Conwy
Conwy maps (2 available)
Map of Gwynedd
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Conwy books (1 available)
- 8 photos on Conwy appear in 5 Frith books - View photos of Conwy
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Conwy and Gwynedd
Conwy memories
Read and share memories of Conwy and Gwynedd inspired by Frith photos
Holidays at Conwy
For several years in the early 60's our family spent our summer holidays at the caravan park just outside the town of Conwy. I have very happy memories of visiting the castle and the lovely town. Often in the late afternoon we would walk to town via the Harbour Walk and spend a lovely evening by the harbour quay where I recall there was a little pub where you could sit outside. My father would have a beer and my mother a shandy. Along the Harbour Walk there was an old sanitorium which had fallen into disuse. I wonder whether it's still there, it seemed a fairly substantial building. My brother and I were amazed by the "smallest house", there was ...read more here
Contributed by Joan Grey
Gwynedd memories
Holidays at Conwy
For several years in the early 60's our family spent our summer holidays at the caravan park just outside the town of Conwy. I have very happy memories of visiting the castle and the lovely town. Often in the late afternoon we would walk to town via the Harbour Walk and spend a lovely evening by the harbour quay where I recall there was a little pub where you could sit outside. My father would have a beer and my mother a shandy. Along the Harbour Walk there was an old sanitorium which had fallen into disuse. I wonder whether it's still there, it seemed a fairly substantial building. My brother and I were amazed by the "smallest house", there was ...read more here
A memory of Conwy contributed by Joan Grey
A wet weekend in Wales!
I used to work and study in Manchester for several years in the 1960's and frequently travelled back to my home town of Hatch End to see my girlfriend, Angela Chapuis. Sometimes she would come up north to see me. One wet weekend in April 1967 Angela and I set off from Manchester to visit North Wales in my old car. We stayed in youth hostels and hoped to climb Snowdon as both of us enjoyed outdoor adventures with the scouts and guides over the years. We were beaten back by appalling weather so she took me to nearby Llanfairfechan to see her grandparents instead. The warm cottage was a most welcome respite. I have not seen Llanfairfechan since 1967 and ...read more here
A memory of Llanfairfechan contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Gowers bridge
Gowers bridge was not too far from where we lived and was a great place to take the children for a picnic, to learn to ride a tricycle and to skim stones across and see who won, then pick our way to Llyn Bwrw Eira, along the banks, sometimes walk to the swings in Trefriw, and back. We lived in Plas Isaf and Heulwen Jones and her family came too. It was harmless fun in lovely surroundings, and thus has a lot of happy memories. The workhouse was still there in those days and the coal yard in the station , another attraction.
A memory of Llanrwst contributed by First name Last name
Extracts From Conwy & Gwynedd books
We are looking across the estuary towards the inner ward. The picture gives us an idea of just how steep the ridge is upon which the castle is built. The slope of the rock on the south side was such that it would have been impossible to mount an assault from that direction using battering rams or siege towers. Also, the curtain wall was too high for the scaling ladders of the day.
An extract from from"Welsh Castles".
In March 1283 Longshanks ordered Conwy Castle to be built and a burgh established. The choosing of the site was deliberate: here was the royal hall of Llywelyn the Great (demolished 1316) and the Cistercian Abbey of St Mary where he lay buried. For Longshanks, there was symbolism in not only ordering the abbey dismantled, but to having it re-erected at Maenan eight miles away.
An extract from from"Welsh Castles".
Set at the mouth of the River Conway, or Conwy, this mediaeval walled town with its famous castle, one of Edward I’s ‘iron ring’ around Wales, is still remarkably self-contained. The new A55 road tunnel beneath the river diverts through-traffic from its streets. The quay is busy today with pleasure craft, rather than the commercial traffic of the past. This early photograph shows Conway Castle and Telford’s graceful suspension bridge of 1826, with Stephenson’s tubular railway bridge of 1848 just behind it. Today the road bridge of 1958 blocks the view of the earlier bridges.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".
We can see a tower of Stephenson’s 412ft-long tubular railway bridge in the centre of the picture. This structure was built on the line of the old L & NWR Railway in 1848. A 19th-century guide describes how it increases in height above high water from around 22 feet at the ends to 25 feet at the centre. The two tubes are each 14 feet wide and weigh around 1,300 tons.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".
Conwy was once an important port with a major fishing fleet. There are mussel beds at the mouth of the river, while freshwater oysters found upstream have been famous for their pearls. Telford’s 1826 bridge measures 327 ft long. It hangs on eight chains in two sets over two piers, with adjustment at one end into the rock under the castle, and at the other end into solid rock. It was built for his Holyhead road and replaced a notorious ferry across the dangerous waters of the Conwy estuary.
An extract from from"North Wales Photographic Memories".