The role of the Britannia Bridge in giving village Europe’s longest …
The village with the longest place name in Europe is known to people across the world. But it wasn’t always so long.
The name you can see when arriving at the railway station is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It of course means: “The Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio near a red cave.”
The station was once a railway terminus and passengers would get off there then catch a ferry to the mainland. But once the Britannia Bridge opened long distance trains didn’t need to stop there.
Then it was said to be down to locals to come up with a solution to get people to stop at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll Station. The HistoryPoints.org[2] website states: “The story goes back to the opening of the rail station at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll in August 1848, as the temporary terminus of the new railway from Holyhead[3].
“Passengers alighted here for the ferry across the Menai, then continued their train journeys from Bangor[4] station (on the mainland). The village prospered from its status as a rail terminus and from construction works nearby on the Britannia Bridge.
A lady stands beside a sign showing the longest place name in Europe at Llanfair PG Station
“Once the bridge had opened, in May 1850, there was no longer any need for long-distance trains to stop at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, which became a railway backwater overnight. A local committee was convened to think of ways to encourage passengers to alight in the village, and came up with the idea of extending the village’s five-syllable name to create Europe’s longest place name.
“The railway company went along with the ploy, and displayed the new name on the station.” The station closed in 1966 but reopened to passengers in 1973.
Today trains call at Llanfairpwll every day and the longevity of the famous place name endures. In 2017 stars of the Flash Gordon and Pirates of the Caribbean movies had a go at pronouncing the tongue twister in Wrexham with mixed results.[5]
And the 58 letters of this station’s name, the second longest in the world, were recently painted by a signwriter in a humble bus shelter in Ffordd Penmynydd.[6] Tomos Jones, 41, painstakingly painted it in a bid to help preserve Welsh place names.
- HistoryPoints.org has put a QR code on a fence post at Llanfairpwll Station. It has a link to a website with a recording of how to pronounce it correctly.
- For more nostalgic photos check out an exhibition at Conwy[7] Culture Centre showing images of coronation days from 1902 until 2023.
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References
- ^ Racecourse Ground set for name change as Wrexham AFC name new sponsor (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ HistoryPoints.org (historypoints.org)
- ^ Holyhead (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Bangor (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ stars of the Flash Gordon and Pirates of the Caribbean movies had a go at pronouncing the tongue twister in Wrexham with mixed results. (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ painted by a signwriter in a humble bus shelter in Ffordd Penmynydd. (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ Conwy (www.dailypost.co.uk)
- ^ our Anglesey newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)