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North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Rediscovering Llandudno Pier - 'Pier of the Year 2025'
So with this in mind, we decided it was about time we stepped out, soaked in the sea air, and spent an afternoon treading the boards of Llandudno Pier to rediscover its Victorian charm and stunning views. I haven't explored the pier properly for some time - and never with my young family, so it felt special to finally do it together. Llandudno Pier sign, proudly bearing its new title 'Pier of the Year 2025' (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) From the moment we approached, the place was buzzing. The entrance was packed with visitors, many gathered around the popular Pier Fish and Chips. The aroma of freshly fried fish drifted through the air, leading us towards the Llandudno Pier sign, proudly bearing its new title: Pier of the Year 2025. The popular Pier Fish and Chips (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) We started our visit with some fun at the Leisure Island arcade. Part of it has gone cashless - you now load credit onto a card and tap to play - but the 2p and 10p coin pushers still take coins. We made a beeline for the 2p machines, a nostalgic nod to simpler times. The claw grabber, one of the many machine and games in the front arcade (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) The arcade offers a mix of classics like penny pushers, slot machines and claw grabbers, alongside modern video games and retro favourites such as Space Invaders. The beeps, boops and chatter gave the place a lively energy. Our three-year-old wasn't so interested in feeding coins into the machines, but loved watching the tickets zoom out (these can be exchanged for prizes). We had some success with a game called Sweet Falls and another based on The Simpsons - 'Donut Daze!' Many of the slot machines offer prizes - in one, we even spotted a Pop Mart Labubu doll. Our little boy with a string of tickets (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) Afterwards, we began our stroll along the pier itself. Stretching 2,295 feet (700m) into the Irish Sea, it's the longest pier in Wales and the fifth longest in the UK. There is a real mix of shops (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) The walk is lined with a charming mix of stalls and shops: The Puppet Shop, Welsh Gifts & Soft Toys, handmade arts and crafts, Ice Cream Rolls, the Traditional Sweet and Rock Shop, The Crystal Hut, and the vibrantly coloured blue 'Soak' - selling handmade bath bombs, soaps and moisturisers. My little boy was on a mission to find a Frozen bath bomb. Sadly, we didn't find one, but the colourful designs on display were impressive. The pier is home to colourful fairground rides (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) Fairground rides dot the pier - from the wave slide and teacups to the inflatable obstacle course and the Runaway Train. We spied a Pop Mart Labubu doll in one of the 10p slot machines in the arcade (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) Beside the pier stands the imposing Britannia Grand Hotel - a landmark with a mixed reputation. Reviews on TripAdvisor range from 'once a magnificent Victorian hotel' and 'in need of serious TLC' to "the dirtiest, depressing hotel I've ever stayed in" but the guests keep coming and almost everyone agrees, the location is superb. Despite its reputation, the imposing Grand Hotel continues to attract guests (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) And there's no question that the views from the pier are breathtaking, especially on a sunny day - sweeping across Llandudno Bay, the Great Orme and beyond. Seagulls swoop and hover, ever hopeful for a snack - one reason we locals avoid the outside benches when eating. We know better. Dave L Vaughan was performing (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) At the far end of the pier, the Deck Arcade awaits, alongside the Ocean Bar. On the day we visited, singer and guitarist Dave L Vaughan was performing. The table and benches outside the bar were full - visitors sipped drinks, basked in the sunshine and relaxed into the music. Soak opened on Llandudno Pier earlier this year (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) We rounded off our afternoon with a ride on the Pier View Ferris Wheel. At £14 for two adults, a three-year-old and a baby, it felt like good value. Designed and manufactured by the famous Lamborghini company in Italy, the wheel stands an impressive 70 feet tall with 18 gondolas, each seating up to six people. As we slowly rose above the pier, the calm sea spread out beneath us. We paused to take in the viewv (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) But the best part wasn't the view - it was seeing Sebastian's face light up as the gondola climbed higher. Wide-eyed and grinning, he said that he felt 'just like Skye from Paw Patrol!' It was a pure, unfiltered moment of childhood excitement that made the ride even more memorable for us all. By nightfall, the Ferris Wheel's 10,000 lights glow brilliantly against the dark sky. The Pier Ferris Wheel which stands an impressive 70 feet tall (Image: Suzanne Kendrick / Newsquest) We had a glimpse of these lights and they shone gently as we enjoyed our ride. Our visit reminded me why Llandudno Pier continues to capture the hearts of both tourists and residents. It's more than a Victorian relic - it's a living, breathing slice of seaside life, where nostalgia and modern fun meet against a backdrop of sea air and stunning views. Sometimes, the best adventures are right on your doorstep - you just have to make the time to enjoy them. Llandudno Pier has been nominated for a national award and is a finalist for Oceanic Awards' 7th Welsh Hospitality Awards 2025. They have been shortlisted under the category - 'Best Day Out' and are up against Bodnant Garden and Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn. Results will be revealed during a ceremony on September 10.
