Visiting Portmeirion Village and the Red Lion (6 November 2024)

 

Portmeirion Village

Many years ago I watched an absorbing and rather strange TV series called “The Prisoner”.  It was set in a village in Wales that seemed to me at the time to be more Italy than Welch.  The day before we set off south I looked it up and discovered that it was called Portmeirion and was on our way to Llandyfaelog where we were going to be staying for two nights. 

View from our apartment looking at Anglesey over the channel

 

The road that took us there was wider than we were used to.  The GPS strangely took us to a nearby village called Portmadog where we stopped for a coffee.  We asked where it was and were told to follow the road south. 

Portmadog boat harbour

 

The approach to it was lovely with mature trees lining the road to the village.  It is a tourist attraction with only a few permanent residents.  Many of the other residences are accommodation for visitors.  It was beautiful. The architect who designed it had envisioned an eco-friendly approach with the centre of the village being a piazza.  It had a mediterranean design approach. 

 

We spent much longer than intended wandering around the place.  I was surprised to learn that it was built in two phases.  The first phase over fifteen years beginning in 1929 and then second phase over twenty years beginning in 1954.  It is an architectural gem .  There was even one bloke wandering around dressed like the characters in The Prisoner.  We took many photographs but unfortunately the light was not the best so bear with me.  There was even a bronze cast of Patrick McGoohan's head (he was the star of the series).


 

Then it was on the road to Llandyfaelog.  I had miscalculated the time it takes to move around Wales and the GPS kept taking us along very narrow lanes that might seem to make it faster but of course you have to go slowly.  We stopped at a little café on route to have something to eat.  They had soup on the menu but we were told the kitchen had stopped serving so it was a cup of coffee for me and Bev had a piece of cake. 

 

By the time we got close to Llandyfaelog I was keeping to main roads as the recommended turn offs as we came to them revealed a one lane road.  However, on the last stretch we ended up going along this very narrow lane again in the dark.  I found out later there was a less direct route but would have been easier and faster. 

 

The pub was in a little village with the only commercial premises being the pub.  We were meeting an old friend of Bev’s that night for dinner.  She had not seen him for 46 years since they hung out together as part of a group in London.  We had a very pleasant evening hearing a little about the local area and of course them catching up on the past 46 years. 












Various shots of the village

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