Author Topic: Local Eyesores  (Read 686933 times)

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Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #45 on: October 03, 2010, 06:09:02 pm »
The Grand Hotel in Penmaenmawr was a fantastic building, I visited it in its last few months and it was such a shame to see it in a wrecked state. Would love to see some photos of it at the end, I didn't have a camera back then. Now its been replaced by the little noddy houses.

There used to be a swimming pool in the basement of the hotel, filled by seawater pumped from the beach.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2010, 06:13:06 pm by DaveR »

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #46 on: October 03, 2010, 07:03:12 pm »
The Grand Hotel in Penmaenmawr was a fantastic building, I visited it in its last few months and it was such a shame to see it in a wrecked state. Would love to see some photos of it at the end, I didn't have a camera back then. Now its been replaced by the little noddy houses.

There used to be a swimming pool in the basement of the hotel, filled by seawater pumped from the beach.
Excellent picture I'll have to copy that, yes the swimming pool was under the dance floor, it was a very popular destination for gentry in the early 1900s.  Gladstone being one of its most famous visitors, which is why we have the Gladstone statue on the road leading to the Grand.
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Offline Paddy

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #47 on: October 05, 2010, 06:22:26 pm »
Looks like some action at Wetherspoons at last. A team of seven or eight men from a company called "Classic Decorators" arrived at about 11.00 today and seemed to be carrying large tubs of paint onto the scaffold.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #48 on: October 05, 2010, 06:32:07 pm »
Looks like some action at Wetherspoons at last. A team of seven or eight men from a company called "Classic Decorators" arrived at about 11.00 today and seemed to be carrying large tubs of paint onto the scaffold.
You beat me to it, Paddy!  ;D Fester was telling me yesterday that they are going to repair the roof and paint all of the exterior - bet that's going to cost a few quid!  :o

Offline TheMedz

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #49 on: October 05, 2010, 06:59:50 pm »
They probably do it cheaper by buying pots or barrels of paint that are within days or weeks of their "best by" dates and then using a high turnover of painters to go through it quickly.

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #50 on: October 06, 2010, 08:28:39 am »
 ;) ;) ;)
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Offline Paddy

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #51 on: October 06, 2010, 07:26:08 pm »
Looks like some action at Wetherspoons at last. A team of seven or eight men from a company called "Classic Decorators" arrived at about 11.00 today and seemed to be carrying large tubs of paint onto the scaffold.
You beat me to it, Paddy!  ;D Fester was telling me yesterday that they are going to repair the roof and paint all of the exterior - bet that's going to cost a few quid!  :o

I don't doubt it Dave. I'm informed by a reliable source that it cost £23,700 to erect the scaffolding. I would guess that Wether's would then have a month or two to complete their works before they have to start paying rent on all that engineering.

I also found it interesting that the painters are from Cardiff. I would assume that they are being boarded up here while they carry out the work which makes it difficult to understand why a local firm couldn't have beaten their price!


Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #52 on: October 06, 2010, 07:47:54 pm »
Today's focus is on the Black Lion in Castle Street, Conwy, an eyesore that is all the worse for the fact it is one of the oldest buildings in the town, dating back to 1589! It's been a mess for about 10 years or more now, although plans are being prepared by the Anglesey based owner to actually do something with it. Until work starts though, it's staying on the list! My mind boggles that such a fantastic building in a great location can have been left empty and uncared for, for so long.


The Black Lion
by SnakeCorp, on Flickr

History of the Black Lion (taken from my blog) follows:

Black Lion (Y Llew Du), built in 1589 by John Brickdall, Vicar of Conwy (1569-1607); his initials and those of his wife appear over the door together with the date 1589 (they were married on the 10th May 1589).  Brickdall's father was the Constable of Conwy Castle at the time of construction and later died of the plague.

