Monuments and memorials (and a broader sense of 'memorialising') are strange things that connect us to people deemed 'important' at some point, designated by other 'important' people, or at least, people able to make that kind of decision. They tell a story of a place - specifically about its past, but also its present and potentially about its future too.
This map sites the various monuments (and almost monuments - plaques etc) I have found in Llandudno. Most were found on a walk with Wanda Zyborska, an artist who works with monuments and their re-purposing. We were particularly looking to see how many monuments were to women. In the end, we found quite a few. It was exhilarating, like any kind of hunt. We travelled seven and a half miles and took more than 17,000 steps (and 4 tram journeys). It was somewhat exhausting, and you'll see some pictures of Wanda feeling very tired and having a lie down at several places on the map. I hope to post some sound files of Wanda talking about monuments during our odyssey, because it has opened up the way I look at a town.
I highly recommend a day wandering around in search of monuments (and having a lie down occasionally): It opened our eyes, stimulated many interesting discussions and encounters, and led us to discover lots of interesting places and stories. As Wanda said, as we came down on the Tram, from looking at memorials on the Orme:
"The thing that strikes me most is the dirth of them really, that we had to really look for them, and the stranglehold of the Mostyn Estates. But also how nice it is to pay attention paying attention to something specific in a place… It always interests me that if you focus on one thing, it opens things out, and you find out more about somewhere than if you came here looking at everything you find out less than if you come here looking for one thing."
Have a listen to Wanda talking about her work with memorials, before heading off on the walk.