Portmeirion – Different Things To Different People

Located in Gwynedd, North Wales on the estuary of the River Dwyryd about 2 miles south east of Porthmadog, Portmeirion is a popular tourist village and one of the top attractions in Britain. There are different reasons for this popularity as we shall see as we go along.

Tourists flock to the coastal village as much for the sheer curiosity value as anything else, for Portmeirion is an Italianate style extravaganza designed between 1925 and 1975 by the well known English born architect Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, who moved to the area aged four as a return journey to his father's homeland.

He inherited a local property called Plas Brondanw in 1908 and set about restoring and improving it. Work began on the construction of Portmeirion around 1925, and incorporated fragments of demolished buildings, including works by a number of other architects.

Sir Clough always tried to distance himself from the suggestion that the village was based on Portofino by Genoa on the Italian Riveria, but didn't help his denial by regularly referring to the village when talking of the beauty of the atmosphere of the Mediterranean.

In 1931, Sir Clough purchased Castell Deudraeth from his uncle, although the intervention of the Second World War interrupted his plans to develop this part of the Portmeirion Estate, although funding has now allowed its conversion to a hotel to be completed.

Another reason that people find their way to Portmeirion is not only to experience the atmosphere, but also to say that they purchased some of the beautiful Portmeirion Pottery that is on sale at a superbly presented showroom on site.

Founded in 1960 by Sir Clough's daughter Susan, the Portmeirion Pottery business was started from an existing small company in Stoke, and with the subsequent purchase of another small business a year later. The company purchased the Royal Worcester and Spode brands in 2009, cementing its place in the ceramics industry.

The third and perhaps most captivating reason for the popularity of the village is the fact that it was used as the setting for the cult TV series, “The Prisoner” which surprisingly lasted only between 1966 and 1967.

The village still hosts conventions and remains virtually unchanged from those days. Sir Clough insisted that the real life setting was not revealed until the final episode to avoid overcrowding and used the same reason to justify the levy of an entrance fee.

So whatever your reason, investigate Portmeirion and let it work its charm on you.

http://www.portmeirion-village.com

http://www.portmeirion.co.uk

http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk