Llandudno

Yesterday, Malcolm and I returned home from a couple of days away in the North Wales resort of Llandudno. It had been 'touch and go' whether or not to go as the forecast had been so dreadful. High winds and rain had been promised and although we had a bit of both during our stay, it turned out to be not nearly as bad as we had anticipated. We got there on Wednesday afternoon and having found some free parking (quite a rare thing these days), we set out for a walk before we could check in to our hotel.

As you can see from the pictures, we had wonderful, blue skies, even if the wind was bracing to say the least.

The cold wind also had the advantage of allowing us virtually the whole sea front to ourselves - again another rarity these days.

The grade II listed pier was built in 1878 and at 2,295 feet long, it is the longest pier in Wales. With kiosks along the sides and a group of amusements and cafe structures at the end, it affords the visitor views back towards the town and up the Great Orme, as well as out to sea.

The kiosks were closed when we were there, which was just as well because they wouldn't have done much business with so few people about.

Beyond the pier, on the horizon, we could just make out some of the 160 wind turbines which make up the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm. More of that to come.