Great Orme's Head to Puffin Island
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Welsh seascapes and their sensitivity to offshore developments No: 5 Regional Seascape Unit Great Orme’s Head to Puffin Island Name: Conwy Bay and Great Orme from Conwy Mountain (All photos © John Briggs) Looking across the Conwy Bay from Friars Bay (Beaumaris) Llanfairfechan looking across to Anglesey shows much gentler topography Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr – where road/rail meet sea/mountain Conwy Bay from Friars Bay (Anglesey), illustrating the level of night lighting along the coastline, from the A55 Expressway, settlements and promenades. 1 Welsh seascapes and their sensitivity to offshore developments No: 5 Regional Seascape Great Orme’s Head to Puffin Island Unit Name: Seascape Types: THIR, THIU, THLR, Key Characteristics THMU, THMR The distinctive whaleback rocky limestone headland of the Great Orme forms the eastern landmark. Snowdonia reaches the coast in massive rocky acid tuff cliffs falling to the shore with large quarries on the slopes and acts as a backcloth for the whole coast. Road, rail and electricity lines are fitted along the steep coastline and mountainous hinterland. The western mainland coast is low lying with gently sloping rural farmland. Ynys Mon rises to gentle hills and soft low cliffs with Puffin Island at its furthest eastern extent enclosing the coast to the west. There are tidal currents associated with the Menai Strait and the Conwy estuary. Key views are to and from the Great Orme Country Park, historic settlements such as Beaumaris town and castle, Penmon Point, Penrhyn Castle, the coastal path and promenades and beaches in settlements such as Bangor and Llanfairfechan/Penmaenmawr. Key cultural associations: The Medieval urban and monastic landscape of Conwy, Beaumaris and Penmon, together with the more recent growth of the Llandudno Junction to Deganwy and Llandudno West Shore developments. The physical/topographic obstacles to land-based transport along the mainland coast. Physical Geology A varied geology from the Precambrian rocks of Ynys Mon to the various Ordovician/Silurian Characteristics types including volcanic acid tuff rocks adjacent to Conwy and the fine grained igneous rocks at Penmaenmawr, and the Carboniferous limestone of the Great Orme, Penmon Point and Puffin Island. There is substantial overlying boulder clay and some sand deposits at the mouth of the Conwy estuary. Coastal landform This is a semi-enclosed seascape, with coastline on 3 sides: a north facing fairly straight mainland coast, a west facing coast including the Great Orme and the south east facing coast of Ynys Mon. The distinctive whaleback exposed landform of the Great Orme defines the eastern extent with its steep sides, cliffs and rock outcrops reaching 200m AOD. This gives way to low lying, undulating landforms to the south including dunes (now a golf course) west of the Conwy estuary. A series of dramatic rugged mountains on the northern fringes of Snowdonia punctuate the coast in minor headlands with cliffs - Penmaen Bach (245m AOD) and Penmaen Mawr (400m AOD). These are partly disturbed by quarries. Elsewhere, the upland landform is generally set back from the coast allowing a low lying soft coastal edge. By comparison, the Ynys Mon landform is much more gentle, only rising to around 90m AOD, but with some small steep coastal slopes and rocky shores. The linear Puffin Island lies just off Penmon Point and reaches 58m AOD. Coastal landcover The majority of the coast is rural with pasture. This is punctuated by a series of settlements including, from the east, Llandudno, Penmaenmawr, Llanfairfechan, Bangor and Beaumaris. Some of the settlements are associated with quarries and others with tourism or rural uses. Bangor has a small port facility. Golf courses feature on the coast to the east. The A55 Expressway and railway form a transport corridor which abuts the coast for substantial stretches. Intertidal area There are rocky headlands with limited intertidal areas on Anglesey and the Great Orme, extensive areas of sand and mud between Bangor and Llanfairfechan (Traeth Lavan) and to the east around the Conwy estuary (Conwy Bay). Characteristics of sea Currents are associated with the Menai Strait to the west and the Conwy estuary to the east. Hinterland landform The area lies on the northern fringes of Snowdonia, which forms the backcloth to the unit. The land rises very steeply in places, Ynys Mon is smaller scale rising gently from the coast to around 90m AOD. Hinterland landcover Pastoral agriculture interspersed with woodland, semi natural vegetation and bare rock in places. Rural settlement is generally scattered. Lighting The main concentrations of light are within the settlements and along the transport corridor of