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Home , Aberffraw, Beaumaris Castle, Holyhead Mountain, South Stack, South Stack Lighthouse

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• PICTURES By simon childs WORDS BY brian laban play t VXR8 is a car full of surprises - a saloon that thinks it’s a PowerVauxhall’s new ve its price, a car with comfor And the beautiful supercar, a car with performance way abo and practicality as well as stunning driving dynamics. Isle of was once the island power-base of welsh kings. . .

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A natural stronghold in mediaeval times, by the 13th century Anglesey had become ‘’s granary’, and a seat of kings and princes battling for Welsh independence. . . any times over millions of years, dating back more than 5000 years, to the middle much of northern Europe, including Stone Age, so Anglesey is dotted with M most of Britain, was covered by the burial chambers, standing stones, glacial ice sheets of the Ice Ages, and as the and Celtic hill forts left behind by those early glaciers crept over the northwest corner of settlers and their descendants. Wales, they carved deep scars. But as the last Once a powerful natural stronghold in its glaciers retreated, some 12,000 years ago, and own right, Anglesey was sacred to the Druids the sea added its own ravages, one scar was so until the Romans attacked in 78AD and drove deep that the waters poured in and the British them out. And Irish and Norse raiders followed Isles had a new island – what would become before Anglesey was regained by the Welsh. known as Ynys Môn, or Anglesey, separated by By the 13th century it had become ‘Wales’s the from Snowdonia and the Lleyn granary’, a seat of kings and princes battling Peninsula to the south-east. for Welsh independence, until Edward I of And although the Straits are little more than England first blockaded the island to cut off a hefty stone’s-throw across, and bridges supplies to the Welsh forces in Snowdonia, then restored Anglesey’s physical links to the rest of began to turn Anglesey into a stronghold of his Wales (and England) more than 180 years ago, (and England’s) own, for another century. it retains that feeling of a place apart - with the What drove Anglesey to a new age was magic to draw us there with our new VXR8, to England’s Act of Union with in 1801, ponder more than one meaning of power. and a geographical position that made it the It’s a beautiful place whose landscape was final stepping stone on the road from to also shaped by the power of those glaciers - Dublin. That was when the road network that scoured to the point where Mountain still makes Anglesey such a fine place to go (the highest point on Anglesey) rises barely 720 driving just for the pleasure of it began to feet, where nearby Snowdonia has any number evolve; and that’s when many of the towns we of peaks over 3000 feet. It’s a compact island, visited in our VXR8 began to take on the roughly square but nibbled by dozens of bays, character they have today. large and small. Corner to corner, from Not that it happened overnight, and travelling to , is less than 30 miles around Anglesey was once a tough call. The and its coastline measures just over 125. Most route west had been used for many years by the is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural mail service, but even by 1801 most roads were Beauty (AONB) - the largest AONB in Wales, little more than tracks - the main reason for covering around a third of the island. North crossing Anglesey being to take a boat from Anglesey, and Holyhead (or Caergybi) to Ireland. Even to get Bay are also designated as Heritage Coast, and onto Anglesey meant taking a ferry, and offer a huge variety of scenery - the northern Porthaethwy (now the town of ) shores mainly low cliffs, with coves, pebble was where most of them landed, from Bangor. beaches and sheltered villages, the east with Then, in 1826, Thomas Telford’s great Menai sheer limestone cliffs punctuated by fine sandy Bridge brought the A5 trunk road onto the beaches, and the south having huge sand dunes island and on towards Holyhead – and at the reaching down to Aberffraw and Abermenai. time, it was the longest suspension bridge in It’s an island shaped by human history, too, the world, with a main span of 579 feet. >>>

Overlooking the Straits, offers fishing and trips to the islands. The statue of Dic Evans looks out to sea at Moelfre, and at fishermen tend their pots while the occasional sailing ship ties up to a quay that was once the busiest in Wales. Holyhead’s huge breakwater, with its square lighthouse, is a magnet for fishermen, too, and Telford’s Menai Bridge is still an elegant gateway