The building was turned into the Black Lion Inn in the 1700s; a usage that continued for over 200 years (it was also the venue for the popular Monday morning Pig Market) until the 15th March 1935, when falling trade made it unviable. It then had a variety of uses, including tearooms and an antique bookshop, until it became empty in the 1990s when its condition deteriorated sharply due to dry rot. The exterior was renovated a few years back and it was then sold but no work appears to have been carried out since the sale - I believe the interior is just a shell. I just wish somebody would renovate it and bring it back into use- its a lovely old building, full of character, and in a prime spot on Castle Street.

A local artist, Jean Morgan Roberts, was born in the Black Lion and, in her book 'The Character of Conwy', she says "I grew up in the wonderful old atmosphere of the house with its secret passages, a cellar reputed to have an escape tunnel that led to the quay, a well, stables, stone steps to the town walls, a tower, Elizabethan fireplaces and a beautiful walled garden." You can visit her website here.

A local guidebook states that the building has two ghosts; one being an elderly gentleman who often sits beside the large fireplace in what was once the pub's parlour (see interior photo below), smiling to himself and nodding benignly. A former proprietor stated that 'he's a nice old fellow and we've got used to him and take his appearances for granted'.

The other ghost is quite the opposite, described as being a 'tall person in a cloak', bringing with him a 'feeling of malevolence' as he haunts the upper floor of the building. A former employee stated that 'he's a real fierce character...he has rocked the bed, frightening many a sleeping person, striking terror in the dead of night". Fortunately, the second ghost is very rarely seen!

Offline Bellringer

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #53 on: October 06, 2010, 09:36:01 pm »
It would be good to see your post about the Black Lion also on the thread "Everything to do with Conwy" Dave.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #54 on: October 06, 2010, 09:59:20 pm »
It would be good to see your post about the Black Lion also on the thread "Everything to do with Conwy" Dave.
Good idea, Stan, I've copied it over.  :)

Offline Bellringer

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #55 on: October 06, 2010, 10:10:56 pm »
Thanks Dave.
It is sad that such a building has been left to deteriorate to its present level. You just wish some benefactor would come along and carry out a sympathetic restoration.
I have just watched Grand Designs on Channel 4 where a couple restored an old Suffolk timber-framed guildhall - it really does show what can be done given that someone has the will and drive to do so.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #56 on: October 07, 2010, 12:48:39 pm »
I'm hopeful that work will start on the Black Lion in the next couple of months - will be good to see it back in use.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #57 on: October 07, 2010, 12:50:55 pm »
Certainly one of Conwy's longest running eyesores is the Fruit N Fibre shop on a prominent site opposite the Railway Station. I don't think I remember the building as ever been anything but boarded up and disused. Work started last year to renovate it but seems to have stalled early in the process and I don't think anything has happened in the last few months. Does anyone know more?
« Last Edit: October 09, 2010, 08:54:44 pm by DaveR »

Offline Ian

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #58 on: October 08, 2010, 08:24:11 am »
Where does your comment start?  I'll move the quote for you, if you tell me.

BTW - I hope you don't mind me mentioning that you don't need to quote entire posts;  all you do is select the bit you want to quote, by clicking and dragging, then copy, then click the 'quote' symbol above, then paste.  The trouble is that with long posts such as that one above, it makes reading the threads somewhat laborious, if they're quoted in their entirety.


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Offline Pendragon

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Re: Local Eyesores
« Reply #59 on: October 08, 2010, 03:06:36 pm »
I'm hopeful that work will start on the Black Lion in the next couple of months - will be good to see it back in use.
My mind boggles that such a fantastic building in a great location can have been left empty and uncared for, for so long.
I tried posting this the other day God knows where it wenr lol, thanks Ian for the help.
I remember the guy who did the majority of the work on the Black Lion a few years ago, the trouble he had was it was a grade 1 or maybe grade 2 listed meaning he had to follow certain criteria and use specialist materials. So at every turn there was red tape, In this current finantial climate it's no suprise its been left on the back burner.  I mean what could you use it as apart from a very expensve private house.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley