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

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

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

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.

Ice Cream in Beaumaris

Red Boat Ice Cream Parlour, Beaumaris

Sunday 22nd March 2009

Daf and I went to Beaumaris this morning to buy some teak garden furniture for the Apartment – there are quite often interesting sales in the Bulkeley Hotel Ballroom.

While we were there, we spotted a new arrival on Castle Street which is going to be a must for our guests – an Ice Cream Parlour called Red Boat – offering ice creams, sorbets, coffees, paninis and sandwiches. I enjoyed a Bounty flavoured ice cream in a cone and Daf had an amazing blend of pineapple and basil, which was really good. The only thing which worries me is that we may feel driven to try every flavour!