This camera obscura, originally built in 1857 is one of 7 remaining in the UK. It's a self-made memorial to a family member, to a date, and to the development of photography.

A Camera Obscura was first built here in 1859 by an 18 year old Lot Williams, the first of several octagonal dark rooms to be built on the site, all to the same design. This one was built for the Millennium after the previous one was destroyed by fire in an arson attack in 1966.

The family has dedicated the Camera Obscura, and the website of the Camera Obscura, to Uncle Jack "whose vision (pun) and untiring work enabled a Camera Obscura to be reinstated on this site. Uncle Jack was one of 9 brothers and 1 sister. He spent his early life at Park Farm on the Gt. Orme summit, where his father managed the farm and the then Golf course.

He was called up to the RAF and served in Scotland at Scapa Flow, Gibraltar and the middle east until the end of WW2. On demob he had various jobs, being a partner in a garage, working for many years as a long distance lorry driver for Hotpoint, ran his own taxi and eventually his little Camera Obscura, which he ran from when he was 70, until his death aged 87. He died at the Obscura site".

John Charles (Jack) Shields 23 Feb 1920 to 1 May 2007.

The Millennium, 2000.

Re-opened in 2010 by Jack's nephew and his friend.

http://www.camobscura.co.uk/datasheet_01.html

On our walk in search of memorials, we went first to the Tourist Information Office. This is how our somewhat disheartening conversation went:

"Hi! Do you know anything about memorials and statues in Llandudno?" asks Wanda.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" asks the tourist information person.

"Not really. Just anything at all...."

"Well no, not particularly, no. The Cenotaph on the promenade of course. There’s Victoria in Happy Valley. We’ve got our own Alice in Wonderland statues. They’ve been there 7 years. Here’s a £2.99 map of the Alice trail around the town"

"Great, thanks. Would you like a memorial for someone in Llandudno, could you think of anyone?"

"No, not particularly no"

It turns out that many people - not just Tourist Information - named this the only monument in Llandudno. It was erected after the First World War, it lists 45 men lost in the First World War, 61 lost in the Second World War, and Lance Bombardier Llywelyn Evans, a soldier from Llandudno who lost his life on the first day of the war in Iraq.

No women are named. Did any women from Llandudno lose their lives in the war? See the Roll of Honour in the library (point 7 on this map), for a list that includes women.

[three other local people, by the way, who were in the Tourist Information office at the same time as us and overheard our conversation, named all sorts of other monuments, and made suggestions for new ones. We went off in search of them....]

Hear Wanda talking about memorials and memorialisation here:soundcloud

This memorial is to Ted yr Ogof (Ted the Cave), a boatman, and 'larger-than-life-character' descended from a large family who lived in a cave after moving to Llandudno. This spot is where he died, probably of a heart attack, aged 52 in 1965. Wanda said "Look at those very very ugly and cheap materials. It's almost like he’s a working class person, so there’s no representation, not attempt at any kind of decorative: the materials - cheap bricks, concrete top, no bronze"

His story - and the story of his great-grandparents (who were the ones who lived in the cave for 37 years, rearing 15 children) is given on http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=ted-yr-ogof-memorial

We have included our shadows on his memorial, to represent the missing women because his great grandmother, Miriam, would have been equally worthy of a memorial (and indeed it was suggested by Llandudno Museum when we visited): When they were moved from their cave, to make way for Marine Drive, she provided refreshments for visitors out of a shed. She also nursed her husband back to health after he attempted to fly like a seagull off the Orme. She died aged 91 in 1910.

Here's Wanda with the Queen of Hearts: "She’s just another character. In Snowwhite, Snowwhite is what women should be, young, sweet and innocent. The queen wants power so she’s an evil witch. That’s me being a strident Harriden"

If I were to nominate someone to be memorialised today, it would be Brenda of Hope Restored.

Brenda Started Hope Restored back in 2010 after realising that there was a desperate need for action in the Llandudno area to help the homeless and needy within the community. Back in those early days it was known as 'Sandwich Seekers' and Brenda soon realised that the multitude of homeless and needy needed something more than a cold snack.

One day a visitor asked "why it was called 'Sandwich Seekers' when you arrive with nothing, but leave with hope!" And Hope Restored was born.

Brenda began asking for donations, food, clothing, bedding and funds to help make a greater impact on the growing need for her help. Brenda could often be found late at night, driving around the area distributing food and blankets to the homeless community and when asked why she did it, her reply was, "I know what it is like to be homeless, hungry and in need of help. That was me many years ago!"

Hope Restored has gone from strength to strength, staffed by a dedicated crew of volunteers, many whom had seeked out Brenda for help when they found themselves homeless and in need, and now happy to devote some of their time to Hope Restored as a way of saying thank you.

Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and the general public, Hope Restored is able to offer a much wider range of help to the homeless and needy within our community, help we know is greatly needed and greatly appreciated.

From the humble start of providing sandwiches to a small group, Hope Restored now provides hot meals, twice a week, to anywhere from 20 to 30 hungry mouths, and sadly, the numbers are increasing all the time.

http://www.hoperestored.co.uk/index.php

Blodwen (5,000 years old) is in the Llandudno Musem. There you can watch the gripping film of her lost, found, lost, found, her experience in a washing machine and the battle for her return to Llandudno. The return finally being sorted by women, after 100 years of absence in Bacup, Derbyshire.

http://www.llandudnomuseum.co.uk/ is a must-go destination in any search for memorials in Llandudno.

Suggestions for new memorials by Llandudno museum staff were: Miriam yr Ogof (see point 2) and Dr Martha Hughes Cannon (see point 23)

Pop into the library to see the Llandudno Roll of Honour. Women and men both feature in this beautiful book, pages of names and how they served in beautiful calligraphy. Pages are turned each day, and it has its own beautifully designed case. On the day we went, the page was of the Jones'. There were two women listed.

