A bit more of Llandudno

There comes a time in many ways, both public and private, that one feels a reluctance to move on to another part of the journey. This is one of those moments as I reflect on one of the few good summer moments. For those of you who know Llandudno, you will realise that I have omitted some major subject material in these three posts but it represents a snapshot of this short week. I mentioned earlier that I was here last year and will return in sequence to cover these topics at a later date.

(On a side note, I meant to publish this two weeks ago but firstly due to the lack of time as life has become difficult once again and secondly blogger being very annoying, it took some time to publish by eventually having to copy and paste it onto a new page. This is the fourth time some of this draft has been written as it either wouldn't save or in the format that I wanted ... one of the reasons why the text is so minimal in places.)

The Promenade and sea front hotels

Looking east to The Little Orme

Adding a bit of colour

The Road train doubling as an elongated novelty bus takes passengers to the west shore while the Punch and Judy show has survived three generations on the seafront using the original puppets.

Time to leave the coast behind for the moment ....

Casting a shadow

Hotel anyone ?? ! ... if you dare ...

Like so many large hotels in British seaside towns, Clarence Hotel was one of a great number sharing a small slice of the holiday market in Llandudno. The owners had unfortunately refused to believe that people are living in the 21st century and because it worked well in its early years and say for example 1970, it was going to work well the following year and the year after that. Despite being built at a time when people were desperate to come here, under-investment and the arrival of the holiday coach party trip is always a sign that things are not going well for the business. The reduced amount of money that a hotel takes from the holiday coach industry usually leads to a decline in general repairs of the second rate hotels and subsequently poor Tripadvisor reviews. At this point, the trade of individual customers disappears whilst there is now no choice but to continue with a fight to the death with what little holiday coach business there is available. In this particular instance it is unfortunate that Clarence Hotel is on a main road without a sea view and a car park for that matter.

In this particular case, the premises were sold in 2001 and the baton was passed to another interested party to participate in being tempted by the hotel business carrot. However, colourful stories and red tape hindered their attempts to make a success of the business...

Part of the ground floor was separated off into three retail catering units, one of which lacked planning permission and the other two had illegal immigrant workforce issues. A raid by the appropriate authorities found one person living in a chest freezer. The owner submitted a plan to convert the hotel into apartments with a few ground floor shops but the application was turned down by the local council stating that it had to remain as a hotel. This might seem a bit interesting and yet strange to blog readers of my previous post as it stands not quite opposite the recycled Palladium, JD Wetherspoon.

If anyone can revive the fortunes of this hotel, it's the budget Travelodge chain ! When visiting a destination, it's the only accommodation that some people think is available including some of my work colleagues ... haha.

If the company continue with their plans to renovate the building, it could cost them well over £1 million to refurbish with the potential of bringing new business to the area.

Mostyn Street, Llandudno

... and The Great Orme

Welsh Baptist Tabernacle 1875 / Llandudno heritage centre 2007.

The Tourist information service is now located in the library but I was so awe struck with the scene in the reception area that greeted my arrival that I forgot it was there.

Mosaic tiles on the floor

The chef that greeted me on my arrival to The London pub for food twice during the week.

Big dessert !!

Being watched !

... and I'll have something more than a coffee !

So as the local residents check out my litter and the sun finally goes down on this  North Wales trip ...

... it is time to say goodbye to the land of the red dragon for the moment no matter how alternative it can be  ...

Llandudno, 5 min walk to a seafront hotel ... and a Welsh prequel !!

With such a back log of photographic images, it was a bit difficult to know which town or city to recommence seriously this blog with. Despite having more conventional material up my sleeve from this particular town back in October 2011, I was a slightly reluctant to start with this teasing set. There are a couple of reasons for showing these images now, one of which highlights the very latest journey from the 9th - 13th June thus continuing with my biographical theme.

Before my Mother took ill around Christmas time, she had a coach holiday booked for the North Wales seaside resort of Llandudno with her friend. In an effort to get things stable and for me to fulfil holiday plans earlier in the year, the idea of 5 days away for her was initially out of the question and the issue was sidelined until her friend gave me a cancellation / final payment deadline date for the end of April. With the way that my holidays have to be requested at work, it was by an amazing chance that I had this particular week off work. A conversation with the Social worker and the Pharmacist cemented my idea that I should also join them in some capacity as the medication dispenser. Unfortunately as time was slipping by, so too was the appropriate room in the hotel for my needs although I was guaranteed  access to the hotel for the required health issues. On one hand that meant essentially that there were no places on the coach as I wasn't going to be staying at the chosen hotel but it gave me the freedom to take my car in case anything went wrong. I was fortunate enough to find accommodation in a nearby street.

