Tag: beaumaris

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Beaumaris Festival 31st May – 7th June 2012

Beaumaris Festival Brochure cover 2012
 

Don’t the years go by quickly!

It’s very nearly time for Beaumaris festival again – and there is a lot on offer this year. I looked at the concerts and talks and decided I would like to go to everything! Unfortunately time and budget constraints make this tricky so I will be forced to choose.

As well as the formal timetable, there is a Crafts Fair on The Green, an Art Exhibition at the Canolfan and the Woodturners will, once again, be in the Town Hall.

All the information you need to enjoy the Festival can be found on the website.

www.beaumarisfestival.com

Daf and I got back to Anglesey today, from a very rainy Lancashire, to discover that our guests had been walking in glorious sunshine and had been working on their tans! We really enjoyed our stay in Lancashire, but it reminded us why we love living on Anglesey!

The Giant Wheel will be on The Green in Beaumaris.

Beaumaris is gearing itself up to offer Anglesey residents and visitors to the Island a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the world from a different perspective with the “Beaumaris Eye” which comes to town from Saturday 26 May to Saturday 9 June. These dates coincide with the annual Beaumaris Festival.

 
Giant wheel at the 2012 Beaumaris Festival
 

The Giant Wheel, which at 35 metres high and with 24 gondolas each taking six passengers, will open up everyone’s eyes with views across the Island, down the Menai Strait, over to Caernarfon and Llandudno as well as the Snowdonia Mountain Range.

Dorothy Russell

12th May 2012

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Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas – Accompanied by Fireworks

Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas

Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas

Over Beaumaris Bonfire weekend I enjoyed the company of four lovely quilters from Gloucestershire.

It was Dilys’s ‘significant’ birthday (and I’m not saying which one!) and her husband, Dave, gave her a quilting weekend at Coed y Berclas, with three friends, as a suprise present. They managed to keep the secret so well that Dilys had no idea where she was going or what she was doing until her train was arriving at Bangor – brilliant!

Take note all you husbands out there who are looking for a special present!

Their two day workshop was ‘Wholecloth’ and covered both designing and quilting. Sandy and Dot chose to do cushion covers while Dilys and Moira worked on cot sized quilts: in fact Moira will be making two (twins) – that’ll keep her out of mischief for a while! They did the design work on the first day and transfered it to fabric ready to begin quilting on the second. This involved a lot of work but they made it – and I got a reputation as a slave driver!

I can’t be too much of a slave driver though as they managed to pop down to the pub at the bottom of the hill for a meal and to watch the bonfire night fireworks. This year the Beaumaris Firework Display was cancelled (they’re extending the pier) but we had a splendid view of Bangor Fireworks which take place near the root of Bangor Pier and we didn’t even need to leave the house to watch them! Very impressive.

Sunday was spent hand quilting: this is always a little like magic as stitches give a three dimensional quality to the work and images drawn onto fabric come to life. Dilys, Sandy, Moira, Dot – your designs are all totally individual and they’re beautiful.

I really enjoyed the weekend – you were all great company and very hard workers!

Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas

Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas

Have you finished the quilts yet?

Dave, you get masses of ‘brownie points’.

Dorothy Russell

20th Nov 2011

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Beaumaris fireworks 2010

Fireworks at Beaumaris 2010

Cottage at Coed y Berclas has been nominated by several of our guests for the Anglesey Tourism Association Award for Best Self Catering Establishment again this year so Daf and I have been busy putting together a document in support of our entry. As we won last year, the pressure was on to live up to our award and improve both the service we offer and this year’s entry. The deadline was Monday 8th November and two documents were handed over on Saturday 6th. Why two documents? Because this year I was also nominated for the Best Arts and Crafts Award. Thank you to everyone who nominated us.

And how did we celebrate handing over our entries – by going to watch the Beaumaris Fireworks Display, of course!

Dorothy

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Beaumaris Court

Beaumaris Court house performance

Court scenes at Beaumaris

This afternoon Daf and I were invited to a special performance at Beaumaris Courthouse, a lovely old building which has seen the balance of justice swing to and fro since 1614.

