A Railway Ramble: Bangor to Llanfairpwll
6 people attending
14 places left
This is one of a series of walks taking advantage of the main and narrow gauge trains of Wales, most of which are incredibly scenic.
On this walk we will use the service of the Holyhead to Chester main line to return to the start. We join the train at the town with the longest name in Europe and the second longest in the world. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Naturally you will want the obligatory selfie under the station name sign!
Before that frivolous moment the walk actually passes some very interesting scenery along the Menai straights, not least the iconic suspension bridge built by Thomas Telford; and we will cross it too. The walk initially climbs to a viewpoint looking over the town, Bangor Cathedral, the site of which which dates by to the 6C, the old University buildings and in the distance the town of Beaumaris on Yns Mon. Crossing the golf course there are some lovely mountain views. Continuing our jouney we discover the old port area which had a role to play in WW2, and then out onto Bangor Pier, to view the 'Straights. (50p Admission charge - pls bring cash). Our walk then follows the Wales coast path along a lovely tree lined stretch with the Menai Straights just below. After this we cross the famous bridge and then follow the main road to LlanfairPwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
This walk is part tarmac and part trails with many uneven steps, and which may also be muddy if it rains. We will need to keep up a reasonable pace as we have a train to catch.
Some background info derived from Wikipedia:
LlanfairPG
The long name was supposedly contrived in 1869 as an early publicity stunt to give the station the longest name of any railway station in Britain. According to Sir John Morris-Jones the name was created by a local tailor, whose name he did not confide, letting the secret die with him. Literally translated, the long form of the name means: "[The] church of [St.] Mary (Llanfair) [of the] pool (pwll) of the white hazels (gwyn gyll) near to [lit. "over against"] (go ger) the fierce whirlpool (y chwyrn drobwll) [and] the church of [St.] Tysilio (Llantysilio) of the red cave (gogo[f] goch)". Various elements have occasionally been translated differently. In September 2015, Channel 4 News weatherman Liam Dutton went viral around the world after accurately pronouncing the name of the town in one of his weather reports. In 2024 Volkswagen used the difficult name of the village in a TV commercial as an example to show the functions of the inbuilt navigation system's AI and speech recognition.
The Bridges:
In 1826, Anglesey was connected to the rest of Wales by the construction of the Menai Suspension Bridge by Thomas Telford, and connected with London in 1850 with the building of the Britannia Bridge and the busy North Wales Coast railway line, which connected the rest of Great Britain to the ferry port of Holyhead. Unfortunatley A fire in May 1970 caused extensive and irreparable damage to the original Britannia Bridge. The modern bridge was rebuilt in a quite different configuration, reusing the piers while employing new arches to support not one but two decks, as the new Britannia Bridge was to function as a combined road-and-rail bridge, opening fully in 1980.
All photos: AndyM, event leader.
Bad Weather This event may be altered or cancelled if persistent heavy rain is forecast - you will be notified by at least 18:00 hours the night before in this case
Shorter day? New Member? Fancy coming along to try out the group but want to go home early? This is a perfect event for new members and as we are walking through a town, you can head back whenever, just be sure to let the leader know so we are not wondering where you are!
Dogs are welcome to join us on this event but please note his walk goes through busy streets and your dog needs to be well behaved and on a lead, and it must not affect other member's enjoyment of the event. Your dog needs to have the stamina to keep up with the group. Some cafes etc for drinks may not welcome dogs.
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https://www.outdoorlads.com/my-first-event
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