While we were looking at the book in its wooden/glass cabinet, Sue, a librarian who has worked here 37 years' service, came over. "Do you want to see the front?" She asked. "It's people who served in the second world war, made late 40s/50s." She opens the cabinet to show us the front. An exquisite enamel with St Tudno’s church: llandudno, the enclosure of Tudno. Sue explained that the entries in the roll of honour with stars died in combat. "Its everyone from Llandudno that actually served in the second world war." There are women listed on every page: Women in the air force. Royal navy service. Royal army medical corps. VARN. We are all surprised by how many people in the list had survived. Only a few each page marked with a star.

"Do you know much about memorials in Llandudno?" asked Wanda. "There aren’t many memorials here. The one on the front. You’ve got the Gorsedd stones. St Tudno’s Church is really a memorial to St Tudno. When Llandudno was first made, the original village was just on the Orme, where the copper mine was. "

We asked Sue about changes she'd seen in the library over her 37 years there. "It’s changed a lot over the years. Refurbished. We are more IT now, going out into the community with IT sessions. Children’s actcivities. Computerisation coming in. We are still on Dewy, but more flexible Dewy. There used to be a stage here, it used to be a meeting room. 1910 Carnegie funded, the entrepreneur gave the money. We were shut for 4 years while they built the Victoria centre. Lady and Mr Mostyn said there always had to be a library here. So the Victoria Centre could become part, they had to keep us here. Most of the town is owned by the Mostyns Most of it is leasehold. That’s why most of Llandudno is still Victorian. They have a hand on it. They’d have a say where and what memorials there would be. We were up by where the archives are. Its brighter now. There’s very few houses that are freehold. You can buy, but you still pay ground rent. Centre? I don’t live in town anymore. I’m freehold where I am now. Its nice to have somewhere you can call your own. You’ve got no choice, when you have the building painted and its nice to be in control of your own stuff. I spent a lot of my life here. We don’t get as many homeless in here as we used to. It used to be a problem. We’ve locked the toilet now. "

We spot Pokemon Crossing sign on the stairs. "Oh yes, I think it was a thing at one time. One of those phone things. I think it’s died a death now. I don’t know if many people actually did it".

We start to wonder

a) what is a memorial in a digital age?

b) could we make a contemporary roll of honour, of people serving the town today?

Outside the Body Shop is a beautiful relief, including the Llandudno motto: "Hardd - Hafan - Hedd", translated from Queen Elizabeth of Roumania's description of Llandudno as a "Beautiful Haven of Peace". She was also known as Carmen Sylva, a novelist and poet that was accepted into the Gorsedd Circle of Bards at the Eisteddfod. Lots of road names - and buildings and B&Bs - bear her name too, albeit cryptically.

Most of the planters and lamp posts around town also include the logo.

While admiring this box, we had a good chat to the Finnish woman working in the Body Shop, dedicated to improving people's lives through body butter. She told us of her love for the Orme, of walking around it, and how she always knows she's coming home when she sees it. A modern day Carmen Sylva.

This plaque talks about him being a 'pioneer of the cinema' but http://historypoints.org/(a great site to find out more about the history of Llandudno) says:

"The Punch and Judy show on Llandudno prom is the longest-running in Britain, and John Codman played a vital role in the continuity. His grandfather Richard Codman started the show in 1860, having made puppets from driftwood collected from the Llandudno shore. The baton later passed to Richard’s youngest son Herbert, who died in 1961. John, son of Herbert and Dorothy Codman, continued the family tradition. During Herbert’s old age, father and son would often perform half each of the hour-long show. Since John died, aged 72, in 1980, the show has gone on – thanks to two subsequent generations of “professors” [both male and female] from the same family.

John was born in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, and raised in Llandudno. The family of showmen still toured Britain outside the main summer holiday season, when Llandudno was quiet. John served with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in the Second World War, and was among the last members of the British Expeditionary Force to be evacuated from Dunkirk, France, in 1940. His brothers Richard and Cyril both lost their lives in the war, serving in the Royal Navy. John spoke little of his wartime service to his relatives, who were surprised by the large military attendance at John’s funeral in Holy Trinity Church."

More women (including Lady Augusta 'laid this cornerstone, assisted by masonic ceremonies') memorialised in plaques and on windows here. There's also a window to St Tudno (who of course, also has a Church on the Orme, which is in itself a memorial). There's also two Mothers Union banners.

Wanda says "Women played supportive roles in the church, as patrons and so on. These are the sorts of things you get when you give lots of money. Often the only way of getting memorialized is by being self-less. Even if remembered, we are remembered for our invisibility. So then we can be held up as an example of being invisible. Like Anticlaea, Odysseus’ mother. A quick nod to being invisible, someone’s wife, someone’s mother, someone’s daughter. She dies because she misses her son. So she’s the ideal woman, when he goes off, she dies of a broken heart. Women as the support system. What is this lady? What does she wear? How does she behave? Is she a good role model? Of course that is simplifying it. There’ll always be exceptions to that - Lady Augusta being one, perhaps. Not total siphers committed to their power structures"

I'm reminded of a grave I saw on my walk with Trine: "She dedicated her life to others". And of a woman I met, from 8 generations of butchers from the town, who said she'd always been known by names relating to others - Ned's bird; Nerys' mother.

We have found many plaques to Lady Augusta Mostyn. This one was probably closest to her heart: She wanted Oriel Mostyn and the area around it, including the Post Office, to be the centre of Llandudno.