We were in very distinguished company: following brief speeches by representatives of Anglesey Council’s Department of Leisure and Culture and an amusing delivery, given with urbane skill by Alun Ffred Jones, Minister for Heritage (in which Daf was given a mention!), we were treated to a performance by Cwmni’r Frân Wen (an Anglesey based group of professional actors).

Assembled outside the Courthouse by the ‘Town Crier’ we were ushered into the building and settled in various parts of the court to attend the ‘trial’. I found myself climbing an old wooden stairway to become a member of the jury, seated in a box overlooking the body of the courtroom.

Other guests represented members of the press or the public and everyone was closely involved in the performance as the actors delivered two different cases for our entertainment and education.

When asked for our verdict on a man accused of ship wrecking (1742), we, the jury, offered a distinct ‘not guilty’, much to the delight of both the man and his vociferous wife.

  • These performances are offered to the public:
  • 31st May – 6th June 2010
  • 19th July – 30 August 2010
  • 25th -31st October 2010
  • Monday, Thursday and Saturday 11:00/12:00/2:00/3:00

And I can honestly say that it brought the court to life and would be both fun and interesting to all ages. Cwmni’r Frân Wen will also be performing at the Round Houses at Llynnon Mill, Llanddeusant, giving a fascinating insight into Pre-historic life.

  • 31st May – 6th June 2010
  • 19th July – 30 August 2010
  • 25th -31st October 2010
  • Wednesday and Sunday 11:00/12:00/2:00/3:00

I’ve seen the Round Houses and they were bigger than I expected, about 10metres in diameter, and beautifully built according to archeolological information. They are reconstructions of buildings inhabited on Anglesey about 3000 years ago; of timber construction with wattle and daub walls and, in order to be truly authentic, the thatch for the roof was imported from the Continent.

With Llynnon Mill on the same site, built in 1775, and the only working windmill left in Wales, there’s a lot to learn and enjoy. And when you’ve absorbed enough history, there’s also the tearoom!

Dorothy Russell

29th May 2010
pMonday, Thursday and Saturday 11:00/12:00/2:00/3:00

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Waitrose at Menai Bridge

New Waitrose at Menai Bridge

If you’re coming to Coed y Berclas for a holiday, you can do your shopping here and save the suspension and the fuel consumption on your car – we now have a wide choice of supermarkets, a farmers market (once a month), Llangefni market (twice a week ) and a selection of independent shops in Menai Bridge and Beaumaris.

There has been a little excitement hereabouts; the Co-op in Menai Bridge has closed and after fairly extensive alterations the building will soon be home to the new Waitrose in Menai Bridge. Hopefully this will reverse the shopping flow across the bridges and the mainlanders will be heading to Anglesey to divest themselves of their hard earned cash. The new store will open on Thursday 25th March 2010.

Today Daf and I went to a Waitrose promotion day which was, of course, well attended. There was lots of information and a few tasty morsels of Welsh produce to try. The new manager was there to meet and greet and we were shown a scan-it-yourself system.

It seems the new staff are being steadily absorbed into the Waitrose way of doing things and I’m assured that to be a front-line, meet the public worker there are stringent rules of engagement.

I must say, I’m looking forward to a leisurely wander through the new store and a relaxed cuppa in the new Waitrose cafe but I think I might just wait until the queues reduce a little.

Dorothy

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Beaumaris New Year Fireworks 2010

Beaumaris fireworks over the castle New Year 2010

This Christmas there has been snow on the mountains throughout and we even managed a couple of flurries of hailstones and had ice on the pond here at Coed y Berclas. Daf took some lovely photos of frost patterns which might become inspiration for a quilt at some time in the future.

However the photo which just had to be featured in this blog comes from the New Year’s Eve midnight firework display on the walls of Beaumaris Castle. The night was frosty and sharp with a clear sky and the most astonishing full moon cast silver blue light, creating strong shadows over the landscape. The backdrop of snowy mountains added to the magical feel as the crowd, dressed for the weather, was thrilled by the display. We really enjoy the sense of community this gathering gives.

Dorothy

1st January 2010

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2009 Beaumaris Victorian Christmas

Victorian Chistmas ay Beaumaris

Daf and I popped down to Beaumaris this afternoon to take a look at the Victorian Christmas event. The organisers must have been anxious as the day approached – the weather had been wet and windy (with a terrific thunder storm a week ago) but the day dawned with the mountain peaks covered in the first snows of Winter and, although it wasn’t exactly dry underfoot, it wasn’t raining and the day remained calm.

