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Portmeirion
Portmeirion (; ) is a folly* * * tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community (Wales), community of Penrhyndeudraeth, from Porthmadog and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was designed and built by Clough Williams-Ellis, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the Baroque style and is now owned by a charitable trust. It has served as the location for numerous films and television shows, most famously as The Village (The Prisoner), "the Village" in the 1960s television show ''The Prisoner''. Many of the buildings within the village are Listed building, listed by Cadw, the Welsh historic environment service, for their architectural and historical importance, and the gardens are listed, at Grade II*, on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. History Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion's architect, denied repeated claims that the design was based on the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architecture in the first half of the 20th century, in a variety of styles and building types. Early life Clough Williams-Ellis was born in Gayton, Northamptonshire, England, but his family moved back to his father's native North Wales when he was four. The family have strong Welsh roots and Clough Williams-Ellis claimed direct descent from Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales. His father John Clough Williams Ellis (1833–1913) was a clergyman and noted mountaineer while his mother Ellen Mabel Greaves (1851–1941) was the daughter of the slate mine proprietor John Whitehead Greaves and sister of John Ernest Greaves. He was educated at Oundle School in Northamptonshire. Though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hotel Portmeirion
The Hotel Portmeirion or sometimes Portmeirion Hotel ( Welsh: ''Gwesty Portmeirion'') is a hotel and restaurant in the village of Portmeirion, in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. The Hotel and many associated buildings and structures are Grade II listed buildings. Background The hotel was originally a mansion called Aber Iâ and was built circa 1850. Architect Clough Williams-Ellis bought the Aber Iâ estate in 1925 as the location for his project to build an eccentric, eclectic village, which he accomplished between 1925 and 1975. Williams-Ellis needed to fund his project, he achieved this by developing the Aber Iâ villa as a luxury hotel, using other buildings in his village as restaurants or cottages to rent. The restored mansion was opened as a hotel in 1926, with the addition of a three-storey west wing. A dining room extension was added in 1930. A terrace on the seafront was also built in 1926. In 1930 Williams-Ellis added a loggia ("Casino") as well as a recreation in concrete of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Village (The Prisoner)
The Village is the fictional setting of the 1960s UK television series ''The Prisoner'' where the main character, Number Six, is held with other former spies and operatives from various countries. The theme of the series is his captors' attempts to find out why Number Six resigned from his job and his attempts to escape from the Village and learn the identity of Number One. Ostensibly, those running the Villagethought by many to be countries around the worldbelieve that once Number Six is coerced into explaining the behind his resignation, all the state secrets he knows will come tumbling out. However, the ultimate use of these secrets is only intimated, but not overtly explored. Beyond its explicit physical setting, the Village is also viewed as an allegory for humanity and society during the Cold War era. Patrick McGoohan notes in various post-show interviews that the Village is "within all of us ... we all live in a little Village ... Your village may be different from oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysterious coastal village after resigning from his position. The allegory, allegorical plotlines of the series contain elements of science fiction, Psychological thriller, psychological drama, and spy fiction. It was produced by Everyman Films for distribution by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. A single series of 17 episodes was filmed between September 1966 and January 1968, with exterior location filming primarily taking place in the Welsh seaside village of Portmeirion. Interior scenes were filmed at MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The series was first broadcast in Canada beginning on 5 September 1967, in the UK on 29 September 1967, and in the United States on 1 June 1968. Although the show was sold as a thriller in the mou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffestiniog, north of Dolgellau and south of Caernarfon. The community population was 4,185 in the 2011 census and was put at 4,134 in 2019. It grew in the 19th century as a port for local slate, but as the trade declined, it continued as a shopping and tourism centre, being close to Snowdonia, Snowdonia National Park and the Ffestiniog Railway. The 1987 National Eisteddfod was held there. It includes nearby Borth-y-Gest, Morfa Bychan and Tremadog. History Porthmadog came about after William Madocks built a sea wall, the Cob, in 1808–1811 to reclaim much of Traeth Mawr from the sea for farming use. Diversion of the River Glaslyn, Afon Glaslyn caused it to scour out a new natural harbour deep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penrhyndeudraeth
