The town that time forgot
Lauded for its healing waters, Llandrindod Wells once attracted the cream of British society. Today it’s a treasure trove of Victorian architecture, replete with grand towers and turrets. YORK MEMBERY pays a visit
“So you’re off to the town that time forgot?” a Welsh friend joked when I said I was going to Llandrindod Wells in hilly mid-Wales for the weekend. He wasn’t being mean, it just slipped out – but in a weird sort of way he was right… and wrong.
Anyone travelling back in time, Doctor Who-like, to the “Llandod” (as locals refer to it) of the 1900s would have come across the proud, self-styled “Premier Spa of Wales” – its “hygienic capital” – in its heyday.
The “healing qualities” of the spring waters began attracting visitors to the area in the 18th century. But it was the coming of the railway in the 1860s that really spurred on its growth, and led to the construction of a string of lavish hotels, as well as guest houses, shops and homes.
Healing waters
Spas were all the rage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the rich and famous headed to Llandrindod during “the season” for rest, relaxation and to take the waters. Among the visitors were David Lloyd George, Edward Elgar, and, after the First World War, the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII).
Old sepia photographs in the town’s Radnorshire Museum show visitors in their finery at the Pump House Hotel queuing to take the waters for all manner of ailments, be it “acne, hysteria or leprosy”. The purging qualities of the waters were also much-celebrated. One man “reputedly discharged a worm seven feet long and the width of a large thumb nail” after consuming several glasses. The amount drunk typically varied from two to six glasses at a time, depending on the ailment (the charge at both pump rooms was 6d per day for any amount of water).
The interwar years witnessed a slow but steady decline in Llandrindod’s fortunes, as a result of changing fashions; its remote location didn’t help, either. Nowadays, few of the town’s grand hotels still stand; one is the family-owned Metropole, boasting a modern swimming pool, sauna and spa treatment complex, which “survived through force of will”, says owner Justin BairdMurray. However, Llandrindod remains a treasure trove of red-brick late Victorian and Edwardian architecture. The influence of the Arts and Crafts movement is evident in the tall chimneys and tile-hung walls, and a number of buildings boast eye-catching towers and turrets.
The spa town legacy has also bequeathed Llandrindod plenty of green spaces, such as Temple Gardens, with its historic bandstand, and Rock Park, where you can freely sample the iron-tasting local spring water – definitely an acquired taste.
There are two other sites of particular historical interest in the area: the National Cycle Museum and the Elan Valley Reservoirs. The former is home to a priceless collection of more than 200 bicycles, taking in everything from an 1818 Hobby Horse, which had neither brakes nor pedals, to the infamous 1985 Sinclair C5 velomobile. The Elan Valley Reservoirs, where Barnes Wallis carried out tests to prove the feasibility of his famous wartime “bouncing bomb”, are a half-hour drive away; all amenities are currently open, though the visitor centre cafe is offering only takeaway services.
Yes, there might be a touch of yesteryear to Llandrindod Wells, but you’re sure to be entranced by the faded glory of Wales’s one-time premier spa resort.
York Membery is a journalist and regular contributor to BBC History Magazine
VISIT dor more information on the town, head to llandrindod.co.uk
One man ‘reputedly discharged a worm seven feet long and the width of a large thumb nail’ after drinking the spa’s water