Portmeirion, Wales

And the train journey to it...

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In early September 2001, I was making my way from Spain to Ireland by way of a cheap flight to Liverpool and through Northern Wales. Well, if you are a fan of the TV show 'The Prisoner' starring Patrick McGoohan, you know the outside scenes were filmed at Portmeirion, an 'artificial' Italinate village in Wales. Before my arrival in Conwy, I already knew I was close enough to pop by. I say 'artificial' as it was created and built by an eccentric architect, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Since this isn't a history lesson, I'll dispense with a description of his life and purpose for the village; you can follow your muse as far as that goes with the links I have at the bottom of this page.

I was staying in Conwy for a couple of nights and Alan, the proprietor of Llys Llewelyn B&B had the inside scoop on how I should get there. To get to Portmeirion from Conwy if you don't have a car, you take the Conwy Valley Railway train to a mountain town called Blaenau Ffestiniog. From there, you catch another train which is part of the Rheilffordd Ffestiniog Railway line and operates on a narrow gauge track with small scale trains. The Ffestiniog Railway route is absolutely stunning and winds through some of Snowdonia National Park. It begins in Blaenau Ffestiniog which is high and mostly treeless and used to have loads of slate mining which is apparent by the geology of the locality. There you switch rail lines and board your Ffestiniog Railway train. If you've never been on a small scale working rail line before, it feels a bit like a Disney train at first, but it's not. The railway was constructed specifically to get slate and draft horses between the mines in the mountains and the harbour at Porthmadog on the coast. It was first built in 1832. It was closed in 1946 but reopened partially 9 years later, with the full length opened in the early 80s. (Hmmm- and I said this wasn't a history lesson!)

When I took the train, the ones serving the snacks were mostly guys around 12 to 15 years old. They work thier tails off keeping everyone happy and I envy having a working experience like that while growing up. Anyway, the train gets going and you start descending from the mountains to sea level again (keeping in mind Snowdonia is the highest peak in Wales). The scenery as mentioned, is stunning. You pass along a valley which winds ever downward from Ffestiniog and pass by lots of little hamlets which is all very idyllic and beautiful. I half expected to see some gnomes trundling by with pickaxes. Well, what do you expect? I'm from California!

For a walker, the easiest way into Portmeirion is by getting off at Minfford station and from there it is about a mile and a half walk. The first thing you come to of note is Castell Deudraeth which was the hospital in the Prisoner show. After that you reach the parking lot, which when I was there was packed, grab a ticket and you are in.

The day I was there, the weather was fabulous. While that was mostly good, it also meant the place was teeming with visitors. One unexpected disappointment with nice weather was that my brain was expecting a chill, steel grey sky and lots of drone-ish citizens walking about with multi colored umbrellas! Walking around I felt like a kid in the candy store- this place was burned in my brain since I was about 14 years old. I would say the best thing that explains how I felt is that it was like having a place in a recurring dream haunt you for 20 or 25 years and then seeing what you dreamt of was real. Since the show always showed decent aerial shots, I had a good idea of the scale of the place. The buildings are in good shape; and in fact many of the places have rentable accomodations if you need a place to stay. When I was having problems trying to find a place to stay when Liverpool was full over the preceeding weekend, I called to see if Portmeirion had anything but they were booked.

Well, it was a fun visit and due to the fact that the journey took a few hours to get there and would be the same getting back, I only had about 60-90 minutes before I had to start hiking back to Minfford to catch the last return train from Porthmadog. Oh well, the journey was well worth it.

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Photos


Rheilffordd Ffestiniog Railway engine	Resevoir Llyn Stwlan, about a mile out from Blaenau Ffestiniog	The valley as you descend down from Snowdonia	The route gets pretty twisty

Minfford station	The 'Hospital' on 'The Prisoner'; actually Castell Deudraeth which dates to the 18th century, and it's a hotel now.	Arrival: In true 'Village' form, the parking lot is under constant camera scrutiny.	You walk through this arch to head into Portmeirion village; this was actually taken as I was leaving.

Q: "Where am I?" A: "In the village." Well, this scene should be no mystery of Prisoner fans.	"Number 6: meet me in the Green Dome." Hehe, Number 2's 'Green' Dome isn't very green any more!	Number 6's quarters is the home of the Village Shop. You can buy lots of cool knick knacks, including a map of 'Your Village', a replica of the one in 'Arrival'. My favorite trinket are reverse letter stickers for the bottom of your guest's pint glass that says 'You Have Just Been Poisoned'!	The bandstand, clocktower, Number 2's quarters.

The Village 'Town Hall'	The Stone Boat and camera obscura just beyond	The beach. If you recall, there were numerous escape attempts and tangles with village goons here for Number 6 and others.	Portmeirion village as seen from the beach.