Conwy Bay (Welsh Bae Conwy), also known as Conway Bay, is an inlet of the Irish Sea. It is situated at the southeastern point of the coast of Anglesey at Bangor on the northern central coast of Wales, stretching from Puffin Island to Great Orme in the northeast. Bangor, Penmaenmawr, Beaumaris and Llandudno are notable towns on the bay. With its onshore winds and ebbing tide, the bay is popular with yachtsmen; Conwy Yacht Club hosts an annual regatta in June.
Conwy Bay lies at the southeastern point of the coast of Anglesey at Bangor on the northern central coast of Wales. [1] Puffin Island and the Great Orme mark the limits of the bay. [2] The bay is entered between Trwyn-du and Great Ormes Head in the northeast and extends for approximately 8 miles (13 km) to the southwest at Bangor, marking the northeast entrance to the Menai Strait. [3]
Bangor, Penmaenmawr and Beaumaris lie on the bay, with Llandudno [4] to the eastern extreme. The River Conwy flows into Conwy Bay in the southeast, while the Menai Strait in the west connects it to Caernarfon Bay. [1]
The coastline at both sides of the bay is low. A considerable area of the bay is characterised by drying sands, the Dutchman Bank and Lavan Sands being the most prominents banks. [3] To the west of the entrance at Great Ormes Head is the Four Fathom Bank, a shallow area with depths of under 6 metres (20 ft), though the dry Conwy Sands dominate much of the estuary area in the eastern part of the bay between Great Ormes Head and Penmaen-bach Point, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south. 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to the east of Penmaen-bach Point is the entrance to the Conwy River. [3] The outer estuary of the Conwy in the southeastern corner of Conwy Bay is marked by "extensive sandbanks, mudflats and mussel beds", and is an important habitat for birds such as dunlin, oystercatcher, curlew and redshank. [5]
With its strong onshore winds and ebbing tide, the bay is popular with yachtsmen. [2] The bay is home to several yacht and boating clubs. Conwy Yacht Club hosts an annual regatta in June, in preparation for the Conwy River Festival in July. [6]
Caernarfonshire, historically spelled as Caernarvonshire or Carnarvonshire in English, is one of the thirteen historic counties, a vice-county and a former administrative county of Wales.
Llandudno is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community — which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigside, Glanwydden, Penrhynside, and Bryn Pydew — had a population of 20,701. The town's name is derived from its patron saint, Saint Tudno.
The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 25 km (16 mi) long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from 400 metres (1,300 ft) from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) from Traeth Gwyllt to Caernarfon Castle. It then narrows to 500 metres (1,600 ft) in the middle reaches and then it broadens again. At Bangor, Garth Pier, it is 900 metres (3,000 ft) wide. It then widens out, and the distance from Puffin Island to Penmaenmawr is about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi).
The A55, also known as the North Wales Expressway is a major road in Britain. The vast majority of its length from Chester to Holyhead is a dual carriageway primary route, with the exception of the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait and several short sections where there are gaps in between the two carriageways. All junctions are grade separated apart from a roundabout east of Penmaenmawr and another nearby in Llanfairfechan. Initially, the road ran from Chester to Bangor. In 2001, it was extended across Anglesey to the ferry port of Holyhead parallel to the A5. The road improvements have been part funded with European money, under the Trans-European Networks programme, as the route is designated part of Euroroute E22.
Beaumaris is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. Located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the coast of North Wales. At the 2011 census, its population was 1,938. The community includes Llanfaes.
Penmaenmawr is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an important quarrying town, though quarrying is no longer a major employer. The population of the community was 4,353 in 2011, including Dwygyfylchi and Capelulo. The town itself having a population of 2,868 (2011).
