Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (545)

This is the church that's famous for being "St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the fierce whirlpool of St Tysilio of the red cave" aka Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I was near to it a few years ago and my associates failed to realise that the "Llanfair" bit means "St Mary's Church" in Welsh, so they should have known it was there. Now I've been there, I've forgiven them for their omission!

But I didn't see the whirlpool, or the hazel, or the cave. However, I've since learned that the village is really called "Llanfairpwllgwyngyll" which is the "St Mary's church in the pool of the white hazels" bit; the rest of the name was added on in the 1860s as a publicity stunt to give its railway station the longest name in Britain (and to make it a tourist attraction)! I've also learned that the "whirlpool" bit refers to the "The Swellies" which is the stretch of the Menai Strait between the Britannia Bridge and the Menai Bridge where there are whirlpools and surges that are the result of the tides washing around the island of Anglesey at different speeds.

The church is down a narrow lane to a point overlooking the Menai Strait. It's a very nice church despite the silly name, and I was able to go inside and have a look around and check out the font (it has a rather uncomfortable pointy-topped font cover).

There is a statue of Lord Nelson at the shore here. I didn't bother visiting him though.