When ARC Creative and Nigel McDonald of 'No Nonsense Interpretation', teamed up to tender for this project, we were thrilled at the possibility of spending time on Llandwyn. As Nigel put it after the first visit, "We dream of working in places like this!"
At one point during the installation however, this dream could easily have become a nightmare. After much planning and design work, it was late autumn before were ready to install on Llandwyn. The Island is regularly cut off during high tides so with all our stuff, the only way was by Landrover. And just to make things better, on the first day it was pouring with rain and blowing a hooley!
Toposcope:
The toposcope panel is exposed to high winds, sea spray and windblown sand (as Chris found out!) so we had it made from enamelled lavastone.
Being made of stern stuff, we pressed on with the work, aided admirably by Graham Williams and his team who care for the island. But things started to unravel when Chris got wind blown sand in his eyes and had to take shelter to try to clear it. This was unsuccessful, the weather was getting worse and the tide was against us so we had to beat a retreat.
Welcome Panel:
Shortly after installation the welcome and orientation panel was already in use. (The shelter is there for those who forget to check the tide times!)
Fast forward to the evening and we were in Bangor hospital with Chris undergoing minor surgery to remove several particles of sand from his left eye. He had been in great pain unable to see and was told that had he left it overnight he would most likely have been in serious trouble and could even have lost his sight!
Undeterred, we were back on the island the following day and just managed to complete the work before the next high tide. As the pictures show, the weather was a little kinder to us.
The view back to the 'mainland' from Llandwyn after the storm.
We installed a number of interpretive items including a new welcome panel, a toposcope showing the view to Snowdonia and a smaller panel near to the ruined church on the island. This tells the story of Dwynwyn who is Wales' patron saint of lovers. We also installed several small partly hidden tactile plaques in various points to encourage visitors to explore the island further.
If you get a chance, do go and explore Llandwyn yourself. You won't regret it. The place is really stunning - whatever the weather.
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