BACK TO THE MAINLAND

We leave Holyhead, on Holy Island, and find Porth Dafarch Beach, seen in the 1960s.

Next stop, on Anglesey proper, is a village called Valley.It's here that we see this Bristol VR of Jones of Llanfaethlu in 1995.

To the east is a place called Llangristiolus. home of Griffith's Coaches. If you're unsure of the route we're taking, here's a link to the map.

The small town of Llangefni comes next. It's centred around the George Pritchard Raynor memorial clock (Creative Commons License).

Another of the town's attractions, St Cyngar church (Creative Commons License).

We must not forget the cheese factory (Creative Commons License).

The long closed railway station in Llangefni, on the disused Amlwch branch, in 1995.

Built to serve the train passengers, the Railway pub, a good JW Lee's house.

In 2000, Lewis Y Llan was operating a local bus service in Llangefni.

Another company, Ellis Coaches, had a depot in the town.

That famous place with the long name comes next. I'll shorten it to Llanfair PG. Two postcard views of it.

Here's my photo of the station, in 2003.

A Bristol VR of Ellis Coaches was found parked in Llanfair PG in 1995.

We now return to the mainland, using the LNWR Britannia tubular bridge over the Menai Straits.

After a fire the bridge was rebuilt and now carries both road and rail.

Now, we turn south and reach the town of Caernarfon, with its magnificent castle.

Here's the castle from the waterfront.

To cross to the other side, there's now a swing bridge.

A local bus company, Silver Star, used the car park below the castle walls to rest their vehicles between duties.

Until the mid 1990s, most of Caernarfon's buses used Castle Square as a terminus, as seen in the postcard view.

Crosville was, of course, the principal bus operator here.

Silver Star had a couple of routes, one of which went to Cesarea.

Clynnog & Trefor had a service to Pwllheli.

Other operators included Express Motors. KMP of Llanberis and Whiteways.

Crosville also had a depot in Caernarfon.

By the 1990s, the Castle Square had been abandoned as a bus terminal and one street is now dedicated to bus stops. Crosville Cymru was the main bus operator when this happened.

Arriva run many services these days (Andrew Fieldsend).

A new entrant seen in 2022, Gwynfor Coaches (Andrew Fieldsend).

Express Motors and Silver Star also use the on-street terminal.

In recent years, the railway has returned to Caernarfon, in the form of the Welsh Highland Railway. Loco no. 143 is seen here in 2014.

There's a Wetherspoons in Caernarfon - the Tafarn Y Porth.

Below the castle is a Marston's pub, the Anglesey.

The Black Buoy is the best bet for real ale.

That's where I'll leave tyou for now, Next time, the foothills of Snowdonia and beyond.

YNYS MÔN

So, today we're off to Anglesey, but first we must conclude our visit to Bangor. We start at the Regency Hotel, which had real ale when I visited in 2003. It has since had a name change and is a keg house these days. It is very handy for the railway station.

LMS Royal Scot class 4-6-0 no. 6115 at Bangor arriving from Holyhead.

A Metro-Cammell DMU seen at Bangor in the early 1980s.

Looking down on Bangor station, as a class 37 has charge of an England bound service in 1993.

Bangor signal box, an impressive structure, oversees workings here

Typical traffic at Bangor in 2003, all heading east.

We'll leave the railway and reach Anglesey by road, using Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge, seen from the Anglesey shore.

In the nearby village of Menai Bridge, the Victoria Hotel, known for its selection of beers.

Onwards to Beaumaris (see the map here for the route), where there are fine views of the Menai Strait and across to the Snowdonia Range.

Beaumaris had a pier back in 1896.

A old postcard view of Beaumaris church.

There's a castle too, photographed around 1960.

Ye Olde Bull's Head in Beaumaris has a good selection of beers and can provide accommodation.

Moving on, we come to Red Wharf Bay & Benllech station, at the end of a short LNWR branch line, long closed.

Low tide at Red Wharf Bay in 2003.

Now.... the tide's in (Creative Commons License).

Red Wharf Bay is home to a fine pub, the Ship Inn, worth seeking out.

To the north of the island now, for a quick look at Cemaes Bay.

As we approach the village of Llanfaethlu we find the ex London DMS type bus parked up on the roadside. It belongs to Jones of Llanerchymedd.

There's a different Jones the Bus in Llanfaethlu village.

We move on to Holyhead (Caergybi), where the harbour is protected by a long breakwater (Jean Mottershead - Creative Commons License).

The breakwater requires constant maintenance and this seven-foot gauge loco Prince Albert was used to transport materials.

The broad gauge line was later replaced by a standard gauge one, isolated from the rest of the railway network, but worked by BR locos. This shed housed the motive power.

The LNWR built the railway to Holyhead and one of their expresses is seen here.

A DMU has just arrived in 1979.

08613 is the station pilot in 1986.

Holyhead station in 2003, with a Virgin Trains HST.

This KMP Buses of Llanberis coach has just picked up passengers off a ferry in 2000.

Holyhead is an important ferry terminal for the route to Ireland (Michael & Sherry Martin - Creative Commons License).

St Cybi's Church in Holyhead (Creative Commons License).

The Clock Tower commemorating the extension of the Holyhead Docks between 1875 and 1880 (Creative Commons License).

Crosville was long the main bus operator in Holyhead. 

Crosville had a small depot and yard in the town.

Goodsir Coaches were based in Holyhead. A Leyland Leopard coach seen outside the garage in 1995.

Goodsir were also operating a town service in 1995.

Holyhead is not a great town for cask beer, but a pub called The Seventy Nine can usually provide some.

And that's where I'll leave you for now, Next time, the central parts of Anglesey.