Anglesey Day 4 Tuesday, 18th June - Part 2: Llanfair PG, St Mary's Church and Horatio Nelson statue

After leaving the Hidden Gardens we decided to have a look at the station at Llanfair PG (too hard to type the full name without making a mistake! but you can see it in the photos below).

The village was originally called Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll but it was renamed in the 19th century (it is believed the name was invented by a cobbler from Menai Bridge) when at the beginning of the 1850's a local committee was established to try and encourage travellers and tourists to visit the town. The strategy certainly worked as people, including us!, still flock there to have their photos taken by the name at the railway station.

Llanfair PG was also home to a great Welsh artist Sir Kyffin Williams who lived in the town from 1974 until his death in 2006. He was born in Llangefni on 9th May 1918.

As you can see from the above photo the full version of the name Llanfair PG translates to "St Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the church of Saint Tysilio of the red cave".

We had actually planned to walk to the Marquess of Angelesey's statue (seem in the zoomed in photo above) as we understood you could climb 115 steps to the top and from my point of view rare blue schist rocks can be seen below the column. But a lady in the shopping centre told me it had been closed for safety reasons (not sure if this included the walk to the statue or just the climb to the top). The statues is 27 metres high and was erected on 18th June 1817 as a tribute to the Marquess, Henry Paget (1768 -1854) who lost a leg at the Battle of Waterloo. The architect was Thomas Harrison of Chester and the the bronze figure by Matthew Noble was erected in 1860.


Instead we decided to visit the statue of Horatio Nelson a navigation guide erected in 1873.

To reach the statue you walk past the church of St Mary and through the churchyard to the shore of the Menai Straits. By the church was another holiday cottage which at one point B had considered booking - I am glad now that I talked him into the house at Penmon as this one was very close to traffic noise from the Britannia Bridge.

St Mary's church is Victorian and it replaced an early medieval church. It is one of only 11 churches on Anglesey dedicated to St Mary and most of these are on the coast. It is believed that the dedication may have a connection to the belief that Mary "Star of the Sea" protected mariners and fishermen. The circular shape of the churchyard suggests that it is an ancient Christian site and may date from the time of the Celtic Saints.

I didn't go inside the church as we didn't have a lot of time.

The Britannia Bridge memorial which commemorates those who died in the original construction of the bridge and during the reconstruction.

Nelson's statue peeking through the trees.

The statue on the shore - due to the Straits and rocks we couldn't easily get round to take a photo from the front!

The original Britannia Bridge was completed in 1850 when rail travel became popular in the mid 19th century and it was decided a rail link across the Menai Straits was necessary to help MP's travelling to and from Ireland. It was designed by Robert Stephenson. The bridge caught fire in 1970 and the bridge had to be reconstructed. The original towers remain but have been altered to suit the re-design.

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It was at this point that I reached in my pocket to get Timothy to pose in a photo and realised in horror that he was no longer there! I thought perhaps I had left him in the car but there was a possibility I had dropped in on the path on the way down or even worse I had lost him somewhere at the station or shopping centre. I retraced my steps rather rapidly searching the ground and then, as I approached the church, I saw a couple bend down and pick something up and start to put the object on a tomb. Goodness only knows what the couple thought as I started shouting and waving "is that a teddy bear you have found? he is mine!" It was Timothy and I have never been so relieved to see him! In future he will travel in my back pack and not a pocket!!!



Back at the cottage I had my piece of lavender and honey cake bought at Plas Cadnant.

The next post will include a trip to Amlwch, Benllech Beach and Red Wharf Bay


*D Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50 HS bridge camera

Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera