Peculiar Portmeirion
Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales.
During a recent holiday on Anglesey we thought it would be rude not to strike out for a day of exploring in North Wales and Snowdonia. Our itinerary took in the Betws-y-Coed Fairy Glen and the evocative remains of Llechwedd quarry at Blaenau Ffestiniog, but was mainly predicated around lunch and a wander in Portmeirion, a strange and delightful folly village on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in Gwynedd that’s been on my bucket list for some time.
Envisioned and constructed by eccentric Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams Ellis between 1925 and 1985, the resort is an odd collection of pastel-coloured buildings done out in a baroque, Italianate architectural style; it incorporates structural elements from other demolished properties, and is lavishly equipped with statues and murals on historical and mythological themes. It’s most famous as the setting for cult TV classic The Prisoner (1967), where it serves as ‘The Village’, the geographically indeterminate and deeply surreal coastal settlement where Parick McGoohan’s intelligent agent finds himself incarcerated after abruptly resigning his position. I was going to include some screenshots, but there’s a high quality print available on YouTube.
A whimsical, colourful tourist trap on a bright day might not seem a prime candidate for creepiness, but I found it to be so, and not just because of its association with The Prisoner, which deals in dark themes like surveillance, mind control, and psychological abuse. Essentially a Mediterranean fishing village in North Wales, it’s profoundly out of place; having the incongruous appearance and feel of a film set, or scaled-up model village (which possess their own special brand of subtle eeriness), it’s firmly in the realm of the uncanny. The postmodern bricolage of salvaged features from older buildings adds to its off-kilter atmosphere – it’s a peaches-and-cream Frankenvillage – as do the plethora of supernatural paintings and sculptures.
Much as I enjoyed it I found it quite challenging photographically; it’s both very visually cluttered and was packed to the gunwales with sightseers (challenging my taste for clean and unpeopled compositions), and the sun disappeared precisely half way through our visit. Nonetheless, I snagged a few shots I’m quite happy with, and that hopefully capture some of the peculiar flavour of the location. I left my main rig in the car and shot the village on my Ricoh GRIIIx pocket rocket; it’s a frivolous, touristic sort of place, and seemed to lend itself to snapshot-style photography.