On the Mostyn Estate website, it says this [plenty of dedicating self to others in this]:

"In 1855 Henrietta Augusta Nevill married Thomas Edward Mostyn Lloyd-Mostyn (1830-1851), the heir apparent of the 2nd Baron Mostyn. In May 1861 she was widowed following the devastating death of her husband from consumption, being left to bring up her two young sons and dedicating her life to preserve the rightful inheritance of her eldest, Llewellyn Nevill Vaughan Lloyd-Mostyn (1856-1929), who would eventually become the 3rd Baron Mostyn on the death of his grandfather in 1884. Nevertheless, his successful inheritance depended on finding a solution to the severe mortgage indebtedness of the family. Despite the continuing development of Llandudno, the scale and complexity of their debts (calculated at £720,000) was becoming a serious problem. Much of the family’s lands needed to be sold in order to reduce the deficit but Lady Augusta argued forcefully that the sale of Llandudno would be detrimental to the interests of her son, considering it to be ‘the mainstay of the family’. She played a pivotal role in returning the family to a state of financial stability. In 1879 she returned to live at the newly refurbished Gloddaith hall, remaining there until her death in 1912. During her lifetime her contribution to the development of Llandudno and district was immense. She funded the building of Ysgol Bodafon in 1872, financed the construction of Marine Drive in 1877 and in 1898 she built All Saints Church (Deganwy) in honour of her parents, also contributing towards the building of St. Paul’s Church (Craig-y-Don). She oversaw the foundation of the Oriel Mostyn Art Gallery (opened 1902), stipulating that it should prominently display the works of female artists"

But Jane Matthews, Community Engagement Manager at Oriel Mostyn Gallery has uncovered a different story...

"The one thing about her was that she had in her mind that the building wouldn’t just be an art gallery - that’s where people get confused, so after some research we u’t think it was an art gallery built specifically for women artists.

"Looking at letters and committee reports over the past couple of years, that is not apparent at all. She always wanted it for the good of the town and for local people but she never said it was built specifically for lady artists. Indeed, she doubled the rent paid by the Gwynedd Ladies’ Art Society after a year. She was a huge supporter of the arts, but she says in one of the letters she wanted it to be a polytechnic. They [the women artists] only had one room. They hired out other rooms to other things.

"So although it says that in the entrance to the gallery, it's not for definite, and I think she wanted more than that. I think it was about development at first. For her, as she was building the town, that was going to be the centre of the town, the station, the gallery, the post office, and then it was all meant to go in one sweep through Craig-y-Don. But it hasn’t ended up like that, and Craig-y-Don has always been quite separate. So the Mostyn gallery was intended to be, reading between the lines, at the centre of the town. So it’s interesting that it’s always been on the edge.

"She was trying to move the centre away from over there [pointing to the old part of town, which nestled in the shadow of the Great Orme]. The post office as well, that was originally down the other end of the town. It moved up here. There was a furore in the town and people were writing to the papers. There's a parallel again to just recently, when the post office closed down and moved to WHSmith and people were again writing to the papers.

"Obviously that’s why she placed the gallery here. She intended that the Gwynedd Ladies were going to be selling their work to draw people in. So again there’s a parallel because she was trying to get people up here, just like we are today.

"The artists were selling works, but I think what was irritating her was that many of the ladies weren’t local – a lot of the Art Society members were from Manchester, Birmingham, London. They’d be here for the summer, do a bit of painting, leave their work and go off and collect the cheque. She didn’t want it to be like that, she wanted it to be for local people.

"But then having said that, local people did come and use it as a school, because the school of art, science and technical classes virtually opens before the Gwynedd Ladies leave. I think you’d have to be more an expert in social history, but from the little I know, I’m presuming that they wanted to keep people out of the pubs. The idea was really to give people gainful pastimes, that they would study art, crafts and other subjects to use any leisure time profitably, educationally. But again if you look down the list of who went to the sessions, it was teachers and people who already had some sort of qualification or interest or independent means.

" I like the connection between the two - Augusta and George: He was quite a mover and shaker in the town. We come across him quite often – he was Lady Augusta’s right-hand man and although he started out as an architect he ended up as the chief agent. And he was the one writing letters about this and that - when the Gwynedd Ladies’ Art Society were in the gallery between 1901 and 1903. He had a lot of responsibility and wrote on behalf of Lady Augusta. "

I wonder if Jane is being polite, because I've heard that Lady Augusta was, 'yn ôl bob son' having an affair with Humphreys, they'd look out over the town together, stare at the golden spire, and dream...

We were told when we visited the Mostyn Estates office that 'no memorials are permitted on the prom'. And yet these 5, who died in a terrible speed boat tragedy, together with an inscription that puts a woman first, is present (perhaps placed by Tracey Hughes' family). It looked, perhaps temporary. We wondered why this tragedy was marked, when others are not. Who gets to decide on memorials?

Other memorials (eg see point 19) are on the benches here. The council leases the land from the Mostyns, and people can pay for memorial benches.

Alex Munro Way (previously the Street with No Name) was named in 2014, as a memorial to comedian Alex Munro. The tribute was suggested by Dave Roberts, a local resident, and the idea had been taken up by the Town Council.

Alex Munro was originally from Glasgow, and originally called Alexander Neilson Horsburgh. He died in Llandudno in aged 74. He entertained large crowds with his 'Alex Munro Show' in Happy Valley for 30 years, from the 50s to the 70s. He was given creative control of the Llandudno Pier Pavilion Theatre in the 1970s.

Here's a picture of the unveiling ceremony, with Alex's daughter and grand-daughter.

It's a bit of a disappointment that his full name - Alex "The Size of it!" Munro - is not on the sign. Happy Valley is not as much fun as it used to be.

There are other street names referring to people, but hard to know which ones, so this is the only one included on the map.

This is a lovely memorial marking the 'very spot' in which Lewis Carroll was inspired to write Alice in Wonderland, while on his ramble with 'little Alice Liddell'.

Opened by David Lloyd George in 1933 it was (ironically) recently relocated and surrounded by a screen to try to reduce vandalism. We were not keen on the bathroom aesthetic of the screen but Wanda liked the statue very much.