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Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge (the he’d conquered Welsh King Llewellyn ap world’s first box-girder design), followed in Iorwerth, who married the daughter of 1850, to bring the railway onto Anglesey. It now England’s infamous King John. Taking more carries another road, too, but compared to than 25 years to complete, it was the most Telford’s design it’s an ugly duckling and we technically perfect of the four Edward arrived on the prettier one – the VXR8 burbling built to control the coast around - past the old sign welcoming visitors to Môn at , , and here. Mam Cymru – Mother of Wales. Centred on the , Beaumaris is a busy Our plan was fairly simple, a lap of Anglesey’s little tourist town. The Green overlooks the coastline and towns, to enjoy the docile side of water where the Castle once had its own the VXR8. Then to add another dimension, harbour; the jetty offers fishing trips and bird- several more laps on one of the island’s modern watching trips to , opposite big, wonders - a race circuit where we could explore elegant terraces of houses (some designed by the outer limits of its huge performance, in Joseph Hansom who also created the Hansom Under the purple safety, against views to take the breath away cab) and the imposing Bulkeley Hotel, named almost as effectively as the VXR8’s power. for the current owners of . heather and yellow Turning north-east from the Bridge we We stayed just outside Beaumaris, in a setting gorse, the blue- dropped down from Menai Bridge town’s that could hardly have been more stunning, and narrow high street to an even narrower lane by as the sun went down we drove on single-track green earth is a the water’s edge under the Bridge itself – high lanes to see the lighthouse guiding ships in the enough above water to let fully-rigged sailing narrow channel to Puffin Island. In the morning reminder of the ships pass under it was built, as the Admiralty we went across country for a day’s adrenaline- had insisted, and still looking majestic over a pumping on the Anglesey Circuit and a gentler hugely rich copper shore now dotted with yachts and powerboats evening tracing the A5025 north towards and overlooked by houses that remind you of Bay past scatterings of wind turbines, mines that used to the wealth of Anglesey in its heyday. quietly making eco-friendly electric power. Five miles on, hugging the shore, the A545 Beyond Cemaes we found hillsides with dot parys mountain reaches Beaumaris, where the Straits open to beautiful colours, soft under the sun dipping the sea and the great Castle has World Heritage towards The Skerries, Holyhead Bay and the Site status. Originally not a Welsh castle, but an . Under the purple heather and yellow English one - started in 1295 by Edward I after gorse, the blue-green earth is a reminder of the

The deep blue water of the old ponds and the rich colour of the earth, gorse an heather make the old copper workings of Parys Mountain a beautiful sight in the setting sun. Built as an English stronghold by Edward 1, Beaumaris Castle is a World Heritage Site. Wherever we went, the VXR8 could compete with even this beautiful scenery for attention VAUXHALL MAGAZINE 45 VDRIVEN

