Site of tramway at Penrhyn Bay beach

Site of tramway at Penrhyn Bay beach

Old photo of tramway at Penrhyn Bay beachThere was no road here at the start of the 20th century, but from 1907 trams ran along the shoreline. The upper photo (courtesy of the L&CB Tramway Society and Conwy Archive Service) shows a tram at the Maesgwyn Road tram stop – which was well positioned for the beach.

The tram in the picture is travelling from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay. A woman crosses the tramway behind the tram, while other people relax on the beach. At the time there was only one tram track for both directions. The track was doubled in the 1920s.

The tramway from here to the golf club house was built on private land. A new road was soon built on this section, with tolls charged for road vehicles and pedestrians. The tramway company bought the road in 1911 and continued to charge tolls here until the company closed down, seven years after the tramway’s closure in 1956. There was a tollgate near the golf club house, with a booth for the toll collector. The road eventually became part of Glan-y-Môr Road.

Photo of tram and abandoned tram track at Penrhyn BayCoastal erosion was a recurring problem here. After the bank was washed away in the late 1940s, the tramway reverted to single track while the ground and seaward track were repaired.

A few years later, there was further damage. By then the tramway company was getting short of money, so the seaward track was abandoned and soon disappeared under the sand. For the last few years, trams in both directions used the track on the landward side.

The lower photo (courtesy of the L&CB Tramway Society) dates from 1952. It shows a tram to Colwyn Bay using the track previously reserved for trams to Llandudno, with the derelict second track alongside. To the right are improvised sea defences and, in the distance, the Little Orme quarry.

With thanks to John Davies and John Bird, of the L&CB Tramway Society

Postcode: LL30 3PH    View Location Map

Website of Conwy Archive Service

tour-tramway button_nav_to_colwbutton_nav_to_llan
Wales Coastal Path Label Navigation anticlockwise buttonNavigation clockwise button

Footnotes: Memories of the trams here

In 2022, Julie Pritchard recalled: “Our nearest tram stop was by the Beach Café. When we went to go on the tram one morning, the line nearest to the sea had gone. It had been a storm and it washed the line away. As a child, I thought it was quite interesting. The trams carried on. They used one line there.

“The drivers knew everybody who got on at every stop. If you were a bit late, the driver would make the clanging noise on the tram to tell you to hurry. He would wait till you got to the tram.

“I used the tram to go to primary school in Colwyn Bay and then to John Bright Grammar School in Llandudno. Later I worked in the Cooperative Insurance Company at the top of Station Road in Colwyn Bay and I would take the tram to work.

“The university students came to work on the trams in the holidays. One of my friends met her husband because he was working on the trams. He wasn’t from this area but came here to work while he was a university student.”