Happy Valley
Happy Valley is home to wildlife animals and plants, family walks, a putting green, a ski slope and the cable car base station, all situated on the side of the Great Orme in Llandudno.
Happy Valley was once a quarry stretching down the Great Orme, and it was a gift from Lord Mostyn to the town of Llandudno in celebrating of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria back in the year of 1887. After the quarry was donated as a gift, the area was developed upon as gardens with many attractions within itself. Within Happy Valley were two miniature golf courses, a putting green, and very popular open air theatre and many lawns situated around the area.
At the foot of Happy Valley is a stone circle constructed for one purpose and this was to centre the Welsh National Eisteddfod Ceremonies in both 1896 and 1963. In the month of June 1969, there was a great development that happened in Happy Valley. This was the creation of The Great Orme Cable Car. This was looked upon as a modern alternative to the Great Orme Tramway. The base station of the Cable Car was built in Happy Valley and travelled all the way to the station at the Summit of the Orme. The distance between the two stations was just over a mile, crowning it the longest single stage cabin lift in Britain, and it still holds that title today.
Within Happy Valley is also a Cafe serving all your needs with both hot food and drinks for those cold days and ice cream and cold refreshing drinks for those warm summer days. Whatever the weather the Happy Valley cafe will satisfy your needs.
The path through Happy Valley is a very adventurous trek. Although the path has been professionally made, it winds through trees, large areas of rockery and on the edge of drops. The area itself is very green and covered in flowers giving the walker a beautiful view whilst wondering to the top of the path.
Once the top of Happy Valley has been reached, you arrive at the John Nike Ski Centre. This is a very popular attraction for both Llandudno visitors and residents. As the dry ski slope allows new skiers or snowboarders to take part in lessons, it also allows an open session where the extreme sport fanatics can show off their moves and interact with other members of the ski slope meeting new friends or possibly future competition. The ski slope is also home to the toboggan run which surrounds the dry slope and is fun for all the family. The toboggans are pulled up to the top of the slope by an automated cable lift and it runs around the top finally reaching the edge and venturing straight down with sharp curved turns and flying under bridges where observers can watch before they ride. The ski slope has a large centre next to it allowing visitors to hire all the gear needed to give the slope a try, Including snow boards and boots as well as skis and boots and ski poles. If you really enjoy the ski slope a membership can be purchased which allows the user to have money off when visiting and gives them extra perks throughout their stay. Finally, there is a bar/restaurant next to the ski slope offering hot food and drinks to gather your energy back after the ski slope has been used.
If you visit Llandudno around bonfire night make sure you head up to Happy Valley to watch the firework display that is done on the pier of Llandudno. Happy Valley has the perfect opening and the perfect view to see the pier. When the fireworks display begins you can see every single firework that is activated. Also because Happy Valley is initially just one large grassy slope, the viewing is perfect and it is very hard to actually have someone block your view. Happy Valley has become a very popular spot to watch the fireworks from so it is always very busy on bonfire night, with both teenagers and families. But it definitely has a better view than the Prom.
Welsh National Eisteddfodd Ceremonies were held there in 1896 and again in 1963. The celebrations centred around a stone circle, constructed specifically for this purpose.
In June 1969, The Great Orme Cabin Lift, a modern alternative to the tramway, was opened with its base station in Happy Valley. The distance to the summit is just over one mile. It is the longest single stage cabin lift in Britain.