North Wales, also known as the North of Wales, is a geographic region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia National Park and the Clwydian Range, known for its mountains, waterfalls and trails, located wholly within the region. Its population is more concentrated in the north-east, and northern coastal areas of the region, whilst significant Welsh-speaking populations are situated in its western and rural areas. North Wales is imprecisely defined, lacking any defined defintion or administrative structure. For the public purposes of health, policing and emergency services, and for statistical, economic and cultural purposes, North Wales is commonly defined administratively as its six most northern principal areas, but other defintions of the geographic region exist, with Montgomeryshire historically considered to be part of the region.
The North Wales Coast Line, also known as the North Wales Main Line, is a major railway line in the north of Wales, running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey.
The Rothsay Castle was a paddle steamer built in 1816 for service on the River Clyde, Scotland, and was later transferred to Liverpool, England, where she was used for day trips along the coast of North Wales. She was shipwrecked on the Lavan Sands at the eastern end of the Menai Strait, North Wales, in 1831, with the loss of 130 lives.
Helig ap Glanawg is a legendary figure described in various accounts dating to at least as early as the 13th century as a 6th-century prince who lived in North Wales.
The LL postcode area, also known as the Llandudno postcode area, is a group of 67 postcode districts, within 62 post towns. These cover the majority of north Wales, plus a very small part of west Wales and the English county of Shropshire. The districts start at LL11 so as to avoid confusion with Liverpool postcodes.
National Cycle Route 5 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from Reading to Holyhead.
Anglesey, an island off the north-west coast of Wales, forms a principal area and historic county. It includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait, and also some islets and skerries. Anglesey island, at 260 square miles (673 km2), is the largest in Wales, the seventh largest in the British Isles, largest in the Irish Sea and second most populous there after the Isle of Man. The area run by Isle of Anglesey County Council measures 276 square miles (715 km2), with a 2011 census population of 69,751, including 13,659 on Holy Island. The Menai Strait between Anglesey and mainland Wales is spanned by the Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge, built in 1850 and replaced in 1980. The largest town is Holyhead on Holy Island, whose port handles over two million passengers a year to and from Ireland. The next largest is Llangefni, the county council seat. From 1974 to 1996 Anglesey was part of Gwynedd. Most inhabitants are habitual Welsh speakers. The name Ynys Môn is used for the UK Parliament and Senedd constituencies. The island postcodes are LL58–LL78.
Dwygyfylchi is a village in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is part of the community of Penmaenmawr which has a population of 4,353. The electoral ward of Capelulo which includes Dwygyfylchi had a population of 1,485 in 2011. It was formerly part of the historic county of Caernarfonshire.
Beaumaris Pier is a pier in Beaumaris, Anglesey, North Wales.
The Clwyd Limestone Group is a stratigraphic unit of Chadian to Brigantian age found in north Wales. It forms part of the Carboniferous Limestone Supergroup. Its most extensive outcrop is along the length of the Clwydian Range, immediately to the east of its crest, between Llandegla and Prestatyn. A further though more fragmented outcrop extends in an arc along the western margins of the Vale of Clwyd north from Rhyd-y-meudwy, west of Ruthin and then northwest to meet the coast at Llanddulas. It is prominently exposed at the Great Orme and Little Orme near Llandudno and again in three areas of eastern and southern Anglesey, together with a small area to the south of the Menai Strait between Bangor and Y Felinheli. The outcrop also extends southwards from Llandegla to form an impressive scarp at Creigiau Eglwyseg north of Llangollen and south again, to the west of Oswestry to Llanymynech Hill on the Powys/Shropshire border.
The geology of Anglesey, the largest (714 km2) island in Wales is some of the most complex in the country. Anglesey has relatively low relief, the 'grain' of which runs northeast-southwest, i.e. ridge and valley features extend in that direction reflecting not only the trend of the late Precambrian and Palaeozoic age bedrock geology but also the direction in which glacial ice traversed and scoured the island during the last ice age. It was realised in the 1980s that the island is composed of multiple terranes, recognition of which is key to understanding its Precambrian and lower Palaeozoic evolution. The interpretation of the island's geological complexity has been debated amongst geologists for decades and recent research continues in that vein.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).