The Guardian
09-08-2025
- The Guardian
Edinburgh fringe with the family: five shows for kids
Assembly Rooms, 10.10am, until 24 AugustThe old man who sits at the centre of this imaginative blend of object theatre and shadow puppetry from Taiwan's S Production is the cantankerous sort, tied to his routine and resistant to change. His day is an uneventful parade of tasks: teeth brushing, newspaper reading and failing to put his socks on. It is much to his surprise that he wakes to find the room tidy and his secret box of memories moved. And it is much to his consternation that a boy appears from another box, unruly, undomesticated and curious. It is that very curiosity that unlocks the old man's backstory and rejuvenates him. Inside the secret box, the boy finds evidence of a perilous biplane crash over wartime seas and a drowning pilot rescued by a whale. By my reckoning that would make the old man about 125 years old, which would also account for the old-fashioned Boy's Own Adventure focus of the show. It is easy to put that aside, however, when mischievous humour and visual inventiveness abounds, whether it is paper planes floating overhead, deathly waves inundating the stage or the enormous blue whale swelling to the full height of the walls around us. Pleasance Courtyard, 10am and 11am, until 25 AugustI usually take the post-show play session as my cue to leave, but this one is delightful. We have just watched Tamsin Fessey perform a hypnotic dance, aimed at 6-24-month-olds, from inside a colourful tube. Hidden within, she rolls and stretches, giving life to this wriggly creature and making a face of the orange hoop at one end. Tuning in to the priorities of the young audience, she is variously shy, inquisitive, hungry and sick. She dances when the music demands it and sighs when it stops. She plays games with the springy containers around her and discovers enticing silvery balls inside. This toooB seems to have a life of her own until, slowly in this wordless production by Angel Exit, attractively designed by Verity Quinn, we spot the performer within: a foot, a hand, a cautious eye. And with her emergence, it is time for the audience to join in: new balls and tubes appearing around us to create an infant adventure playground, full of tactile wonder. Pleasance Courtyard, 12pm, until 24 AugustIt sounds like a joke. Take a famously impenetrable classic of world literature, a stream-of-consciousness Dublin odyssey stretching to 250,000 words, and turn it into a show for the over-eights. But Helen Gregg is for real and her adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses is a joy. Introducing a book that few of the adults in the audience will have read, she strips it down to its narrative framework, judiciously editing for family viewing, and turns it into 45 minutes of day-in-the-life storytelling. Leafing through enormous pop-up books – three of them, just like the sections of the original – she traces the comings and goings of a cut-out Leopold Bloom and Stephen Daedalus, flanked by a city's worth of quirky characters, from funeral to office to pub. In Marc Mac Lochlainn's production for Galway company Branar, it is performed with wit and lucidity, not to mention musical interludes. Gregg is a brilliant interpreter and makes an imposing novel sound like a fun thing to tackle at home. Assembly George Square, 11.30am, until 17 AugustHard to imagine a more gentle introduction to theatre than this sensory performance for babies, written by Jasmine Cole and directed by Connie Crosby. Narrated by Hannah Platts and performed on a large floorcloth over which the audience can roam, it is set in a garden where the leaves are tactile, the mushrooms rattle and the pond is made of silver foil. A bee buzzes by as the children acclimatise, then it is time for the big reveal: a sequence of cloth puppet birds, manipulated by Jennie Rawling, introduced with birdsong and welcomed with a pretty human song. Things get no more dramatic than when the starling imitates a cow and a tractor and, as the lights dim, a night owl soars overhead with stars shining through its wings. The stakes might be low, but is pitched perfectly at a mesmerised audience. Assembly Roxy, 11.25am, until 17 AugustFeather Boy and Tentacle Girl are opposites. One lives in the city; one in the country. One is rough; the other smooth. One sunny; one sour. But although theirs is a relationship of contradictions, they find a way to connect. They do this through the mutual dependency of acrobatics, balancing high above the stage, moving in careful synchronisation. In this aerial show for the over-eights by circus artists Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali working with Catherine Wheels theatre company, it is as if the two have been let loose in an outsize play park, mocking gravity as they hang upside down, spin precariously or plummet to the ocean depths. Narratively light and open to interpretation, it reaches a climax with a spectacular storm of red and white feathers on Jen McGinley's set, swirling in windy chaos.
Time Out
08-08-2025
- Time Out
Yankees legends Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and more will return for the decade's first Old-Timers' Day
Break out the pinstripes and polish those cleats: Old-Timers' Day is back at Yankee Stadium and it's bringing the Bronx Bombers' glory days with it. On Saturday, August 9, the Yankees will host their 77th Old-Timers' Day, marking the first full-scale return of the on-field alumni game since 2019. The midday event—complete with tributes, player introductions and a few innings of hardball—will honor the 25th anniversary of the Yankees' 2000 World Series win over the Mets. Fans can expect a stacked lineup of legends from that championship squad. Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, catcher Jorge Posada, lefty ace Andy Pettitte and other fan favorites like David Cone, Tino Martinez and 'El Duque' Orlando Hernández will all suit up once more. The roster even includes some first timers to the event: Roger Clemens, David Justice, Alfonso Soriano and José Vizcaíno are making their Old-Timers' Day debuts. In total, more than 40 former Yankees will take the field, including Monument Park inductees like Paul O'Neill, Ron Guidry, Bernie Williams, and manager Joe Torre. Longtime fans may also spot familiar faces from decades past, like Bucky Dent and Graig Nettles, plus representatives for club legends Thurman Munson, Billy Martin and Bobby Murcer. After a pandemic-era pivot to ceremonies and Q&As, the return of live on-field action is a welcome shift. The YES Network will air the full festivities, with coverage starting at 11:30am and player introductions kicking off promptly at noon, led by Michael Kay. The Old-Timers' game will immediately follow, ahead of the Yankees' afternoon matchup against the Astros. One notable absence? Derek Jeter, MVP of the 2000 World Series, who's reportedly skipping the event for a family birthday. Still, the day promises a nostalgia-fueled celebration of one of the franchise's most dominant eras—and a rare chance to see the Bronx Zoo legends back in action, even if only for a few innings.
