Portmeirion

Some days I struggle to find a suitable photo to blip and other days the decision on which to choose is a very difficult one. We visited Portmeirion in north west Wales. I have always wanted to come here since I was a child and my Aunt showed me photos of her visit. Then of course I re-fell in love with the place when I watched the TV series "The Prisoner" in the late '60s. In this cult series which was a follow on from the spy series "Danger Man", Patrick McGoohan played a "retired" spy who, after he tried to retire, was drugged and taken to a very weird "island" where no one was ever allowed to leave.....alive! Although many people disappeared. He was given a new name "Number 6" and was always trying to find out who was "Number 1" from the various new "Number 2's" that appeared in each episode. the "island" of course was the village of Portmeirion.

The village was the lifetime dream project of architect Sir Clough William-Ellis who built it from scratch. He purchased the land in 1925 and spent 50 years building the village. His vision was to "show how a beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it". Personally I think he succeeded magnificently!