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SANDBOX

Early History of Llandudno
The town of Llandudno developed from stone-age, bronze-age and iron-age settlements over many hundreds of years on the slopes of the limestone headland, known to seafarers as the Great Orme and to landsmen as the Creuddyn peninsular. The origins in recorded history are with the Manor of Gogarth conveyed by King Edward I to Annan, Bishop of Bangor in 1284. The manor comprised three townships, Y Gogarth in the south-west, Y Cyngreawdr in the north (with the parish church of St. Tudno) and Yn Wyddfid in the south-east. By 1847 the town had grown to a thousand persons served by the new church of St. George, built in 1840, the great majority of the men working in the copper mines with others employed in fishing and subsistence agriculture.

In 1848, Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marsh lands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiasticly persued by Lord Mostyn. The influence of the Mostyn Estate and its agents over the years was to become paramount in the development of Llandudno and especially after the appointment of George Felton as surveyor and architect in 1857. During the years 1857 to 1877 much of central Llandudno had been developed under Felton's supervision. George Felton also undertook architectural design work including the design and execution of Holy Trinity Church in Mostyn Street.

Venu Cymru
Venue Cymru is a large arts venue in Llandudno North Wales incorporating a 1,500 seat theatre, restauraunt, conference centre and arena. The venue was previously known as the North Wales Theatre and the North Wales Conference Centre.

There has been a theatre on the Venue Cymru site since 1894. Originally named the Victoria Palace, it was built by Jules Rivière (then aged 75) who for many years had been the celebrated resident conductor of the Llandudno Pier Orchestra and a pioneer of the summer promenade concert. He established his own 42 piece orchestra at the 1'015 seat Victoria Palace, which attracted emminent visiting soloists including Sir Charles and Lady Hallé who in 1895 gave a piano and violin recital with the Orchestra.

The building was only intended to be a temporary structure but became a landmark on the promenade for over 100 years. It changed its name several times, firstly to Rivière's Concert Hall, then in 1900 it became the Llandudno Opera House and the venue for the Carl Rosa Opera Company. Later it was called the Hippodrome.

In 1915 the theatre was bought by Will Catlin and renamed the Arcadia. The Arcadia provided 1,147 seats in the auditorium and was the last of Llandudno’s many theatres and cinemas to offer traditional seaside entertainments. It was the home of Will Catlin's Pierrots, which eventually became presented as "Catlin's Follies with an all star cast". Catlin's Follies survived the sudden death in 1953 (aged 82) of Will Catlin and continued until the theatre was bought by Llandudno Urban Council in 1968. The Arcadia continued as a theatre under local authority ownership until 1994.

The Aberconwy Centre was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on October 27th 1981 The Aberconwy Centre built on the ajoining site to the Arcadia provided conference space for over 1,000 delegates as well as a squash centre, sun beds and badminton facilities!

On June 22nd 1994 the curtain dropped for the final time on the Arcadia, the Aberconwy Centre had been redeveloped and re-named as the North Wales Conference Centre and the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre was born. The North Wales Theatre consisted of a 1,505 seat auditorium in a fully equipped receiving house theatre able to stage the largest of West End touring productions. It had a prescenium 15 meters wide and 8 meters high with a stage depth of 14 metres. The theatre opened on June 28th with a performance of Jesus Christ, Superstar and the formal opening was just a few days later on July 3rd 1994 by the Prince of Wales at a Royal Gala Concert. The ajoining North Wales Conference Centre provided a host of conference facilities including the 700 square metre Hall capable of seating 800 delegates theatre style and hosting standing concerts for over 1,000.

The original Arcadia theatre was abandoned and lay derelict until July 2005 when it was demolished to make way for a £10.7 million project to enhance and re-develop the facilities at the North Wales Theatre and Conference Centre. Where the Arcadia once stood, to the East of the complex, a new conference atrium and suite of meeting and conference rooms was built including a new 1,550 square metre Arena providing space for 1,800 seats theatre style or more than 2,500 people standing. The total capacitiy of the conference centre rose dramatically to over 5,000 delegates.

To the west of the existing building another new extension was added providing a café bar, restaurant, office space and improved box office facilities. The enhancement was funded by Conwy County Borough Council and its funding partners. The largest contribution came from the European Union’s Objective One Fund Programme, with further significant grants coming from the Arts Council of Wales (£1million lottery funding), Visit Wales (now part of the Welsh Assembly Government), the Welsh Development Agency (also part of the Welsh Assembly) and the Local Regeneration Fund.