The photo is of Wanda's favourite view of it: "It’s lovely from this side, the cracks growing up, the little paw, looking out over the sea. It almost works from all sides. It’s lovely"

The most modern of all monuments! And by the people too. The whole hillside is covered. Alan Whitfield told us "The first monument here, or one of the first anyway, the cross you can still make out on the hillside, was done by the army battalion. The building was being used for surveillance. There are plaques commemorating the batallion there".

Wanda describe these as selfie monuments... You can see them from the tram station.

"They are selfie memorials. They are permanent self-memorial. Like self-publishing. So many people are doing towers of rocks they are becoming a real problem in paeleolithic sites because people are wrecking the sites to build their towers. There’s a big cross there too. And hearts. Ban the Bomb, or is it a VW sign? Cymru Am Byth. Symbols names and slogans. It’s the people’s memorials. It would be interesting to try and do one and see if someone might try to stop you. There might be an etiquette – can you take someone else’s rocks, or do you have to collect your own and take them up, like a pilgrimage? Its kind of anarchic. Some might think of others, others might just take rocks and use them. Rather than having a permanent memorial, it ensures its quite current. Unless it was one say your mum had done and someone had re-arranged it"

There is a rock here, that memorialises the rain and floods of '93 ... albeit 'not the biggest' boulder. It is in the garden with the wild flowers.

I wonder what happened in the town... people don't seem keen to talk about flooding, despite the low lying nature of the town, and the fact that is is built on sand. Cellars apparently are just full of water all the time. The only exception to this is when I spoke to Ella, as part of the fantastichttp://aplacetolookout.co.uk/imagined-cities/ at Llawn 5 (September 2017). Perhaps this is the sign of things to come.... soundcloud

There's a plaque here, on a pretty house where Punch and Judy began... The Codman family, of Romany origin, were famous performers both in Liverpool and in North Wales, and still run the Punch and Judy show today. You can see the show near the Cenataph during tourist season, and take a peek at their set stored on the Pier, at the northern end of the old Pier Pavillion site.

See http://www.punchandjudy.com/codgal.htm for more info

“Professor” Walter Beaumont, a professional swimmer, used to give spectacular high diving demonstrations off the pierhead at Llandudno. He also amazed the public with his underwater displays in a glass-sided tank in the Egyptian Hall at the Pier Pavilion. photo_of_walter_beaumont_and_familyHe held the world record for staying underwater, which he managed for 4 minutes 35 seconds. He would drink a bottle of milk, smoke a cigar and pick up 49 coins by mouth, retaining them all in his mouth until resurfacing.

His daughters Alice and Lilly later joined him in the act. Alice is in the middle in the photo. They do not have a memorial.

When he was not doing displays he taught swimming, his pupils being mainly ladies and children. He was appointed ‘Rescuer of the Beach’ by the Town Commissioners of Llandudno, and in 1903 the town gave him an illuminated scroll for assisting in the saving of 113 people from drowning (at different times!). Born in Hammersmith, London, in 1854, he took up swimming at the age of six. By the age of 12 he had already saved seven lives. He made rapid strides as an amateur, then turned professional. He held many world records for saving lives, for remaining underwater, for scientific and ornamental swimming and fastest swimmer. He lived in Llandudno for nine years and later toured the world with his displays. He was the Licensee of the King’s Head public house in Llandudno from 1898 until he went bankrupt in 1911. He died in 1924, aged 69.

You can read more on http://historypoints.org, including about his grave at St Tudno’s churchyard, on the Great Orme. The memorial plaque to him beside Llandudno Pier disappeared in 2013, a year after the HistoryPoints QR codes were installed alongside it. With thanks to John Lawson-Reay, of the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay History Society.

Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (1895 - 1967)was a world renowned conductor of choral works. His early career started at Pier Pavillion where he spent two seasons from 1926 as the conductor of Rivière's Orchestra.

Spot this on one of the benches in the prom shelters.

Is the history point for the Bandstand a Contemporary monument? We are unconvinced as to the aesthetics...

Meanwhile, Sue Wolfendale, who has written a book about the history of the bandstand, suggests: "I think there should be a statue to the first conductor of the band here. Mr Traversi who took over conducting the band in 1910. Before then it was just a rabble, an annually appointed band, it could have been anybody. In 1910 the council said right, we’ll get a permanent band and appoint Mr Traversi to be the band master and he was there 25 years and he just did so much, for the resort as well, because hundreds would come to the band stand every night. No women in the band. I’m in the band now. Early 60s daughters of existing band members initially. Same around the country with bass bands. Now its about equal. The town band is in dire straights at the moment, it’s hard to get people to sign up. Top ones held out til quite recently, no women. They found excuses for it. It was more a behavioural thing. When they go out on the bus, they just want to be vulgar, and couldn’t do that with women around. Can’t have fun with women around can you!?"

Perhaps the monument should be to Sue.

This memorial is in St Tudno's graveyard (itself a monument to St Tudno of course) on the great Orme. You can pick up a book about her at the brilliantly informative Llandudno museum (surely, the tourist information office would be better sited here?).

The memorial is beautiful, in white, a winged wheel. You can see it in the picture - being pointed to by the pointy bush to the right of the church.

Beatrice's inscription is: ” She feared naught but God”. People we met on our wander around finding memorials tended to refer to (fondly) as 'the flighty mad woman: she drove motorbikes and everything".

Wanda was delighted with her memorialisation, and quite surprised: She seemed to come from a working class background, moving to Llandudno at the turn of the century when her father got a job as an electrician to the Llandudno Pier Company. She was the first woman to drive a motor car up the cable track of the Great Orme in Llandudno. She died at 34 from breast cancer.

