You cannot go anywhere these days without talking about Wrexham . Well at least that is what it seems. We are all the news in the USA. We are a global concern with over a million followers on one platform . And our own goalscoring machine Paul Mullin was on American TV this morning . All thanks to our new owners. Today it became even more surreal for us .
Picture the scene . We have parked up in the lovely genteel seaside town of Llandudno. Plenty of car parking . We could easily have parked Gabby along the seafront . The air is bracing . The sound of the seagulls overhead . The wind blowing us a little . We have just walked up partway along the White Rabbit trail . A trail which follows the exploits of Alice in Wonderland . A statue here and there to some character from Wonderland . The shops are mainly independents which makes the place interesting . Not many empty shops either . And not the usual tat so far .
The ironwork on the shop fronts form a different feature . Some tidied up, well looked after and newly painted
. Others gently rusting in places . Large churches which seem out of character . Wide streets with spaces up the middle for flower beds or more car parking . Llandudno was always one of those places I loved being sent to with work . The sea was glistening a sort of blue/grey colour . The windfarms out at sea spun round and round . There was an air of the place being busy even on this cold old October morning . The hotels were displaying no vacancies signs . Were they full ? Or were the proprietors taking a well earned rest this week before half term. We passed full Craig y Don , Sea View and the out of character Dunoon Hotel . Llandudno had a lot to please the holidaymakers and managed to keep itself filled with guests all year round . Holidaymakers here for the day like us . Holidaymakers who had arrived with the for a week based here in North Wales . We passed people sitting on benches enjoying the bracing air . There as a small museum . Perhaps we should highlight this one for another trip . Llandudno is but
We never got on the Pier . That was another one for another day . The Big Wheel which was not that big was lit up. The neon lights even in daylight sparkled . Perhaps that was one for another trip.
Our first stop was a cafe for lunch . We arrived a little too early. One other table was occupied and we were invited to sit anywhere . We could have breakfast which would be served until 11.45 or wait until midday when the lunch menu would start . A few people drifted in as we ordered our usual coffees and a big breakfast plus beans on toast . The big breakfast included black pudding . Not a favourite of Glenns so it was pushed hastily onto my plate . I do love a black pudding and never eat them at home . So it felt a real treat to indulge in one today . We left the cafe and headed up to the tram stop. We had planned to go on the tram a few months ago but the station at the
bottom of the Orme was closed for refurbishment /repair . This left a rather ardous walk up the steep hill to the Halfway Station where the trams changed over . We had never fancied the long walk uphill so put it off until today when I read that the lower station was indeed open again .
So that is how we found our way to the bottom station paying over our £18 or so for two return tickets on what turned up to be a very full tram. There were about four seats remaining and we chose two close to the doors by the driver . Glenn sat next to the elderly guy and I sat next to his wife . We passed a few pleasantries as you do about the weather, the tram , the journey to the top and how full the tram was . Crammed to the rafters . No standing allowed . It was on the 31st July 1902 that the first tram car moved from the Victoria Station named after the Victoria Hotel which once stood near the spot to the sound of God save the King. Today we were travelling on the only
cable hauled tramway still operating on British public roads .