The North Wales Theatre, Conference Centre and Arena required a new, shorter and bilingual (Welsh/English) name. In December 2005 a competition was launched in a local newspaper to rename the complex. Almost 300 entries were received and the winning entry Venue Cymru (Cymru is Welsh for Wales) was chosen a few months later. Venue Cymru was officially opened on Monday January 15th 2007 by Andrew Davies AM and has been described as the beginning of a new era for Entertainment, Conferencing and Events in Llandudno.

Railways
The Aberdonian was the name of the principal overnight sleeping car express train running on the London and North Eastern Railway between London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The train ran under that name only from sometime after the amalgamation of 1923 until September 1939 and indeed throughout until the post-war Nationalisation of 1948 (one of only four British named trains to retain its title throughout the war). The name did of course continue to be promoted with renewed vigour by British Rail until at the time of the disruption caused by the electrification of the East Coast Main Line in the mid-1980s the London terminus of all Anglo-Scottish sleeping car trains was established at Euston railway station.

Original Locomotives


Two locomotives were inherited from the predecessor companies: Moel Tryfan and Russell. When these proved insufficient, Baldwin 590 was acquired by H.F. Stephens and several Ffestiniog Railway locomotives saw regular use on the WHR during its period of joint ownership.

Current Locomotives - WHR (Porthmadog)


See all WHR (Porthmadog) Stock

WHR (Caernarfon)
The principal source of information for this table is the: "Rheilffordd Eryri - Welsh Highland Railway Traveller's Guide" by the Ffestiniog Railway Company circa 2002, supplemented by later information as it becomes available.

WHR(Porthmadog)
All coaches are bogie vehicles unless otherwise stated.

{| class="wikitable" !No. !Date built !Builder !Body Type !seats !Image !Notes
 * 1
 * 1973
 * WHR Ltd.
 * saloon/brake
 * 20
 * Observation and Brake end car with central glazed saloon and part-glazed observation compartment. Coachwork mounted on a modified Hudson bogie chassis.
 * 2
 * 1902
 * Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. rebuilt GWR Swindon 1938
 * brake van
 * 0
 * Ex. G.W.R. Vale of Rheidol Railway four-wheeled van, sold by British Rail 1968.
 * 3
 * 1980
 * WHR Ltd.
 * open toast rack
 * 18
 * Three open unglazed compartments. Bodywork mounted on a modified Hudson bogie chassis.
 * 4
 * 1995
 * WHR Ltd.
 * Saloon
 * 12
 * Bodywork mounted on modified RNAD four-wheeled flat wagon No. 69.
 * 5
 * 1913
 * Chassis of Deutsche Bundesbahn bogie coach awaiting new body. No. 960 140 imported 1972.
 * 6
 * 1981
 * WHR Ltd.
 * semi-open part-glazed toast rack
 * 18
 * Three compartments. Bodywork mounted on a modified Hudson bogie chassis.
 * 7
 * 1987
 * WHR Ltd.
 * Fully glazed saloon with tables
 * 32
 * 'The Eisteddfod Coach' Coachwork mounted on a modified Hudson bogie chassis.
 * 8
 * 1891
 * Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co.
 * Central glazed saloon with open balcony at each end
 * 24
 * 'The Gladstone Car' Ex North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways recovered 1988 and restored by WHR Ltd.
 * 10
 * 1893
 * Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Co.
 * Fully glazed saloon
 * 30
 * 'The Buffet Car' Ex NWNGR modified to serve as buffet car by WHR in 1927 recovered 1987 and restored by WHR Ltd.
 * 42
 * 1924
 * Hudson
 * open toast rack
 * 24
 * Three open unglazed compartments. One of six original bogie toast racks built by Hudson for use on the WHR and FR. Completely rebuilt by WHR Ltd.
 * 8
 * 1891
 * Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co.
 * Central glazed saloon with open balcony at each end
 * 24
 * 'The Gladstone Car' Ex North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways recovered 1988 and restored by WHR Ltd.
 * 10
 * 1893
 * Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Co.
 * Fully glazed saloon
 * 30
 * 'The Buffet Car' Ex NWNGR modified to serve as buffet car by WHR in 1927 recovered 1987 and restored by WHR Ltd.
 * 42
 * 1924
 * Hudson
 * open toast rack
 * 24
 * Three open unglazed compartments. One of six original bogie toast racks built by Hudson for use on the WHR and FR. Completely rebuilt by WHR Ltd.
 * Hudson
 * open toast rack
 * 24
 * Three open unglazed compartments. One of six original bogie toast racks built by Hudson for use on the WHR and FR. Completely rebuilt by WHR Ltd.
 * Three open unglazed compartments. One of six original bogie toast racks built by Hudson for use on the WHR and FR. Completely rebuilt by WHR Ltd.