Menai Bridge (Porthaethwy in Welsh) is located on the banks of the Menai Strait in Anglesey North Wales. It sits between the towns of Beaumaris to the east and Llamfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch to the west, yes the town with the long name is close by !

Being the narrowest part of the treacherous Menai Strait it has probably been an important crossing point for many thousands of years. Indeed artifacts from the Bronze Age through to the Romans have been found in Menai Bridge. The first written documentation of Menai Bridge however was concerning the battle that took place in 1194 when Llywelyn the Great defeated his uncle Rhodri, son of Owain Gwynedd, at the Battle of Porthaethwy.

But it is around the 16th Century that the present town starts to take shape. Again it is it's position on the banks of the Straits that lead to the development of the town of Menai Bridge. Fishing weirs were constructed and ferries were established for crossing the Strait. The ferry businesses flourished until the construction of the Menai Suspension Bridge in the early 19th Century.

The demise of the ferry trade did not however diminish Menai Bridge's connection with the sea. A local businessman Richard Davies established a successful fleet of ships that traded world wide including shipping emigrants to North America.

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By the early 20th Century however the Davies' fleet was sold off but the town was again benefiting from it's seafaring traditions with the arrival of the Steamships that plied their trade from the English city of Liverpool bringing tourists to the North Wales towns and holiday resorts. Many seaside resorts were established along the Welsh coast and Menai Bridge with it's mooring facilities was once again able to capitalise on it's beautiful location.

In 1914 the locals were helped by a group of refugees from Mechelen in Belgium who had been driven from their homes by the German invasion and had found asylum in Menai Bridge. As a gesture of appreciation for being welcomed to Menai Bridge the refugees constructed the "Belgian Promenade" that extends from Carreg y Halen, close to the Menai Bridge, to the Causeway at Church Island.

In the 21st Century the Steamships have long gone and Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences research vessel The Prince Madog occupies their berth at St George's Pier. With the increased leisure time we now enjoy and the interest in our environment, there is a great demand for activity holidays including sailing, sea kayaking, shore  angling, fishing boat trips, dolphin watch trips and Menai Bridge is again in the right place at the right time. . The beautiful location of the town makes it an ideal centre for all these activities and more. The Anglesey Coastal Path a 124 mile, 200 kilometre, walk around the fantastic Anglesey coastline passes through the town. It is just a short walk to Church Island to visit the church of St Tysilio that was reputedly founded in the 7th Century A.D. From here there are fantastic views of the Britannia Bridge and the western Menai Strait. Take a walk from Menai Bridge and you will find beautiful beaches, historic sites including Beaumaris Castle, prehistoric burial chambers, standing stones and fantastic views of the Snowdonia mountains and the Llyn peninsula.

But you don't have to walk far at all to find the jewel in the crown of Menai Bridge, indeed one of the jewels of North Wales, the beautiful Menai Suspension Bridge.

The bridge dominates the town, and what domination! There are many fine viewing points where you can appreciate the beauty of the Menai Suspension Bridge but after visiting the site myself I would have to recommend anybody to take the short walk along the seafront to the base of the Bridge. The bridge, built of backbreaking dressed limestone that form the arches and columns, gives a lie to the old adage that man can't improve on nature. The magnificent work of art created by Telford and all those stonemasons, labourers and engineers in the early 19th century is the best "work of art" I've seen in a long time. If those unmade beds, piles of bricks and cracks in the floor in the Tate Gallery are worth millions of pounds then the Menai Suspension Bridge is truly priceless. Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, and dare I say it Kyffin William's fans, visit Menai Bridge and eat your hearts out!  But as usual I digress..................

Getting back to the town of Menai Bridge.. The demand for holidays  in picturesque little towns and seaside resorts such as Menai Bridge has led to many houses being converted to holiday accommodation and Menai Bridge is no exception. Indeed the old chapels, harbour buildings, port workshops and storage sheds have been converted into holiday cottages, many with views over the Strait.

Many of the old businesses have closed or moved out of town but a walk around the town shows the variety of different services available; travel agents, estate agents, banks, cafes, music shops, stationers, chandlers, and there are a disproportionately large number of pubs for a town of it's size. This is probably due to Menai Bridge's seafaring connections but I suspect that today they are more "restaurants that serve beer" than old fashioned drinking dens. I'll have to check them out !

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