See more here: http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=graves-at-great-orme-churchyard

http://historypoints.org/index.php?page=graves-at-great-orme-churchyard

This plaque was spotted while walking with actor and retired artistic director, David Owen. David is from Llandudno, his parents worked as singers in all the venues in Llandudno, his grandmother running boarding houses. David had lived in Canada for 45 years before 'coming home' 3 years ago to retire. I was asking him what film he would make about llandudno if he were to make one: "You either start at the beginning and work forward or work on the now now and work back. Or you take a family and track them. Or the theatres. I’d like to do a documentary on the lost theatres. With youtube you get bits of footage you can find. Zero in on a family. Not keen on the Mostyn people I think they are far too fancy."

[What about your own family?]

"yeah, and find out where my grandmother really came from. All the americans that are over in the middle the mid west. One of them became an actor. So it's in the blood. One became an actor in Hollywood".

[We spot the Plaque].

"Ah, Jules Rivière. He had the concert hall. Before it became The Arcadia. So its where Venue Cymru is now. He lived in a grand house. Look at the Gardenias. The climate is mild here - temperature wise its mild. That's why we have palm trees in the gardens. But its miserable. Half the time"

Huw, in Llandudno Museum, told us of Llandudno-born Dr Martha Hughes Cannon (born 1857), who became the first female state senator in 1896 - beating her Republican husband.

In America a musical is being written about her life, but in Wales little is known about her. A Welsh Mormon, moving to Utah in the 19th century her story is of love, tragedy, religion, feminism, polygamy and politics. "Plays have been written about her, there's a musical being written about her, she's a very well known woman out there," said Mr Aaron (to the BBC). Mr Aaron is writing a book about her. " more should be done in Wales to recognise the life of Dr Hughes Cannon and the Welsh community in Utah. There's no acknowledgement whatsoever from Wales," he added.

Meanwhile, an eight-foot-high bronze statue of her by Laura Lee Stay Bradshaw, dedicated in 1996, is housed in the Utah Capitol Rotunda.

Given recent success of the campaign to get the first statue of a woman into Parliament Square, perhaps this could be next? Dr Jasmine Donahaye for example, has called for a national debate on why women are not represented as widely as men : "there are lots of generic women and angel statues in Welsh towns and cities, but few individuals." Yes indeed.

We were struck by how few memorials there are in Llandudno really. We speculated on why - was it because it was a spa rather than an industrial town, so no rich industrialists (as Wanda says "You get a statue if you are rich enough, if you’ve exploited enough people, you are a non-murdering psychopath, you get a statue"). And/or was it because the whole town is really a memorial to the Mostyns, the power behind the scenes, operating below the radar, in a way?

This - outside the Town Hall - is where her statue would be.

On the tram on the way down from the Orme, I asked Wanda for any thoughts on the day's search for monuments....soundcloud

On my walk with Francesca Colussi, she told me of a menagerie of memorial benches on Lover (Invalid)'s Walk. A surprising number seem to be dedicated to various Marges, Marjories. And so they are. "Such a weird name" she says, "It sounds so like Margarine".

Some people have said there are too many benches here. Like the bunches of flowers left by the road at sites of car crashes, they change how you feel about a place, make it all about the past, death... others enjoy the benches, of hearing how people have enjoyed this view, these times, these people, these places. They find them joyful.

These benches were subject to discussion at a meeting of "the Friends of the West Shore" that I attended. A remarkably dynamic and empowered group, they went through an enormously long list of things they'd spotted for improvement on their most recent 'Walkabout' in the area. One was the delapidated state of the benches. After a short discussion, in which many people offered bits of information, insights and suggestions, it was decided that

a) nowadays (since when not sure, but certainly for at least 3 years), when someone buys a memorial bench from the council (£950), they are responsible for its upkeep [I had, in fact, seen a 'memorial bench upkeep' van with Wanda on our walk, while we were inspecting the White Rabbit Statue]. And after 10 years the bench 'runs out'

b) in the past this might not have been the case. But the most delapidated benches would be older than 10 years, so it would be sensible to ask the council to remove them. Ideally the council would let the commissioners of the benches know first (although there was general agreement that usually things would have moved on - often by the commissioning person themselves dying - but this would be good etiquette/thoughtful anyway)

c) Spaces freed up in this way could then return to a), and so upkeep and income to the council sorted.

And so to the future! This cafe came into being (from a business initially run from a van) through crowdfunding. There's a memorial to the funders at the top of the stairs.

Commemorating 141 days of sacrifice. At the Troop Cafe, a community enterprise set up by CAIS, providing refreshments to people arriving and leaving on coach trips. This used to be a chapel.

Community Support Officer, Christopher Perkins, the person serving longest for Llandudno police, told me of this plaque, for 'Llandudno's worst crime'. it takes some seeking out. I found it by asking in the cafe, and local people i met walking along the Prom knew of it too. It is a tiny memorial with big effect + affect.

The memorial benches on the pier are maintained by the owners of the pier. They are taken in every year to be restored in a little dark blue shed. Iolo Williams told us of how much he enjoys reading the plaques, the happiness and memories that people share here. One bench, William Willits, is of someone born on the same day as him. He feels he shares a common history with him, and often goes to see him, and sit on the bench.

There are rows of memorial benches along the Prom. The land is leased by the Town Council from the Mostyn Estates. Then people pay the Town Council to put up a memorial bench, which, we understand, lasts for 10 years, then the bench can be removed. Some people have told us they'd like the design of the benches and the design of the plaques to be more beautiful. Some benches, and plaques, are now being made in plastic.

Some people have suggested there should be a memorial that celebrates Monkey Man, who is seen wandering the streets with his monkey(s) in a pram, almost every day.

