At just 206 metres (680 feet) above sea level, the Great Orme (below) might be thought of as rather a slight hill. But it looks as imposing as a far greater eminence, as it overlooks the seaside resort of Llandudno, on the north Welsh coast about a 4½-hour drive or train ride from London and just over an hour's drive and two hours by rail from Liverpool. It’s a limestone headland about two miles long and a mile wide where, back in the Bronze Age, copper was mined (but they only discovered the old mine workings in 1987). Nowadays it’s the Great Orme Country Park, and ever since Victorian times, people - especially visitors - have liked to climb up, amble around, and take in the views of Snowdonia peak, the sea and the nearby isle of Anglesey.
There are several ways to get up there. You can of course walk or even drive. As of more recent times, you can use a cable car. But since 1902 there’s been a method unique in the British Isles: the Great Orme Tramway.
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