Languishing At Llandudno - 1

Topless And Traditional Tours

Traditionally the lump of limestone rock that sticks out to the west of Llandudno is known as The Great Orme althugh its correct apellation is shown on the above map extract. Less acknowledged is the Little Orme to the east of the town.

Apart from walking (doubtless outside of fbb's comfort zone) there are FOUR varieties of public transport that climb up the rock, all of them of interest to a determined and committed blogger.

Traditional Tramway

By far the most interesting technologically is the so-called Tramway ...

... which it isn't. Despite the trolley poles the "trams" are not powered by electricity. Technically the cars should be described as a Funicular Railway. Even more pedantically, the "tramway" is, in fact, TWO Funicular Railways meeting end-on at Halfway Station.

The tracks do not join. Each separate railway is cable hauled with the cable in a conduit between the rails.

Here is Halfway Station c/o Google Earth.

The winding equipment is here for both lines. To add to the linguistically challenging verbiage, both lines have a passing loop halfway! Here is that for the lower section ...

... and a similar loop on the more exposed upper section.

The track looks different. That is because once in open country and away from roads shared with other vehicles and pedestrians, conduits for the hauling cable were no longer necessary. So the rope and the rollers which guided it are very visible!

It is a glorious near-silent ride - but expensive.

Here the cars are seen approaching the upper track halfway point (quarter way?)

The cars are joined by a wire rope which raises one carriage whilst lowering the other; hence the need for a loop at the halfway point on each line.

Chilly Cable Car

Equally expensive is the Cable Car!

Compared with the size and luxury of typical mountain cable cars in e.g. Switzerland ...,

... that on the Great Orme is just a tin bucket, open to the elements and offering just a few seats.

Its lower station is quite high up above the pier ...

... not in the town like the tram. The lower station has no parking, just a trudge up the hill from the Pier.

It's the white building up the hill.

Here are the prices.

Presumably puppies are not allowed to travel - only adult dogs?

Topless Tours

Alpine Coaches, based in Llandudno, holds the City Sightseeing "franchise" which offers four possible trips.

Here is the map from the leaflet.

The main open top bus tour (RED) takes you to Conwy.

It runs full season from Easter to October half term, but with three different frequencies.

The company has various double decks including a semi open ...

... with fully glazed roof. More conventional open toppers also operate.

A secondary service (YELLOW) runs east to Rhos-on-Sea but for a much shorter season.

It is a shorter ride and a bit cheaper.

The other long-season service (BLUE) is the third option for the Great Orme. This is the territory of an unusual vehicle. It looks like a fairly norman minibus ...

... seen above at the Summit car park. But it can be converted to a semi open topped minibus.

The rather crude diagram on the leaflet shows us some of the places visited by the tours.

As well as the Summit, this intriguing Great Orme vehicle will take you to the Copper Mines and the Distillery. Again it runs for a long season.

There were seven trips when fbb was looking and this reduces to five throughout October. Let's hope they keep the lid on as it was when fbb snapped the bus at the summit.

The PURPLE tour looks a bit feeble - because it is! It simply takes you round the private toll road that encircles the Great Orme. 

The views are superb and there is a stop at a wonderful viewpoint ...

... but it is the vehicles used on the tour that bring joy to the seasoned (but wealthy) traveller.

Like the Rhos open top tour this is a short season operation. Note that the Great Orme tour price is for the tound trip to match the Marine Drive ride's fare.

So it looks as if a trip up the Great Orme will cost you between £10 and £14!

Why not a bargain "Orme-Rider" Rover Ticket? Four single trips on any of the three "modes" at £30 would surely be an attractive deal for tourists and create some additional revenue for the stolidly separate rides currently available.

However, the fbbs ascended the large lump of limestone for just £2.60 return each, a grand total of £5.20 - and they had a tour of Llandudno included.

See tomorrow's exciting episode!

 Next Llandudno blog : Tuesday 18th September