Monkey Man has lived in Llandudno since 2012. He has 4,000+ fans on Facebook and has several videos of him and his monkey on YouTube. The 60-year-old engineer retired due to health issues when he was 45 and his monkey act has given him something to do. “It keeps me busy and I’m just entertaining people. I love to see the smiles on their faces – it’s just great.”

The suggestion of Monkey Man for memorialising makes me wonder why we tend to only celebrate people once they've died? The mother of a friend of mine, with terminal cancer, has asked for her funeral to be done while she is still alive. And this seems to me a good idea.

The Punch and Judy booth includes original wood from the original 18th Century show, that started here in Llandudno. The Codman family still runs the show today.

Here is a picture of the booth while it is being stored on the Pier (just before the Grand Hotel). When it is in operation, you'll find it near the Cenotaph / entrance of the pier.

Sylvia Sleigh, was born in Llandudno in 1916. She was a 'provocative portraitist and feminist artist', winning many awards and heralded as one of the most important artists of the 20th Century.

In an interview in 2007 she said "I do think things have improved for women in general there are many more women in government, in law and corporate jobs, but it's very difficult in the art world for women to find a gallery." According to Sleigh, there is still more that needs to be done in order for men and women to be treated as equals in the art world

She was a naturalised American realist painter, and died on 24 October 2010, New York.

There are no monuments to her in Llandudno. But this would be a good place: Perhaps in place of the ugly wooden white rabbit statue.

This is Llanduno's most contentious monument. It remains in place, despite its apparent breach of planning processes and vehement local protest. It has become a symbol of the power of the few over the many.

On Sunday 29 August 1993, Michael Prestage reports in the Independent Online:

"Villagers demand demolition of hotel's folly on the hill"

"To its admirers, the recently constructed obelisk at Ffrith Hill, near Llandudno in north Wales, with views over the Snowdonia National Park, is a monument that enhances the landscape. But critics describe it as an eyesore. Its future may have to be decided in the courts.

A colour brochure celebrating the 64ft obelisk, produced by its owner Richard Broyd, features pictures of nine similar monuments, including Cleopatra's Needle in London. The difference is that the newcomer might not survive a year, while the others have clocked up centuries. The obelisk was built on the Bodysgallen estate, where the restored hall has become a hotel. It towers above a 100ft quarry face from a meadow designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. But its construction has prompted the formation of the Ffrith Obelisk Action Group, dedicated to having the folly dismantled; a petition has 700 signatures. And in the village of Pydew people claim they were deceived.

Planning permission was granted by Aberconwy district council as part of a list of applications for the Bodysgallen estate. There were no objections, locals say, because they were not aware of where the obelisk was to be sited.

Pauline Lancashire, secretary of the group, said: 'A commercial enterprise has been allowed to build a totally inappropriate structure on a valuable wildlife site. It must now be demolished.'

The Snowdonia National Park and the North Wales Wildlife Trust have supported the campaign. And the Countryside Council for Wales, which had to be consulted before planning permission was granted, appears to accept it made a mistake. A letter to the action group says: 'The location of the proposed obelisk . . . was not properly recognised by CCW, so there did not appear to be any significant implications for nature conservation interests.'

Mr Broyd, however, has acted within the law and if the obelisk is demolished will be eligible for compensation. Bill Brice, chairman of the planning committee, said: 'The obelisk is too big and the site is too prominent. Recently we turned down a small extension to a house near by because it would break the skyline. Yet this has been allowed and its sole purpose is to dominate the skyline. It should definitely never have been built.'

Mr Broyd, adamant that the obelisk will stay, will fight in court if necessary. 'It is a splendid thing and the construction is part of the tradition of building ornaments on the landscape in country houses. We applied for planning permission correctly, we built correctly, and we confirmed all we were doing with council planning officers.'"

John Lawson-Reay, in his book "Llandudno History Tour" (a copy of which I bought in WH Smiths, and I recommend it as an interesting way to see how things have changed in Llandudno), mentions that:

"66 Mostyn Street used to be the Llandudno Cocoa House, run by Annie Reeves Hughes and her husband Hugh. On the afternoon of Wednesday 23 January 1907, a group of local women met 'by kind permission of Mrs Reeves Hughes' and 'decided to form a Llandudno Branch of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies', the very first active group in the whole of Wales. Although the building continues to offer refreshment [although I think it might now be 'Gifts Galore'?], it bears no plaque commemorating its historic signifcance".

So this is the site for a proposed memorial.

This site has stood empty for 20 years, since the Pier Pavillion burnt down in 1994. The Pier Pavillion used to be the heart of Llandudno, and the hole that remains (together with the contentious plans to built high rise luxury flats on the site rather than something of public access and value) seems a fitting memorial to a town that is searching for its contemporary cultural heart.

History Points says this about the Pier Pavillion:

"Llandudno’s Pier Pavilion, now just a hole in the ground, was the premier venue for many of the best entertainments from the Victorian period until its heyday in the 1950s.

Work started in 1881 on a 2,200 seat, three-storey structure made largely of cast iron with superbly detailed decorations. In the basement was the largest indoor swimming pool in Britain, or so it was claimed! Opened in September 1886, the Pavilion was 62 metres long by 26 metres wide and 32 metres high. The canopy roof was 18 metres across.

It was essentially designed as a concert hall. In 1887 Jules Riviere, an Anglo-French composer, conductor and impresario, brought his 28-piece orchestra to the Pavilion for daily concerts. These continued under many quite famous conductors until 1936.

After a decline in the popularity of concerts, the Pavilion hosted variety shows and conferences. Performers included George Formby, Paul Robeson, Russian ballet star Pavlova, Billy Cotton, Petula Clark, Vera Lynn, Arthur Askey, the Beverly Sisters, Cyril Fletcher, Cliff Richard and Hughie Green.

