“ We shall fight them on the beaches ”
During the 1948 Conservative Party ’ s annual conference , held at the Pier Pavilion , Sir Winston Churchill ( 1874 - 1965 ) stayed at the Grand Hotel , in room 109 .
You can see a preview of footage from the conference on the British Pathé website . Click here to view .
Alice in Llandudno ?
Alice Liddell was born in 1842 in Westminster , London . She regularly spent holidays at her families home Penmorfa ( later to become the Gogarth Abbey Hotel ) in Llandudno .
It is believed that Alice was the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll ’ s Alice ’ s Adventure in Wonderland .
Following the death of her husband in 1926 , Alice sold her copy of Alice ’ s Adventures Under Ground ( the earlier title for the book ) to cover the cost of death duties and maintaining her home in Hampshire .
The manuscript sold at auction at Sotherby ’ s for £ 15,000 ( equivalent of approximately £ 840,900 today ).
The book now resides in the British Library .
Port Wrexham ?
The St George ’ s Harbour & Railway Company had planned to develop Llandudno as an export base for Denbighshire coal and it was decided to name Llandudno , as Port Wrexham .
The renaming was eventually abandoned after Owen Williams , an architect from Liverpool , suggested to Lord Mostyn that the town should be developed as a holiday destination .
Halt !
In 1915 , the German submarine , U-38 , kept a rendezvous in the waters off the Great Orme . The mission was to rescue three German officers who had escaped from a prisoner of war camp at Dyffryn Aled , Llansannan and had made their way to the Great Orme in Llandudno .
The U-boat did not see the officer ’ s repeated attempts to signal it . Now cold and hungry , the Germans abandoned their attempt , split up and headed into town .
Lieutenant-Commander Hermann Tholens was arrested by Police Constable Morris Williams after Tholens left a café in Mostyn Street .
The other two , Captain Heinrich von Hennig and Captain Wolff- Dietrich Baron von Helldorf were later seen in North Parade standing under a lamp by taxi driver , Alfred Davies . Davies pulled over and asked them if they would like a lift . The two officers got in and he drove them straight to the army headquarters nearby .
That ’ s the way to do it !
Llandudno is home to the one of the oldest Punch & Judy shows in the world . Remarkably , the Codman family have been running the show for over 155 years using the original theatre and puppets .
Largest prehistoric copper mine
During the Bronze Age , Llandudno was a major centre for copper mining and the largest copper mine in the world . The Orme contains 3.7 miles ( 6 km ) of tunnels , some estimated to be nearly 4,000 years old .
Have you heard about the herd ?
In the early part of the last century , Squire Christopher Tower from Essex , discovered a herd of Kashmir goats which had been imported from Kashmir into France in order to create a woollen industry . Inspired , he purchased two and took them to Weald Park in Brentwood . The goats flourished and eventually he manufactured a cashmere shawl .
George IV was impressed and accepted a pair of the goats given to him by Squire Tower . This was the beginnings of the Windsor herd and during the reign of his daughter , Queen Victoria , cashmere shawls became popular . Later in the century , Major General Sir Savage Mostyn acquired two goats from the Windsor herd and took them to the grounds of Gloddaeth Hall .
Today , the Kashmiri herd that roam the Great Orme is managed by Conwy county council and contraception is often used to curb their numbers .
Land ahoy !
Whilst it is said there are 30 shipwrecks in Llandudno bay , in all likelihood there are sure to be many more .
On New Year ’ s Day 1824 , the brig Hornby met its watery fate at a site known as Hornby Cave .
The vessel had set sail from Liverpool and was bound for South America , as it attempted to round the Great Orme ’ s Head , a gale forced it onto the cliffs .
A man named John Williams was the only survivor of the Hornby , he had managed to climb the cliffs to safety .
Williams spent his remaining days as a Llandudno copper miner .
09