Portmeirion, North Wales

I've now moved down to Portmeirion situated on a river estuary in the North East corner of the Cardigan Bay. This is the last Welsh post in this particular series and hopefully I have saved the best till last. For those who have never heard of this place before, these images will come as quite a surprise and this is more of a photographic post than a historical one.

I had planned to split the day in two with Beddgelert in the morning and Portmeirion in the afternoon but the amount of locations I covered in Beddgelert meant I was severely lacking in time here. I arrived at about 3pm with sufficient time to see the village in just over 2 hours, but I was disappointed to find that the entrance fee was half price at 3:30pm. The last time I was here was in 1991 and today the weather was such that it could rain at any time so I had to press on.

The village was designed by Sir Clough William - Ellis and constructed commenced in 1925, taking 50 years to complete the project.

It is thought that the design was based around the Italian village of Portofino in Italy but Sir Clough always denied this and insisted that the influence was generally meant to be Mediterranean.

On entering the site, the visitor is met by a china shop selling the famous Portmeirion brand at reduced prices.

Just around the corner, there was a chance to stop and admire the view across the adjacent river estuary that flows into the Cardigan Bay...

... before walking through the colourful unofficial entrance to the main complex.

Arrival in the square

Ice cream shop

Seat for one  ... or Architectural statement

Upstairs

There are  several buildings and walkways that the general public are not allowed to visit due to the area being allocated as self catering holiday cottages by a private company. Unfortunately this covered some of the best photographic locations.

Holiday destination !

A few images of the bold colours and unusual designs that blend into the village ...

Window

Pink Palace ... Out of bounds !!

Down on the beach !

A walk down onto the Beach gives a very commanding and picturesque view of the site ...

... with a hotel that was meant to be designed like a castle. The fictitious boat is made of stone and  incorporated into the sea wall as a children's play area !

Italian Architecture on the Welsh coast !

Sea View seats

Portmeirion has been used as a location for several films including a long running 1960's spy drama called The Prisoner. There is a small souvenir shop relating to the programme for ardent fans ... that remember it. Personally I haven't watched a complete episode yet !

Unpainted stone

Just before I leave there is an ideal opportunity to get a shot of the square from through a doorway

Oops, I strayed to the wrong side of it... I'd better be careful just in case the spy camera of the stony faced security guard is watching me or I might be captured and held as ... The Prisoner !!