A Few Days in England - Nov 2007

DAY 20: Wales - Bangor and Liverpool

Wales

After Bath, I had two days of work in Bristol and then Malvern, before driving north in the afternoon to spend the night at Oswestry. This gave me a good start to drive through Wales to Bangor, so that I could see the famous Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits. I was interested in this bridge, after my great-great-grandfather described his visit to Bangor on a trip conducted by Mr Thomas Cook while the bridge was being built (see Arnold's story). From Bangor it was a pleasant drive east to Llandudno, another of Arnold's holiday destinations, and then on to Liverpool.

Oswestry to Bangor - the Snowdon Mountains

I departed the cheap hotel at Oswestry on a fine but very frosty morning and headed into Wales on the A5. THe road took me through a few small Welsh villages but it was the scenery of open valleys and rugged hills that impressed the most.

The road near Llangollen

Heavy cloud over Wales

Broad valleys...

...and forest. The road sign points to Conway ahead and Betws-y-Coed to the left...

and into the forested bend.

Into Snowdonia National Park...

..and the rugged mountains...

..made of shattered rock.

In the shadow of Snowdon, somewhere on the left,

Tryfan ahead...

and the lake Llyn Ogwen.

The Menai Straits at Bangor

This was a quick visit to Bangor to view the Menai Straits and to photograph the bridges. As mentioned above, my great-great-grandfather visited in about 1849/50 as the Britannia Bridge was being constructed.

Arnold wrote on page 114 "...Another excursion we very much enjoyed was with Mr. Thos. Cook when we went with him on one of his first trips to Wales, to Menai Bridge and Bangor. It was the year when the Tubular Grand Railway Bridge was being built. We walked over both, to our great enjoyment."

Telford's suspension bridge over the Menai Strait

The suspension bridge

Stephenson's Britannia Bridge

The Britannia Bridge

The Britannia Bridge from water level

Closer view of the modern additions to the bridge

History of the bridges

Driving across the Britannia Bridge

Llandudno

The seaside town of Llandudno was another place visited by Arnold Goodliffe my great-great-grandfather. He wrote on page 132 "..Many years since we went to Llandudno, enjoyed the walk round the Great Orme’s Head The flocks of seabirds was a sight.."

The road running east from Bangor...

..towards Llandudno.

Great Orme Head at Llandudno.

The pier...

...and the foreshore..

with apartments the full length...

Low tide view.

..Bus tours of Great Orme Head

Overlooking the pier towards the east

The tourist description of Llandudno Pier

and the Marine Drive Toll Road

and the Victorian Resort.

Cloud over the Great Orme Head

Looking back to the old part of Llandudno

The pebbly beach.

Percy St, Liverpool

On page 125 of Arnold Goodliffe's memoirs, he writes "..We left home Sep 2nd 1884 accompanied by our own daughter and grand-daughter Froggatt, went by Liverpool, we spent the afternoon at Pickering’s, and was pleased with his nice well-furnished house."

Pickering was Arnold's son, and the grand-daughter was my great-aunt Elizabeth Froggatt. In the 1891 census Pickering and his wife Margaret were living at 36 Percy St, Liverpool.

Percy St, Liverpool