In a blog post written yesterday, Yorkshire Pudding mentions going to Llandudno in Wales for the weekend. "Yay!" said I to myself - because I remember the place, from having visited it some 50+ years ago, on one of our family holidays in Britain back in my teens. I wasn't quite sure whether 1971 or 1974 though (we visited Wales on both those trips), so I had to check my photo albums. It turned out to be in June 1974.
The colour photos and postcards glued into my album half a century ago have no doubt lost much of their original colours; but I decided to copy them with my camera, do what I could with them in Picasa3 (the simple photo editing software I've been using ever since I first started blogging - which is almost ancient history in itself now), and use them for a Sepia Saturday post.
This view of Llandudno, with the long beach, matches the memories that came up in my brain as soon as I read the name.
My dad was a big railway enthusiast, something that also very much had its influence on what places we visited on our travels in Britain. In Llandudno, it wasn't a steam train that took us up in the mountains on the Great Orme Railway, though, but a tram. Checking Wikipedia now, I see that nowadays it is indeed called the Great Orme Tramway; and that this was also it's original name. But between 1932-1977, it was known as the Great Orme Railway (cf the postcards above) - until 1977, when the name was changed back again. According to Wiki, it is Great Britain's only remaining cable-operated street tramway, and one of only a few surviving in the whole world - and "still open seasonally from late March to late October, it takes over 200,000 passengers each year from Llandudno Victoria Station to just below the summit of the Great Orme headland".
Maybe a more recent visitor to Llandudno can provide information about how much the price for a trip up to the Summit has gone up since 1974??
A photo obviously taken on our way UP...
A 1974 Sepia version of yours truly, up on the Summit.
On the hill in the background, people had used white stones to create huge images/patterns/letters/messages, visible from afar. Does anyone know if they are still there? (I know that hill figures, and especially white horses, are an old tradition in Britain; but a quick google search I did now didn't mention Llandudno in that context.)
My parents and brother standing outside/below what I assume is probably the hotel where we were staying. (No note made in my album about its name, and that sign on the wall isn't readable.)
Linking to Sepia Saturday 769
Looks like you did an excellent job with the pictures. They look great. The one taken of the houses along a steep street as the tram was moving upwards reminds me of the houses along some of San Francisco's steep streets.
ReplyDeleteGail, I've never been to San Francisco, but from movies etc I know what you mean. As for photo editing, I really just used simple "auto" kind of tools to increase contrast etc.
DeleteThe faded photos and old postcards gain new life through your careful curation, and it's fascinating how your father's railway enthusiasm shaped your travels
ReplyDeleteRo, before I moved away from home (at age 20), I had been on a lot more old steam trains than modern electric ones (both in Sweden and in England)... A lot more than I would have chosen to, had it just been down to me! ;-)
DeleteGlad you still have these beautiful photos of wonderful memories; and that you shared them with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ginny.
DeleteGood memories! I think that you come after your father, right?
ReplyDeleteMeike, I'm not sure what you mean by "come after". If you are referring to physical appearance, yes, I do take after my dad's side of the family more than mum's. When it comes to interests on the other hand, more the other way round. Dad was an engineer (working in the field of hydropower, but with steam engines and railway history as his passionate hobby, including writing four books about them) - whereas I never took any interest at all in science and maths (nor trains, other than for the purpose of getting from one place to another). I'm sure it was mostly thanks to mum that our holidays also got to include more interesting historical places like castles and abbey ruins etc. ;-)
DeleteYes, I was of course referring to the physical appearance of your Dad.
DeleteYou say that you never took an interest in his subjects, but I believe that you may have inherited your very practical and persistent approach to all things technical from him. Although from what you have written about your mother, she was very practical (and creative!), too.
Meike, I'd say we're all a mix of both inheritance and circumstances. :) My mum had an engineer husband to leave the technical things to, whereas he had a housewife who took care of a lot of other things he did not need to bother about. I on the other hand have lived alone all my adult life which is different situation.
DeleteWe go to Wales most weeks but I have not been to that place
ReplyDeleteBilly, I'm sure it's still well worth a visit! :)
DeleteWhat a lovely reminiscence. I wonder how much Llandudno has changed in the intervening years.
ReplyDeleteJanice, maybe YP will be able to provide the answer when back home from his weekend holiday! ;)
DeleteYour photos are very interesting, though you don't look too happy sitting on the wall!
ReplyDeleteIt's many years since I've been to Llandudno so I really can't remember much about it. In the 1950's I once spent a weekend at a boarding school just outside the town. This was to see if I liked the idea of going there - which I didn't - so it has mixed memories for me! I can't recall if I ever went back as an adult. Did you ever go to Aberdovey on your travels? That was a favourite place and a very much quieter resort.
Carol, I can't remember ever having heard of Aberdovey. Unless it has (or had, in the 70s) a museum railway, or a castle or some other really famous landmark, I probably did not go there. Our trips were very much "sightseeing" trips. Just probably including more museum railways than those of most tourists... ;)
DeleteI love trains and since I could never walk up that hill, would need the trolley and love riding it as long as it did not stall half way up. ha ha... fond memories, all our memory photos are in black and white, that's all they have when I was growing up
ReplyDeleteSandra, old black and white photos have usually kept a lot better through the years than the early 60s/70s colour prints, which are all faded and not showing correct colours any more.
DeleteNice to see you. Memories are important. In 1971 I was born in March.
ReplyDeleteAmy, in June 1974 I was 18 going on 19, and had just graduated from senior high school. It was our last long family trip including all four of us.
DeleteIt looks like a lovely place to go, even if in memories. I like your photo selections, especially the very steep street as that's the kind of thing I take pictures of. But I'm very impressed that you saved a tram ticket! That's real ephemera that is!
ReplyDeleteThe 2025 ticket prices are Adults return - £10.85 / £11.85 and Children (3 to 16) - £7.75 / £8.95. Dogs – £1.50. There's even a YouTube video of the whole thrilling 24 minute ride here: https://youtu.be/6XZblAWPE6E?si=LN68OSGBD1v-MQTE
Thanks Mike, I'll check out that video later! I did often save tickets etc from journeys and glued them into my photo albums together with my own photos.
DeleteLovely memories. I have lots of old photos in scrapbooks from a similar period, all fading in colour. But great to have a nostalgic rummage through.
ReplyDeleteAddy, I agree. My mum made my first scrapbook albums for me, with b&w photos from my early childhood. I took over the job myself from when I was 10! ... And stopped around 2010, when I went all digital, no longer ordering physical prints of most photos...
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