subject: Queen of the Welsh Resorts [print this page] Queen of the Welsh Resorts Queen of the Welsh Resorts
The North Wales seaside resort and town of Llandudno is well-known to short breaks in Wales visitors.
With a population of over 20,000, the town is just off the North Wales Coast railway line which opened in 1848 as the Chester and Holyhead Railway, which became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1859 and of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923.
It was the coming of the railway that catapulted Llandudno from a small coastal village to a resort accommodating over 8,000 visitors in 12 years. Local landowner of the Goddaith Estate, Baron Mostyn, recognised the potential of the bay between the Great and Little Orme headlands and built what has now become known to short breaks in Wales visitors as "The Queen of Welsh Resorts."
The title was first applied as early as 1864 and it is certainly the largest Welsh seaside resort, although Tenby and Aberystwyth might challenge its claim to be the most picturesque. The flat shore of sand, shingle and rock curves gracefully for two miles and for most of this distance there is a wide crescent-shaped Victorian promenade, separated by a strip of garden from the road, which short breaks in Wales visitors will know as The Parade.
There is a 1,234-feet long award-winning pier built in 1878, which is now a Listed building, and, on a clear day the stroller on the beach can look back to a splendid view of the Snowdonia Range serving as a beautiful backdrop to the town.
Short breaks in Wales visitors who have visited the Llandudno Pier Pavilion Theatre will know that it stands on the North Parade, at the landward end of the pier, thus increasing the pier's length to 2,295 feet.
The high limestone headland of Great Orme has many tourist attractions including the Great Orme Tramway and its more exciting alternative the Cabin Lift, built in 1969, which takes passengers high over the hill on a two-mile long cable.
To celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, Lord Mostyn gifted the town a former quarry which became known as The Happy Valley, which was landscaped and developed with gardens, two miniature golf courses, a putting green, a popular open air theatre and extensive lawns, which were a popular haunt of short breaks in Wales tourists. The theatre and the golf courses were replaced in 1987 by a 280-metre artificial ski slope and toboggan run and the gardens were extensively remodelled during the millennium celebrations.