2nd last passenger pick up point ... familiarising myself with the coach !!

I have done all sorts of weird and wonderful travel holidays and excursions in my time but chasing a coach for hours on end is right up there with the weirdest and I hasten to say ... a first for me !! Although I was very familiar with the route, I was less familiar with the location of the final motorway service station on the outward journey and the bus only routes at both these and the passenger pick up points.
Chris Cooper Travel is a coach company local to my Mother who provide great value holidays to destinations throughout the UK.

After the third and last motorway stop, I overtook the coach on the final leg to find a car parking space and meet the coach on arrival which worked perfectly.

Alvastrada Guest House, Llandudno

My first experience of Llandudno and indeed Wales was when I stayed in a holiday flat with my parents next door to Alvastrada. We travelled by train and with the railway station being around two corners, the location was ideal. My love affair with North Wales and Snowdonia continued as I followed it up with solo North and Mid Wales rail rover tickets and later in my car to visit other remote places and Snowdonia mountain walks. It was only natural that I should sample the accommodation next door in Alvastrada as the first option in 1989. I found the host and the accommodation to be of a reasonably good quality with a bargain price that I repeated my visit during the next three consecutive years. Prior to another long overdue visit to Llandudno with a social group in October 2011, I looked at the possibility of staying somewhere for an extra two nights to gain my first digital photographic experience of the town. It was with delight that Alvastrada had recommenced trading with the owner being the son of the previous host. Steve and his wife had earlier been perfecting their skills in the hotel trade and have now opted to keep the family business by running it from the family home.

I made this walk to the seafront hotel twice a day from the front door of Alvastrada...

The covered shop fronts of Llandudno can be quite grand and ornate but this was the first one I met all those years ago and indeed on my trip to the seafront hotel.

Holy Trinity Church Llandudno

Half down the next block The Holy Trinity church appears through the trees on the left just before Mostyn Street (the main street).

Holy Trinity Church Llandudno

When Llandudno was developing as a Victorian tourist resort in 1860, it was decided to build a church to cater for the English speaking visitors as Welsh was predominately spoken in similar style churches. Following the design and acquisition of the land, the building was completed in 1872. The Tower was built in 1892 with the church bells being installed the following year.

The short walk eastwards along Mostyn street demonstrates the late 19th century architecture and development of the main street. Some more appealing from the outside than the inside ...

Pebbles Fish and Chips, Llandudno

... although Pebble, according to the signs outside, is an award winning Fish and Chip restaurant with a takeaway service available including ice cream. To escape the routine pub food on the first few evenings, I decided to sample the fish pie. Despite being delicious, I was disappointed with the poor portion size, then again, I have to think what I paid for it and it constituted good value for money.

(Broadway Hotel Llandudno)

Broadway Hotel at the end of Mostyn Street was built in 1865 for the Victorian tourist boom with the main advantage of being near the railway station, shops and sea front. The size of the Hotel at 28 bedrooms would seem manageable during the difficult British seaside trading times of the late 20th century and has consequently had a revamp in recent times. As an additional point of interest, they state on their website that "we charge £5 a day for small well behaved dogs" !!

Empty Seat Street (Mostyn Street Llandudno)

Summer and Lamp street (Imperial Hotel Llandudno)

The remnants of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations are evident on the final section of my walk.

Arrival at seafront hotels

Entrance with a view (Tynedale Hotel Llandudno)

Mother (Tynedale Hotel Llandudno)

I usually managed to spend some quality time with my Mother between 4pm and 5:30pm each day...

Little Orme Llandudno from Tynedale Hotel

...  where we could sit and enjoy the wonderful views looking out to sea and along the promenade ...

...  enjoy a quality cup of tea from the bar ...

...and a decent amount of Photography :-)    (Tynedale Hotel, Llandudno)

Imperial Hotel Llandudno

However on one particular morning it was time to return back down "Summer street" and take in (... and out !! ... haha) a bit of colour !

The Habit, Mostyn Street, Llandudno

Passing by The Habit (for nostalgia purposes, the very first place I ever ate in Wales) which is still going strong I'm pleased to see, but I had an appointment with a breakfast table !!