Politicians who attended conferences there included Stanley Baldwin, Ramsey MacDonald, Oswald Mosley, Neville Chamberlain, Clement Atlee, Harold MacMillan, Edward Heath and Winston Churchill. It is said that the young Margaret Thatcher decided to take up politics while attending a Conservative Party conference there in 1948.

Closed in 1990, the pavilion was put to the torch by arsonists in 1994 and destroyed, although some of the ironwork still remains by the pier"

Ysgol John Bright is an example of naming something specifically enough to know who it is referring to. As compared with vague street names such as 'Augusta Street', where it IS possible to work out who they are referring to, but only if you have an idea where to begin.

Originally from Greenbank, Rochdale, Lancashire, John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889), Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. He is most famous for battling the Corn Laws. Bright sat in the House of Commons from 1843 to 1889, promoting free trade, electoral reform and religious freedom. He was almost a lone voice in opposing the Crimean War; he also opposed Gladstone's proposed Home Rule for Ireland. He was a spokesman for the middle class, and strongly opposed to the privileges of the landed aristocracy. In terms of Ireland, he sought to end the political privileges of Anglicans, disestablished the Church of Ireland, and began land reform that would turn land over to the Catholic peasants. He coined the phrase "Mother of Parliaments."

For deeply personal reasons, Bright was closely associated with the North Wales tourist resort of Llandudno. In 1864, he holidayed there with his wife and five-year-old son. As they passed through the graveyard, the boy said, "Mamma, when I am dead, I want to be buried here." A week later, he had died of scarlet fever, and his wish was granted. Bright returned to Llandudno at least once a year until his own death. He is still commemorated in Llandudno where the principal secondary school was named after him, and a new school, Ysgol John Bright was built in 2004.

Memorialisation of John Bright (Llandudno plus)....

In 1868, students of the new Cornell University debated whether to call its first literary society, "The John Bright Brotherhood" or the "Irving Literary Society".

New York State's recently deceased native son received the honours, but not before Bright was inducted as its first honorary member.

The library at Bootham School is named in his honour.[33] In 1928, the Brooks-Bryce Foundation donated significant funds to the Princeton University Library for a collection of materials on the life and times of John Bright, in honour of the statesman.

The Foundation also donated funds for an outdoor pulpit to be added to Princeton Chapel, also in honour of Bright.

His name is given to John Bright Street in Birmingham, his statue is in the collection of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and to the secondary school Ysgol John Bright in Llandudno, North Wales.

The town of Bright in Victoria, Australia, is named in his honour.

Born in Llannerch-y-medd in 1803 and with a long career as an influential minister (died 1897), Richard Parry established a chapel in Llandudno for both Welsh and English services. He was a prolific Welsh language author, and won ten eisteddfod chairs during his lifetime. 'Gwalchmai' being his bardic name.

The plaque says nothing of the Welsh language but focuses on his writing of an 'early historical guide to Llandudno' and promoting religious services for English visitors.

So here's a picture of him with his Eisteddfod medals: Gwalchmai yn gwisgo ei sash a'i fedalau eisteddfodol

Gorsedd Altar and Bardic Circle - The stone altar, headstone, and eleven stone circle, sited in 1963 for the hosting of the national Eisteddfod.

The Eisteddfod, Wales’ main cultural festival, is held in a different place every August. A stone circle near each festival location is used for ceremonies by the Eisteddfod’s Gorsedd of Bards.

In 1963, no-one was deemed worthy of the Chair: A National Geographic article of the event said: "No event symbolizes more vividly the poetic soul of the Welsh and the unyielding pride and integrity that accompany it than the ceremony of Chairing the Bard. This is the high point of the annual National Eisteddfod. ... The large stage of an enormous prefabricated pavilion was banked with robed bardic dignitaries and the television lights stabbed at them like searchlights.... [But].... No poem submitted was deemed worthy, ... the ritual Chairing of the Bard would not take place. Merit before ritual - no ritual for its own sake! ... The 8,000 still sat there in the huge pavilion, as if they had been stunned. Where else, I thought, would people feel so intensely about poetry?"

The only other time Llandudno has hosted an Eisteddfod was in 1896.This time, the Chair was won by Ben Davies.

Portable “stones” made from plastic have been used since 2005 to cut costs.

The only bust of a person in the whole of Llandudno, so far as we know.

As Llandudno developed as a resort from 1850, the Happy Valley was a farm field with substantial quarrying nearby. In 1887, to mark Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, Lord Mostyn (the principal local landowner) closed the quarries and 'gave' the land to the town as a permanent park ( this land was originally common land, but given to the Mostyn Estate following the 1843 Enclosure Act).

Trees were planted and rock gardens and pools laid out by the council. The work was completed in 1890 with the unveiling of the drinking fountain, in the centre of which was a bust of the queen.

42, the answer to everything.

Sometimes graffitti hits the nail on the head.

LLANDUDNO with Queen Victoria (and drinking fountain), memorial benches, Gorsedd y Bardd, Bardic Circle... as viewed from the pier. This just about as memorial-y as Llandudno gets.

Here at y Tabernacl is a plaque to Lewis Valentine, (1 June 1893 – March 1986).

Valentine was born in Llanddulas, Conwy to Mary and her husband and limestone quarryman Samuel Valentine, a limestone quarryman.

He was a Welsh politician, Baptist pastor, author, editor, and Welsh-language activist.

His experience as a medical orderly during the First World War made him a Welsh nationalist and a pacifist. He wrote of his experience in the war in Dyddiadur milwr (A soldier's diary).

He became the first president of Plaid Cymru and its first parliamentary candidate in the 1929 General Election, when he stood in the Caernarfonshire constituency.

In 1936, along with Saunders Lewis and D. J. Williams, Valentine took part in the symbolic burning of a bombing school at Penyberth in north-west Wales. He was sentenced to nine months in prison for this action. He preached here at y Tabernacl after coming out of prison to audiences so large they used to bring chairs to sit outside.

