Bimbling in Bangor

Bangor

Tuesday 5th September

I have had difficulty finding any visitor information online and no hint of any kind of walking trail. The most information I’ve found is that tourist information is at the Council Offices, so that is where I will head first! After getting Steve his Clara picture we head to the Canonry car park and we part company. I find the Council Offices and I have to say it doesn’t look promising. I ring the bell on the front desk and a gentleman greets me with a cheery hello. So it turns out there is no Tourist Information in Bangor and he apologizes that he doesn’t have an information for me, but sends me over to Storiel – the Museum building as he’s sure they will be able to help. I interrupt the two ladies speaking Welsh behind the counter (lovely to hear it) and they looked puzzled when I ask them about any kind of History trail or self-guided walk around Bangor and even suggest the Council Offices might be able to help. They do mention a slate timeline on the High Street, so I decide to go for a wander to see what I can find for myself. I find the slate timeline and on my way to find the start of it I pass a Trespass shop and pop in (I’m looking for a pack of guy ropes and zip pulls as well as some shorts as it’s so warm!) the guy serving in there is very friendly and agrees that there isn’t any kind of trail and that Caernarfon probably has better history!

Mural celebrating St Deiniol (apologies for quality - it’s behind glass!)

I didn’t discover this board until afterwards!

The slate timeline runs the length of the high street and has some really lovely bronze illustrations which were designed by local schoolchildren and artist David Mackie then interpreted their designs and hand-carved all the moulds to be cast in bronze. I’d like to tell you more, but the advertised website for the timeline doesn’t exist anymore.

There are a few notable buildings (see pics) and the Victorian Clocktower is a central feature. So I follow the slate timeline from beginning to end, photographing most of it, getting some weird looks from passers-by as I go! When I come to the end I decide to carry on and walk the 15 minutes to visit Garth Pier as Steve won’t be finished in the Cathedral yet. Walking on through housing in the sunshine past an Ambulance Station, through a tiny green space with Standing Stones in, past an Army Centre, looking at doors (disappointing on that front) and finally reaching the pier.

Garth Pier is 470m long with really cute little pavilions all along its length. These house small cafes, gift shops, art galleries and a large café in the biggest pavilion at the end. The pier sits in the Menai Strait and you can just about see the Suspension bridge. It’s really windy today and I’m finding it difficult to control my Nordic Walking Poles! I duck into the café at the end, but it’s really busy so I head to the Whistlestop Café for a couple of slices of Bara Brith(not as good as yours Lorna Jones) and a drink, sitting to eat them in the sunshine. I then stop off at the little gift shop as I had spied something interesting on my way past. I had a chat with the lady running it and she was really disappointed to hear that Bangor Museum and Council Staff knew nothing about any of Bangor’s history trails, but it seems there’s a walk I could have done from Bangor to Betheseda following the history of the local slate industry following the Snowdonia Slate Trail. Another time maybe.

From the Pier I decide to start heading back to the Cathedral, but first I wanted to explore the ‘Castle’ I had seen on the way in…turns out there’s nothing listed about a castle as it’s actually a Bangor University Building!

Finally on my walk I come to the North Wales Heroes Memorial to all those men of North Wales who fell in the Great War. Behind it is a very modern building called Pontio, an Arts and Innovation Centre and Performing Arts Theatre.

I return to Clara and Steve and we head back into Bangor to find some lunch. I like to frequent smaller independent places to eat and we found a place called Bwyd Da Bangor, which combines a membership-based food share programme, re-distributing surplus supermarket stock with a high-quality training café. The café is run by staff who are coming though a local rehabilitation centre or currently living in supported accommodation. Receiving training through a local college staff get support and qualifications to gain access into long-term employment. It’s also an ethically, environmentally sustainable café! We both had delicious lunches and it was great to see a £2 option on the menu for those who just need a hot meal. Staff were friendly and attentive too!

So after lunch we had a trip to the local Morrisons for a restock and headed off to our next campsite.

Exploring Brecon

Strolling in St Asaph