Trinity Trove Antiques, Llandudno

The Guard dog in the antique shop in the same block as Just Jents was looking resplendent in his security uniform. He would probably enjoy more freedom and wishing he was a bit smaller by paying the extra £5 at The Broadway Hotel !!

Lastly after a delicious breakfast, it was time to return and see where the coach driver was going to drive to next...

Find out in the next instalment ...   !!!!

Roker & Seaburn, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.

One of the challenging things about this blog is not just to present you with beautiful places or images that go beyond the expectations of the location, but to find material from ordinary locations from an alternative photographic angle. I attended a local conference or rather a church weekend away from the 14th - 16th January in Seaburn and this set consists of a few interior pictures that I used for a travel website and a short saturday afternoon walk.

Attractions this way .... maybe not !

The area to the north of the Sunderland and The River Wear was undeveloped during the Victorian tourist boom but later became popular for day visitors during the 1920's. Later in that decade, the decision was taken to make Seaburn a seaside resort when money became available but with further delays and problems, the only thing that was constructed by the mid 1930's was a sea front promenade and a widened coastal road.
During the 1930's, workers began to receive paid holidays and visitors started to arrive to the newly assembled funfair rides and seafront illuminations. In 1936 plans were passed to build an Art Deco building called The Seaburn Hotel and was completed in 14 weeks before opening the following year.

Not quite the Art Deco extension you are expecting to see ! (1998 £2.8million extension)

As the seaside town developed, the resort became popular with a tram line built to this terminus bringing people from the centre of Sunderland.

After some minor wartime damage repairs, there were no significant building modifications until a new wing was built that include private bathrooms in 1963 and a programme to continue that work throughout the rest of that decade.

There were many famous people who stayed here. One of the most frequent visitors was the industrial painter LS Lowry who used the hotel for long periods of time as a base for his work e.g.The River Wear at Sunderland.

Other people who used the hotel were from the entertainment, sports and music world, the most famous probably being The Beatles.

In the late 1970's another wing was added before complete refurbishment and a name change to the Swallow Hotel ten years later. During the closure and renovation of the hotel, it was discovered that there were extremely serious problems due to the original construction process and the restoration fee was doubled to £5 million with the hotel almost having to be re-built.

During the 1990's the hotel won awards before a further extension in 1998 was added and Whitbread PLC, who own the Marriott UK franchise took over the following year.

The 'fake' Marsden Rattler

Like so many UK seaside resorts, Seaburn has had to re-invent itself so try and stay competitive in recent decades. A railway ran further up the coast to assist the transportation of workers and coal from Marsden to South Shields. The only thing remaining reminder is a railway carriage called The Marsden Rattler. The railway carriage restaurant shown above was never part of this railway system but as it has stood here for so long, many people just accept that it did.... A business opportunity !!
Seaburn and Roker host The International Airshow which arguably is the biggest free event in Europe, a seafront illuminations festival and an icy annual December 26th swim into The North Sea.... err, no thank you !!

Modern funfair times

It has become difficult in recent times for various reasons that i am not going to go into here for the funfair to stay open except to say that nearby South Shields on the River Tyne has picked up on the trade. That last phrase gives me the opportunity to talk about the rivalry with Newcastle and Sunderland which can be traced throughout history for example showing allegiance to opposing sides during the reign of Oliver Cromwell and the competition between the River Tyne and River Wear with the shipbuilding industry. Today the rivalry is "officially" consigned to ... the football pitch although there is a deeper dislike of the other side which extends to the opposite regional accent and certain things about the other city, ha ha !!

The short saturday afternoon walk with my roommate and two other friends took us to the 1885 Roker pier at the north side of the River Wear.

As it was a cold January afternoon we decided to use the coffee shop to sit and talk for a short time while some considered walking or avoiding the pier...

Spotlight on the pier... to walk or not to walk

... before my roommate made a suggestion to re-trace the steps of our tourist ancestors ....

... Unfortunately, i was only other volunteer to brave the strong winter winds of the North Sea .... for photographic purposes you understand ..

... exploring the ... wind !

Hoping a fish will be blown my way !

On the Pier and during the walk back, I was reminded of the activities of Seaburn people...

Treasure Hunter

Walking the beach

Walking the dog

It was nice to get back into the hotel as the staff were preparing our saturday evening Gala dinner and the delegates rehearsed and perfected their evening entertainment routines.