Lovingly restored and hugely rich copper mines that used to dot Parys One must-do en route to Holyhead is a stop beautifully fitted out, our Mountain - and nearby you’ll find Port Amlwch, at a little railway station just outside Menai windmill retreat offers vertical living - with a tiny cove that can’t have changed much since Bridge, on the old A5 past Anglesey’s statue of dining room, two double Amlwch was a boomtown, with a population Lord Nelson. The station is famous simply for bedrooms, and sitting room with views to take bigger than Cardiff’s, from where the copper its name - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrn- your breath away all was shipped, and where a wooden-hulled three- drobwlllantysiliogogogoch (what the locals call linked by the old winding staircase. The dining masted sailing ship is now pulled up tight Llanfair PG) - invented by a local tailor in 1880 OUR Windmill table is around the old under the harbour wall on the low tide. to attract visitorsas the longest place name in There are many places to stay on Anglesey, mill’s shaft; kitchen and Down the coast from Amlwch driving back Britain! And if you’re wondering, it means ‘the bathroom are newly built but there can’t be many more special than and superbly equipped, towards Beaumaris, Moelfre, is another pretty church of St Mary’s in the hollow of the white the one we chose. It’s an ancient windmill, and the garden and patio seaside village on a notorious coast. In 1859 the hazel near the rapid whirlpool of St Tsillio’s are a wonderful setting to on high ground in the northeast corner of enjoy a little bit of al Royal Charter became just one of the many church by the red cave’. It’s a tiny place. . . the island, with breathtaking views, not fresco living when the shipwrecks near here, lost while returning from The A55 dual-carriageway runs to Holyhead Anglesey sun shines only across Anglesey but over Puffin Island Australia to Liverpool heavily laden with gold, now, but the old A5 is more interesting if you and Blackpoint Lighthouse, to Liverpool in with only 45 saved from the crew of 490 and a don’t have a boat to catch. That’s still the main the east and the Isle of Man to the north. big enough story at the time that Charles reason for going to Caergybi, but go beyond and On a good day you can see both – and on a Dickens visited the scene. There’s been a lifeboat there’s the Breakwater Country Park with its clear night with good binoculars you can you can watch at Moelfre since 1830 and there’s a statue to old brickworks, and Holyhead Mountain. The watch their lights twinkling on the horizon. from the top- Coxswain Dic Evans who died in 2001 and who breakwater itself is astonishing – the longest in You can watch from the top floor sitting floor sitting was one of many heroic Moelfre lifeboat men. the world when it was completed, after 28 years room where the mill’s gears once churned It’s a wonderful bronze, by Sam Holland, and work, in 1873. It’s now a magnet for fishermen but which now boasts panoramic windows, room, where unveiled by the Prince of Wales in 2004. and power-walkers by the vast harbour that around a beautiful polished wood floor the mill’s gears You could easily drive the whole island in a could once shelter more than a hundred ships and comfy, designer furniture. day, but with three, there’s time to enjoy another at a time during a storm. That’s the power of Below it are two double bedrooms – a once Churned quiet supper in Beaumaris’s Olde Bull’s Head. Victorian engineering. The power of Anglesey. floor each, simply but beautifully furnished, but which now with small windows piercing walls several boasts Panoramic feet thick, painted pristine white to give a feeling of space and calm. And the loudest windows around thing you’re likely to hear from outside is a beautiful the gentle sound of cows munching grass. The ground floor is the dining room, its polished wood glass table built around the old mill shaft. floor. . . > In a new extension there’s a superb kitchen and big bathroom. Outside there’s a beautifully kept garden, with a barbecue, a patio to eat on, even a hot-tub. It was restored by the Wood family who live just over the fields, including Julian who greeted us with a bottle of chilled champagne. A nice touch. His father says the mill used to grind flour for the local For all the information you could monks, who brought beer for the miller. need on Anglesey, these are the It would be hard to think of a more links you can go to: individual place to put your head down. www.visitanglesey.com www.whitebeachholiday.co.uk. www.visitwales.com Prices for a three-night break (the www.beaumaris.org.uk minimum stay) start at £95 per night www.angleseycircuit.com - which includes a bottle of champagne For Anglesey accommodation on your arrival. options from world class hotels to whitewashed cottages, www.walesinstyle.com EXCLUSIVE VAUXHALL MAGAZINE OFFER For superb food in Beaumaris, Mention Vauxhall magazine when you try Ye Olde Bulls Head, confirm your booking over the phone, Castle Street, Beaumaris LL58 8AP - and you’ll get an extra bottle of www.bullsheadinn.co.uk champagne!

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R8 is its The real beauty of the V X balance between pe rformance and and poise - massi ve power acceleration with delicate feel and handling that gi ves the confidence to attack corners at speeds you would road never imagine possible on the Anglesey Circuit and the VXR8 There are more famous racing circuits around Britain, but there’s surely none with a setting to match Anglesey’s TracMôn. Out on the south-west coast, off the A4080 between and Aberfraw, this is a place that above all shows just what can be done with a great location, substantial investment and a lot of imagination. It was designed from a clean sheet to take advantage of the landscape – undulating and tortuous with challenging camber and elevation changes that wouldn’t be out of place

on parts of the Nurburgring. The run-

AINING R T off areas at Anglesey are more forgiving though, and the views are stunning, way out across Aberffraw Bay to the south-east, the sea shimmering like beaten silver, across to the peaks of Snowdonia, with their tops lost in low cloud. If you weren’t here to drive, you could sit and look at the view for hours – but we did have the VXR8 with us. . . And the circuit is as impressive as the setting. Clearly, no expense has been spared on what matters most, the track itself. Every inch of blacktop is recently laid, billiard-table smooth, and a full 12 metres wide, so it satisfies international racing requirements when the time comes. In the meantime it hosts a couple of dozen car and motorcycle sprints and races a year, cuit cuit and is highly regarded by all. It’s more than one circuit. Alternative combinations of the interconnected loops can create layouts from less than a mile to more than two, with every type of corner, elevation and camber – even a long, fast, banked 180 >>>

