On the 31st July 1902 the funicular system of The Great Orme Railway carried its first passengers up this limestone headland. As their website says it has "been delighting visitors" ever since. Its founder believed in the health products of fresh air so the carriages are open to the elements. These are the original wooden carriages, of which there are four in total, all named after local saints. The views from the top of the Great Orme are over to the north Wales mountains of Snowdonia and also out over the Irish Sea. The history, how the funicular works and video all can be viewed on The Great Orme Tramway site here
The card is one of the Bamforth of Holmfirth, Yorkshire ,Color Gloss' series printed in Holland, probably in the 1970s.
Here is a card showing views of Llandudno with the tram trundling up Old Road. Llandudno sits between two headlands, Great and Little Orme. The seaside resort was at its peak in the Victorian and Edwardian eras when the Happy Valley park (top right) was created in the hollow of Great Orme. If you do not fancy walking to the top, or taking the funicular then the cable car to the top can be caught here, or perhaps take tea in the tea pavilion instead. The cable car was installed in 1969 so I can definitely state that it was there when this
card was produced due to Bamforth's numbering system. Unlike Dennis who still produce comic postcards, Bamforth and their "All British Production", as it says under the stamp mark, is no more. The number 78 in the top left indicates that it was produced in 1977/78. Their system for indicated where the card was is on the bottom, L for the place, in this instance Llandudno and the 08 was the geographical location, the last two numbers the unique one for the photograph.
I'm playing with Google maps so here is Llandudno and the Great Orme.
View Larger Map
Visit Beth at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy who is our hostess for Postcard Friendship Friday.
8 comments:
I bet the views from that tram are wonderful!!
Great to have the map inserted - I was able to see that the place you are talking about is relatively close to Liverpool, and of course most of us are well aware where that is! Interesting post and card.
I love conveyances of all kinds. Open air to see the views!!! Happy PFF!
I enjoyed the video. I would love to ride on that tram.
Very interesting!! I loved the video link. Beautiful scenery.
Cool! I like your post! :)
In spite of having been a student in Liverpool and lived in the area for some time afterwards, I've never been to Llandudno. It looks as though I've missed out!
Is it just me or does the map look like a cow 'mooing'. :D
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