class store called Daniel Allen & Sons (the name is still visible in brick on the rear roofline of the building from Station Square). Allen & Sons was founded in 1869 but did not move into their new Station Road premises until 1883. They sold 'the finest furniture, china & carpets' and, amongst other things, were the sole North Wales agents for Liberty's of London. Allens stayed in business until 1971 when, somewhat curiously, the Directors of the company decided that they could not longer provide their customers with the standard of merchandise they were happy to sell and called it a day.

Out & About

Blog postings have been a little light lately, I've been about and about enjoying the fabulous weather. Had a lovely walk on Sunday, covering the twin lakes of Crafnant & Geirionydd in the Conwy Valley. You can park at the Forestry Commission car park at either lake and use the connecting paths through the woods to make a complete circuit. Think it's about 5 miles in length and mostly on fairly easy paths/forest roads, with the exception of one section which is a rougher path (although still perfectly passable to the average person). There's also a cafe on the shores of Llyn Crafnant, which comes as a welcome sight.

Walk details:

http://www.walkingnorthwales.co.uk/home.php?/walk_details;id=1096

Couple of photos:

Llyn Geirionydd (Photo Credit)

Crimpiau, at the head of Llyn Crafnant (Photo Credit)

Abandoned Cottage at Llyn Crafnant (Photo Credit)

Lakeside Cafe at Llyn Crafnant (Photo Credit)

More information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_Crafnant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_Geirionydd

Summer

Summer in Llandudno, the 'Naples of the North':

Looking down at Llandudno Bay from the Great Orme (Photo Credit)

Gwrych Castle - Then & Now

Back in the 1950s, Gwrych Castle in Abergele was known as 'The Showplace of North Wales', a sort of early version of Alton Towers with a variety of small attractions within its grounds. It was a very successful attraction, in 1950 pulling in over 750,000 visitors to Abergele and attracting 10,000,000 in total during the years it was open. One of the best remembered attractions is the Miniature Railway - it ran from the Upper Courtyard to a Station situated deep in the Great Castle Wood.

I'd seen an old postcard showing the miniature steam engine 'Belle of New York' at the Upper Courtyard Station and thought I would try and recreate the shot from a modern day perspective. The concrete base of the stations remain but the rails themselves have long disappeared (the line of plants to the right in the modern day photo marks where the rails have been removed).

1950s Postcard:

(Photo Credit)

2010 Photo:

(Photo Credit)

Adventures in the Conwy Valley

I'd been meaning for a while to make the effort to visit an old friend of mine, Alison, who has taken over Ye Olde Bull Inn at Llanbedr Yr Cennin in the Conwy Valley. In case you're wondering how to get there, its simple. On the B5106 road between Conwy & Llanrwst, just take the turnoff next to the Bedol pub at Tal Y Bont and it's just up that road.

Ye Olde Bull Inn, Llanbedr Yr Cennin (Photo Credit)

Whilst I was there, Alison showed me a page from an old guidebook that stated "the Inn is thought to be the oldest in Great Britain and dates back to the early 11th century". This was news to me (the Groes Inn at Tyn Y Groes likes to boast of being the oldest in Wales), but the Olde Bull is certainly situated on an ancient Drovers route to Caernarfon, so it could well be true. Anyway, the pub is well worth a visit if you're in the area. They have a food menu for both lunchtimes and evenings, there's a large car park and Alison tells me that plans are afoot to create a larger beer garden in the extensive gardens at the rear of the pub that run down to the stream.

View from the Bull Inn Beer Garden (Photo Credit)

After having a drink and a chat, it was time to head off towards Rowen. I was walking along country lanes, very little traffic, so peaceful and plenty of time to take in the scenery. Presently, I arrived in Rowen and was surprised to find it a touch noisier than usual. Rounding the corner onto the main road through the village, I found the reason - the Three Castles Classic Car Rally was passing through the village as part of one of its stages. Well, no further excuse needed - I ordered a cold Guinness at the Ty Gwyn Inn and sat outside to watch the cars go past.

Ty Gwyn Inn, Rowen (Photo Credit)


A welcome sight on such a warm day! (Photo Credit)

Classic Car...but what is it? (Photo Credit)


Classic Triumph in the Three Castles Rally (Photo Credit)

Finally, it was time to head off my for final port of call, the Groes Inn at Tyn Y Groes. It turned out that this was all the classic cars were coming from, the car park was jammed full of classic cars of all makes and models. I noticed a lot of Austin Healeys, Triumphs and Porsches, in particular.

Groes Inn, Tyn Y Groes (Photo Credit)

Colourful Porsches wait for the off at the Groes Inn (Photo Credit)

So, a very pleasant walk on a beautiful sunny day, a few visits to pleasant country pubs and the chance to ogle at some classic automobiles. What more could any man want? ;-)