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we tried virtually every combination of layout and thev xr8 revelled in all of them. It should: it is a brilliantly engineered performance saloon, with huge power and the chassis and brakes to use all of it with plenty in reserve

> VXR8 manual saloon PRICE: FROM £35,105 - ON-THE- ROAD to be forgiving, and safe, with ample can rocket the VXR8 to 60mph in 4.9 ENGINE SIZE: 5967CC PETROL room to correct mistakes, and solid seconds. And while there isn’t a press the limits of suspension and steering, the tyres howl but bite hard, CYLINDERS: EIGHT, IN VEE degree turn with more amazing views tyre barriers that are far enough from straight long enough at Anglesey to tyres the more it tells you what’s and the rest follows. Get it wrong and MAX POWER: 417PS@6000RPM as you punch out of it. There are fast the trackside to be reassuring rather expore the VXR8’s outright potential, happening at ground level. The brakes the ESP will protect you by easing MAX TORQUE: 550NM @4400RPM corners, tight corners, blind brows than threatening. So as well as being there’s more than enough track and are full of feel and power – and no power and restoring balance, but once MANUAL 0-60MPH: 4.9SECS and tightening exits; and there’s the another great place from which to see variety to demonstrate that this is a matter how hard we used them they you have the practice and confidence, INSURANCE GROUP: 20U Corkscrew, a sequence of bends Anglesey, it was the perfect place to car with potential seriously to never showed a hint of losing their you can drive harder with the CO2: 365G/KM plunging down the hillside and taking enjoy the full performance of the VXR8 threaten sporting saloons with double mighty bite. The six-speed gearshift is electronic safety nets turned off and COMBINED MPG: 18.5MPG its name from the signature bends at - safely and responsibly. And the car’s its £35,105 pricetag. In fact it’s hard short, slick, precise, and while the you can push the tail wide at will, LENGTH: 4941MM Laguna Seca in California. abilities are clearly enormous. to imagine more performance and clutch pedal isn’t heavy, like the even slide all four wheels through the MIRRORS): 2174MM The circuit isn’t only about racing, We tried virtually every combination ability for the price. brakes it never showed the slightest fastest corners - and all with the VXR8 WIDTH (INCLUDING 1468MM though - it offers a range of driving of layout and the VXR8 revelled in all It feels as focussed as it looks, and concern at being asked to tackle a letting you know precisely how much HEIGHT: 2915MM courses from introductory to advanced of them. It should: it is a brilliantly its looks attract most of the paddock- racing circuit over and over again. is enough and when to back off. WHEELBASE: - run by the longest established team engineered performance saloon, with full of racers assembling for the The real beauty of the VXR8, though, By any standards, it is impressive; KERB WEIGHT: 1831KG of racing school personnel currently huge power and the chassis and weekend’s meeting. It has the ideal is its balance between performance but perhaps most impressive of all SERVICE INTERVALS: 20,000 MILES OR operating in Europe. There are brakes to use all of it with plenty in driving position for a quick car – and poise – massive power and comes the moment you drive out of ONE YEAR corporate activity days, and several reserve. To recap: it is powered by a relaxed but solidly located by high- acceleration with delicate feel and the circuit, back onto the A4080, to BOOT CAPACITY: 496 LITRES 60,000/36 high-profile organisations now use lightweight 6-litre V8 that has much shouldered seats, with everything handling that gives the confidence to realise just how much this car has in WARRANTY – MILES/MONTHS: Anglesey for testing and filming. in common with the one in its GM that’s important in just the right attack corners at speeds you would reserve for almost any circumstance FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE VXR8, Best of all, while the circuit is cousin the Corvette. It delivers 420bhp places. The steering is perfectly never imagine possible on the road. you’ll meet on the road. That’s the GO TO www.VXR.CO.UK, technically challenging, it is designed and a colossal 550Nm of torque, which weighted and quick, and the more you Do that and the nose obeys the beauty of real performance. OR CALL 0845 600 1500

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