Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

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Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Postby Gary » 26 Aug 2011, 19:17

I was fascinated as a kid reading about a railway station that had a name as long as its platform.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

I can only pronounce the place's beginning and end.

I get tongue tied with the bit in the middle that apparently refers to something about the hollow of a white hazel near a rapid whirlpool.

The name itself came into being around the time when the railway was built between Chester and Holyhead at the beginning of the 1850s.

A local committee was put together to try and encourage trains, travellers and 19th Century tourists to stop at the village in order to help develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre.

It is believed that the name Llanfairpwll­gwyngyll­gogerychwyrndrobwll­llantysilio­gogogoch was invented by a cobbler from Menai Bridge; little did he know that he had implemented one of the most successful tourist marketing plans of all time.

I always wanted to visit the place.

40 years on and I can now say that I have.

Last week my family and I took a detour in the car during a week spent on Anglesey to satisfy my curiosity.

I wished we hadn't bothered with the detour though.

I mean that in the nicest possible way.

The origins of the place make me smile.

Being there didn't.

If I hadn't visited there one day last week then the picture in a ladybird book that I had I once stared at in awe as an excited 10 year old would probably have stayed with me until my dying day.

I was just underwhelmed last week - In truth I knew I would be.

As much as I tried to avoid it I found myself wandering around a very large souvenir shop that sells lots of siliogogogoch stuff.

A train pulled into the station.

A young couple on the train looked out of the window at me standing there with my camera and stared at me.

The train was interfering with my chance of taking the "perfect platform sign picture" so I stared back at them.

And they just continued to stare back at me.

And then the train left the station on its way to somewhere else.

Image

In short Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a place where coach parties go.

Well, coach parties and an ageing amusement park enthusiast who quite likes trains.
Please pass through the turnstiles if you are riding again.
Gary
 
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Joined: 26 Jan 2003, 21:45
Location: St Helens

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