As a pastor he served the church in North Wales and edited the Baptist quarterly magazine, Seren Gomer, from 1951 to 1975.

He is also famed as the writer of the hymn Gweddi dros Gymru (A prayer for Wales), usually sung to the tune of Sibelius's Finlandia Hymn, and generally thought of as the second Welsh national anthem.

Read more about Lewis Valentine here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Valentine

Arthur Hewitt is the only person we have found that has been memorialised for their influence on the architecture in Llandudno. He was a businessman and councillor (serving on Llandudno Urban District Council from its early days in 1915 through to 1951). He designed many buildings in Llandudno including The Palladium, Savoy and Odeon Cinemas, Clare's Dept Store and the Washington Hotel.

He as also a Commanding Officer in the 5th Battalion (Caernarfonshire) Home Guard, was a JP, got an OBE and was Deputy Lieutenant of Caernarfonshire in 1946.

He also has a plaque on the Washington Hotel (now Dylan's restaurant).

We believe he is the only person other than Lady Augusta Mostyn to be named on more than one building. His memorialisation is probably due to the range of roles he had, suggesting he was a properly 'upright citizen'.

But I couldn't find a single picture of him on the internet.

Arthur Hewitt is the only person we have found that has been memorialised for their influence on the architecture in Llandudno. We believe he is the only person other than Lady Augusta Mostyn to be named on more than one building in Llandudno. His memorialisation is probably due to the range of roles he had, suggesting he was considered a properly 'upright citizen'. Although we couldn't find a single picture of him on the internet.

He was a businessman and councillor (serving on Llandudno Urban District Council from its early days in 1915 through to 1951). He designed many buildings in Llandudno including The Palladium, Savoy and Odeon Cinemas, Clare's Dept Store and the Washington Hotel.

He as also a Commanding Officer in the 5th Battalion (Caernarfonshire) Home Guard, was a JP, got an OBE and was Deputy Lieutenant of Caernarfonshire in 1946.

He built the Washington in 1925 to replace the original hotel that was deemed to be spoiling the curve of development around the bay.

He also has a plaque on the The Palladium Theatre (now Wetherspoons).

A future monument, suggested by David Owen, whose grandmother ran a boarding house here in the 1920s.

A suggested monument to celebrate the new lifeboat station (first lifeboat launched from here Autumn 2017). Christmas Tudno Jones was a lifeboat man for 35 years, helping to save the lives of 166 people. He was described as a 'an interesting and bubbly person'.

We could also memorialise the original lifeboat, itself a memorial. It was called "The Sisters Memorial" as it was a gift from two sisters – Misses Brown of Toxteth Park in Liverpool – in memory of their late sibling. All three sisters were regular visitors to Llandudno during their youth.

Of course, this (these) monuments could stand at the site where the lifeboats used to launch, near the cenotaph, the only place in the UK where the lifeboat used to travel by road before launching.

There's a plaque commemorating the men and women of the RAF, RCAF, WAAF and WRNS who were stationed up here when this was the Radar Station. Now one of the radio masts here transmits Classic FM.

Apparently, the men and women who served here made the large cross on the Hill of Names. It was the first thing made there, so their self-made monument has seeded a long and continuing monumentalising.

The Summit Complex building was originally 'The Telegraph Inn' from where messages were relayed between Holyhead and Liverpool advising of the imminent arrival of sailing ships laden with valuable cargo. Later, much re-built as 'The Summit Hotel', it served as the 19th hole for the Great Orme Golf Club that closed in 1939. The site of the golf course is now a sheep farm. During the second world war the hotel reverted to a signalling purpose and became the RAF Great Orme Radar Station.

When Phil Smith took us on his 'Mis-guided wander in Llandudno' (you can go on his walk - it is the subject of another map), he told us of Dion Fortune:

"In 1890 Violet Firth was born in Penrhynside; her father ran the Craigside Hydrotherapeutic Establishment. Much later Violet changed her name to Dion Fortune, based on the family motto ‘Deo, non Fortuna’ (God, not Chance), and under that name is known as one of the leading proponents of occult magic, even organising a magical defence of Britain during the Second World War.

"From the age of four, Violet had repeated dreams of the drowned land of Atlantis, which she attributed to past life experience, but may have been informed by tales of sunken lands off the coast here, like that of the lost palace just beyond the Great Orme at Llys Helig or, further south and west, the inundated kingdom of Cantre’r Gwaelod."

We think there should be a monument to her on Bryn Y Bia Road, where she was born, and where she lived until she was about 10.

Next to the front door to Chamberlain, Johnson and Parke is this plaque to James Cecil Parke, 1881 - 1946. Solicitor and tennis and Rugby champion. He won Australia's Men's singles tennis in 1912, Wimbledon mixed doubles in 1914 and was an Irish Rugby International player too.

Thanks to Gareth Pritchard for posting about this plaque on the facebook group "You Know If You Are From Llandudno If..." . This is the first plaque (I think) that mentions 'business man and philanthropist' - we had been struck by how few memorials to businessmen /philanthropists there are in Llandudno. It seems Robert Baxter was involved with the Llandudno Hospital Building Scheme.

In his facebook post, Gareth said: "Robert Clare Baxter rebuilt [Clare's department] store in 1927 after a huge fire. He had taken over the business from W S Williams of Llanrwst. Eventually, Robert Clare Baxter had 7 businesses including 'Baxters Bon'."

See 54 for a more recent memorial to someone involved with the hospital...

We haven't found this 'physically', but stumbled across this picture online on the Francis Frith website, of a plaque to Sam Owen, "Tireless Campaigner for Llandudno Hospital, Community Worker and Local Personality". The 'Llandudno ideal' combination of good works and personality. One of the most recent memorials we've found.

(see also 52 for an early supporter of the hospital)