A55. Lighthouses flank the entrances to the bay, at Great Orme’s Head and Penmon Point. Use Land/coast uses Residential; quarries; transport; informal recreation, coastal path. 2 Welsh seascapes and their sensitivity to offshore developments Sea uses Leisure craft use the coast from Conwy Marina and Beaumaris. There is some commercial navigation from Bangor. Occasional summer steamers and pleasure trips from Llandudno (Unit 3) pass through this seascape and on to Menai Bridge (Unit 12). Visual and How the seascape unit Great Orme Country Park; Coastal Path; A55 Expressway and railway; promenades and sensory is experienced qualities beaches in settlements such as Dwygyfylchi/Llanfairfechan/Penmaenmawr; historic settlements such as Beaumaris; public footpaths in hilly hinterland. The Carneddau Mountains of Snowdonia and their coastal outliers including Conwy Mountain, Penmaen Bach and Penmaen Mawr, offer spectacular panoramic views over the seascape, over Anglesey and the Great Orme to the sea beyond (the highest elevation along the North Wales coast), and to the Isle of Man and Cumbrian Fells in clear weather. Between Llanfairfechan and Conwy, where mountains and hills meet the sea, lies the most spectacular section of A55 Expressway and railway along the North Wales coast. At Penmaen Mawr and Penmaen Bach headlands, there are road and rail tunnels. The eastbound road uses the older road that ‘Wiggles’ around headlands as well as through short tunnels, and views along the coastline also line up with cliffs on the Little Orme. Great Orme is seen almost as if an island at sea. Degree of intervisibility There is significant visibility on land rising up from the coast including some very elevated of land and sea views from the Snowdonia range and from prominent headlands such as the Great Orme. Key views to sea and Great Orme Country Park; historic settlements such as Beaumaris town and castle; Penrhyn along the coast Castle; The North Wales Path; promenades and beaches in settlements such as Bangor and Llanfairfechan/ Penmaenmawr. Puffin Island and Great Orme are prominent features either side of views out to open sea. The high degree of enclosure allows many land-sea-land views, of which Ynys Mon to Snowdonia is the most impressive. Key views to land There are views from pleasure craft, especially those entering/leaving Conwy Marina, Beaumaris, the Menai Strait, and those going to/from units 3 and 6. Tranquillity/rem- The mainland coast is not tranquil because of development and the busy A55 Expressway. oteness/wildness However a short distance inland into the Carneddau Mountains, are some of the wildest, most remote and tranquil landscapes in Wales. Sense of scale Large scale on mainland and medium scale on Ynys Mon. Openness/ Semi-enclosed by eastern and western headlands (Great Orme and Penmon Point/Puffin enclosure Island). Diversity Diverse Exposure Exposed to east, moderately exposed to west. Key cultural The monastic settlement on Ynys Seiriol/Puffin Island and at Penmon recall the sea-borne associations nature of Early Christianity. Conwy and Beaumaris are both Edwardian bastide towns of immense cultural and historic importance. Little is evident of Deganwy castle, a site that is associated with the legend of Taliesin. Land routes also form a significant elements of the cultural landscape in the shape of the route across Traeth Lafan to the Edwardian town of Beaumaris as well as the roads across Penmaenmawr by Silvester and Thomas Telford and their twentieth century successors, and the main line railway. Overland transport links enabled the development of Llandudno’s West Shore, with its possible links with Alice’s adventures down the rabbit hole, and Penmaenmawr, a town divided between quarrying and tourism. The granite at Penmaenmawr has been worked since the stone age, and quarrying has significantly altered the landscape along this coastal stretch. The A55 tunnel building and road dualling of the 1980s opened up easier westerly access by road, to Arfon, via the spectacular mainland route between sea and mountains, through this seascape. Forces for Land/coast Development pressure along coastal edge including the spread of street lighting; change Coastal erosion at Conwy Bay, Wîg (Bangor) and Ynys Mon. Pressures for marina development. Conflict between active recreation and fishing/cockling and the need to conserve Traeth Lavan as a nature reserve. 3 Welsh seascapes and their sensitivity to offshore developments Climate change may put pressure on sea defences and threaten low lying land with flooding. Sea - Designations National Park Snowdonia and sensitive features AONB Anglesey Coast AONB Heritage Coast Great Orme Long-distance coastal North Wales Coastal Path, footpath/National Trail Angelsey Coastal Path Outstanding and special North Arllechwedd; Penmon; Creuddyn