Menai
Bridge
(Porthaethwy in Welsh) is located on the banks of the Menai Strait in
Anglesey North Wales. It sits between the towns of Beaumaris to the east
and Llamfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch to the
west, yes the town with the long name is close by !
Being the narrowest part of the treacherous Menai Strait it
has probably been an important crossing point for many thousands of years.
Indeed artifacts from the Bronze Age through to the Romans have been
found in Menai Bridge. The first written documentation of Menai Bridge
however was concerning the battle that took place in 1194 when Llywelyn
the Great defeated his uncle Rhodri, son of Owain Gwynedd, at the
Battle of Porthaethwy.
But it is around the 16th Century that the present town starts to take
shape. Again it is it's position on the banks of the
Straits that lead to the development of the town of Menai Bridge. Fishing
weirs were constructed and ferries were established for crossing the
Strait. The ferry businesses flourished until the construction of the
Menai Suspension Bridge in the early 19th Century.
The demise of the ferry trade did not however diminish Menai Bridge's
connection with the sea. A local businessman Richard Davies established
a successful fleet of ships that traded world wide including shipping
emigrants to North America.
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Click To Enlarge The Pictures -----------------------------------------
By
the early 20th Century however the Davies' fleet was sold off but the
town was again benefiting from it's seafaring traditions with the arrival
of the Steamships that plied their trade from the English city of Liverpool
bringing tourists to the North Wales towns and holiday resorts. Many
seaside resorts were established along the Welsh coast and Menai Bridge
with it's mooring facilities was once again able to capitalise on it's
beautiful location.
In 1914 the locals were helped by a group of refugees from Mechelen
in Belgium who had been driven from their homes by the German invasion
and had found asylum in Menai Bridge. As a gesture of appreciation for
being welcomed to Menai Bridge the refugees constructed the "Belgian
Promenade" that extends from Carreg y Halen, close to the Menai Bridge,
to the Causeway at Church Island.
In the 21st Century the Steamships have long gone and Bangor
University's School of Ocean Sciences research vessel The Prince
Madog occupies their berth at St George's Pier. With the increased leisure
time we now enjoy and the interest in our environment, there is a great
demand for activity holidays including sailing, sea kayaking, shore angling,
fishing boat trips, dolphin watch trips and Menai Bridge is again in
the right place at the right time. . The beautiful location of the town
makes it an ideal centre for all these activities and more. The Anglesey
Coastal Path a 124 mile, 200 kilometre, walk around the fantastic Anglesey
coastline passes through the town. It is just a short walk to Church
Island to visit the church of St Tysilio that was reputedly founded in
the 7th Century A.D. From here there are fantastic views of the Britannia
Bridge and the western Menai Strait. Take a walk from Menai Bridge and
you will find beautiful beaches, historic sites including Beaumaris Castle,
prehistoric burial chambers, standing stones and fantastic views of the
Snowdonia mountains and the Llyn peninsula.
But you don't have to walk far at all to find the jewel in the crown
of Menai Bridge, indeed one of the jewels of North Wales, the beautiful
Menai Suspension Bridge.
The bridge dominates the town, and what domination! There are many fine
viewing points where you can 
appreciate
the beauty of the Menai Suspension Bridge but after visiting the site
myself I would have to recommend anybody to take the short walk along
the seafront to the base of the Bridge. The bridge, built of backbreaking
dressed limestone that form the arches and columns, gives a lie to the
old adage that man can't improve on nature. The magnificent structure
created by Telford and all those stonemasons, labourers and engineers
in the early 19th century is the best "work of art" I've seen
in a long time. If those unmade beds, piles of bricks and cracks in the
floor in the Tate Gallery are worth millions of pounds then the Menai
Suspension Bridge is truly priceless. Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, and
dare I say it Kyffin William's fans, visit Menai Bridge and eat your
hearts out! But as usual I digress..................
Getting back to the town of Menai Bridge.. The demand
for holidays in
picturesque little towns and seaside resorts such as Menai Bridge has
led to many houses being converted to holiday accommodation and Menai
Bridge is no exception. Indeed the old chapels, harbour buildings, port
workshops and storage sheds have been converted
into holiday cottages, many with views over the Strait.
Many of the old businesses have closed or moved out of town but a
walk around the town shows the variety of different services
available; travel agents, estate agents, banks, cafes, music shops, stationers,
chandlers, and there are a disproportionately large number of pubs for
a town of it's size. This is probably due to Menai
Bridge's seafaring connections but I suspect that today they are more
"restaurants that serve beer" than old fashioned drinking dens. I'll
have to check them out !
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