It was very much a local community event with ‘things’ happening in various locations around the town, such as Punch and Judy, a craft fair, charity stalls, judging of the best shop window display, best costume etc and it culminated in a procession led by the Beaumaris Silver Band along Castle Street to White Lion Square where the Christmas lights were switched on and prizes were handed out by the Snow Queen who had arrived in style in a horse drawn carriage accompanied by ‘Queen Victoria’ herself – the real Princess Victoria visited Beaumaris and stayed at the Bulkeley Arms Hotel before she became Queen – just part of the town’s rich history!

Dorothy

28th November 2009

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2009 Beaumaris Fireworks Display

November 2009 Fireworks at Beaumaris

We’ve just got back from another fun Bonfire Night at Beaumaris.

Bonfire Night at Beaumaris is rapidly becoming a main Anglesey attraction. If you can get here, it is definately one of the things to do on Anglesey in November. It seems there’s always something new and this year the fireworks were timed to the music. However, what I noticed were the new colours – lilac and pink appeared alongside the usual red, blue, green, gold and silver. The effect was dramatic and despite rain showers, crowds of onlookers surrounded the huge bonfire and watched as the sky was painted with myriad sparks of coloured light. To add to the fun; from Beaumaris we get a backdrop of the mainland across the Menai Strait and have echoes of our own fireworks all along the coast.

What a lovely way to mark the beginning of the dark nights of Winter – does anyone give Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot a thought these days? How many young people even know what it was all about? How much better it is to enjoy the stunning display of explosive light with members of one’s own community with fun and laughter. Roll on midnight on New Year’s Eve and the firework display from Beaumaris Castle!

Dorothy

7th November 2009

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Walks Around Beaumaris

Beech tree in a Beaumaris glade

Today was a beautiful early Autumn day with the sun shining from a blue sky. As yet there is little sign of the leaves changing colour so the trees are still in full leaf. Daf, Joshua – our son – and I took a short walk following a leaflet left by visitors to our cottage. The trail took us to the West End of Beaumaris, giving snippets of information as we went along about the old slipways on the shore where passengers and goods disembarked and the Customs Officer – only the third to exist in Wales, checked ships’ cargoes. In 1792, there were 327 ships registered at Beaumaris – compared to only 11 at Cardiff – and wealthy merchants built themselves the beautiful houses which still adorn the town.

We left the edge of the Menai Strait, turning inland and following a lane which lead under one of the old bridges supporting a carraigeway on the Baron Hill Estate leading up to the, now derilict, great house of the Bulkeley family. We followed the path up a wooded valley to the ruins of two watermills. As our route meandered up the valley, on the left, the stream tumbled through its deep birch planted ravine, while to our right was the leet – the ditch along which diverted water once ran to power the mills. Beyond stood the moss covered stone dam whose pool had once provided the water, now sadly out of use – a romantic reminder of a past age.

We emerged from tranquil woodland by the Primary School – very close to the spot where the Roundheads defeated Royalist forces in 1648, before taking over Beaumaris Castle – then we rejoined the 21st Century, walking past Sunday homes, on past the massive stone walls of the old Gaol, to Castle Street and a welcome ice cream treat at Redboat.

The walk takes only about half an hour but is one of the tranquil things to do on Anglesey and is a reminder of just how much history is held within the lovely, small town of Beaumaris.

Dorothy

4th October 2009

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August day for a Pilot Cutter.

A Tall Ship passes Bangor Pier

As we looked out from our terrace at yet another flotilla of Beaumaris racing yachts disappearing like a gaggle of goslings, bidding for the best position, back towards their starting point near the Royal Anglesey Yacht Club; this magnificent reminder of a bygone era floated gracefully and silently into view and gently drifted past Bangor Pier shining with the light of late morning, ushering the unruly flock before her as she made her elegant way across the wavelets winking in the August sunlight. Her progress looked effortless and we watched contented until she glided serenely out of sight leaving a sense of tranquility in her wake.

…now Daf wants one.

Dorothy. 25th August 2009.