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.