More on Victoria Dock

The Victoria Dock was built at the instigation of forward-thinking mayor Llewelyn Turner in the 1870s when the thriving slate industry also led to a flourishing shipping sector.

It later went into decline and has only in recent years benefitted from a regeneration programme. It now houses the Gwynedd Archives, the Seiont II Maritime Museum and Galeri, a newly-built arts and creative business centre which opened in Spring 2005.

You can call into the Galeri reception to pick up a special mobile phone to give you a running commentary as you follow the walk. There are also toilets and refreshments there.

Other points of interest at Victoria Dock include the anchor from the training ship HMS Conway and the clay pipe-lined holes built into the walls of the chandlery building. The pipes date back to when this building was a warehouse used for drying out timber floated ashore from ships anchored in the Strait. The building was subsequently used by Breton onion sellers to store their stock. Under the footbridge is the Patent Slip, which pre-dates the dock and could haul quite large boats out of the water for repairs.

If you stand on the dock facing the sea, to your right is the turquoise-painted pier on the site of a former oil terminal. Beyond that is the start of the Lon Las Menai cyclepath, heading along the Menai Strait towards Bangor.

A plaque outside the Maritime Museum commemorates Ellen Edwards who, unusually for a woman of that time, ran a successful navigation school in the 19th century, teaching vital skills to mariners.

To start the walk, head for the seafront near the Maritime Museum and set off along the Promenade with the sea on your right and the town walls on your left.