Penrhyndeudraeth (; ) is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly east of Porthmadog, and had a population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2,031 in 2001. The community includes the villages of Minffordd and Portmeirion. History An older settlement of a few cottages at Upper Penrhyn was originally called ''Cefn Coch'' ('Red Ridge') and that name is perpetuated by the Penrhyndeudraeth primary school, which is known as Ysgol Cefn Coch; but the town proper is comparatively modern. The ground on which it stands was a malarial swamp encircling a huge stagnant pool. The present town owes its existence as a commercial centre to a local landowner, David Williams of Castell Deudraeth near Minffordd, who in the mid-19th century drained the swamp and dried the pool and constructed many streets. Adopting a scheme of town planning evolved by the builder of Tremadog and his Italian cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minffordd Railway Station
Minffordd railway station (translation ''Roadside'', literally ''Lip of the Road'') is a pair of adjacent stations on separate lines in Gwynedd, Wales. The mainline station opened as Minfford Junction on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then recently built Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli (latterly to become part of the Cambrian Railways) passes under the earlier narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The latter was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea, and had carried passengers from 1865 onwards. The station was renamed Minffordd in 1890. A short walk, advertised near the station, leads to Portmeirion. Standard gauge facilities The standard gauge station consists of a single platform with a simple shelter linked to the narrow gauge station by way of an underbridge and a pedestrian ramp. Access to the Cambrian Line is thus by way of the Ffestiniog Railway "Up" platform. Passenge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portofino
Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century, Portofino has attracted tourism of the European aristocracy and it is now a resort for the world's jet set. History Pliny the Elder (AD 23 – AD 79) referred to (Port of the Dolphin) as on the Ligurian coast between Genoa and the Gulf of Tigullio. The village is mentioned in a ''diploma'' from 986 by Adelaide of Italy, which assigned it to the nearby San Fruttuoso abbey, Abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte. In 1171, together with the neighbouring Santa Margherita Ligure, it was included in Rapallo's commune jurisdiction. After 1229 it was part of the Republic of Genoa. The town's natural Harbor, harbour supported a fleet of fishing boats, but was somewhat too cramped to provide more than a temporary safe haven for the growing Merch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwynedd
Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Bangor is the largest settlement, and the administrative centre is Caernarfon. The preserved county of Gwynedd, which is used for ceremonial purposes, includes the Isle of Anglesey. Gwynedd is the second largest county in Wales but sparsely populated, with an area of and a population of 117,400. After Bangor (18,322), the largest settlements are Caernarfon (9,852), Bethesda (4,735), and Pwllheli (4,076). The county has the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in Wales, at 64.4%, and is considered a heartland of the language. The geography of Gwynedd is mountainous, with a long coastline to the west. The county contains much of Snowdonia (), a national park which contains Wales's highest mountain, Snowdon (; ). To the west, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Dwyryd
The River Dwyryd (), is a river in Gwynedd, Wales which flows principally westwards; draining to the sea into Tremadog Bay, south of Porthmadog. Geography The Dwyryd rises in the hills to the north of Ffestiniog. At its most northern extent, water draining from Moelwyn Mawr drains into Llyn Ystradau, the outflow of which forms the source of the Afon Goedol. This is joined by the River Bowydd at grid reference: . At Rhyd-y-Sarn, the Afon Goedol is joined by the Afon Teigl (originating from Manod Mawr). Thereafter, the river is called the Afon Dwyryd. Below Rhyd y Sarn by Pont Dolymoch, the river is joined by the Afon Cynfal which flows from the east down a deep wooded gorge which includes the spectacular Rhaeadr Cynfal (Cynfal waterfall) south of Ffestiniog. The main river then flows through a wide valley formed by glaciation, with a broad flat base formed from glacial moraines and riverine gravel deposits. The valley, the Vale of Ffestiniog, has much agriculture but is subjec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-century English landscape gardening and French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies imitated Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined medieval castles, abbeys, or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famine in Ireland, were built as a form of poor relief, to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans. In English, the term began as "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown wikt:folly#Noun, folly in the builder", t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediaeval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
