Penmaenmawr railway station
Penmaenmawr station opened in 1849, a year after trains began running along the Chester & Holyhead Railway as far as Bangor. The railway stimulated growth in tourism along the North Wales coast, and Penmaenmawr gained a reputation as a genteel resort offering scenic walks as well as bathing.
The original station building, with its hipped-roof canopy, survives. A similar canopy was provided on the opposite platform, sheltering passengers as they awaited trains to Chester and beyond.
The railway’s ability to transport visitors quickly to Penmaenmawr was a key factor in Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone’s holiday choices. The train journey to Penmaenmawr took just over two hours from his home in Hawarden, Flintshire, or five hours from London.
On one of his visits his carriage was pulled from the rail station up the steep hill to Plas Mawr, on Bangor Road, not by a team of horses but by local quarrymen – such was the regard for the Prime Minister. Having such a famous guest, year after year, was good for trade. Local business people were delighted in 1896 when Gladstone, on what turned out to be his final visit to Penmaenmawr, stated: “I do not know of a more healthy place; a more satisfactory climate is not to be found to my knowledge in this country.”
The aerial photo, courtesy of the Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Wales, shows the station and quarry sidings in 1932. It is from the Aerofilms Collection of the National Monuments Record of Wales.
The photo conveys how quarrying dominated not only the hillside behind the town but also the seafront. In the top left corner is the railway incline which brought stone from the quarries to the jetty and to the sidings on the main line.
With thanks to David Bathers and Dennis Roberts of Penmaenmawr Historical Society
Postcode: LL34 6AT View Location Map
Copies of the old photo and other images are available from the RCAHMW. Contact: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
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