Nearby questions in Menai Bridge

The stone towers and arches of Menai Suspension Bridge are built of grey-brown veined limestone quarried nearby in Penmon on the eastern tip of the Isle of Anglesey. Construction started with the bridge towers in 1819, with the stone, also known as Penmon marble, transported to the site by boat down the Menai Strait. The Thomas Telford-designed bridge connects Anglesey and the North Wales mainland, and was officially opened to traffic on 30th January 1826.

Menai Suspension Bridge has narrow arches with a width restriction of 2.6 metres and a height limit of 4.7 metres. HGVs, large lorries, and buses will normally use Britannia Bridge, the other bridge crossing the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland, which is subject to less restrictive width and height limits. During periods of high winds, when Britannia Bridge is closed to high-sided vehicles, the Menai Bridge offers an alternative crossing route, provided vehicle size limits are observed.

In 1914, over 60 refugees from the German-occupied city of Mechelen in Belgium were accommodated in Menai Bridge on Anglesey. In gratitude for the town’s hospitality, a group of them built this 400 metre promenade along the Menai Strait from Ynys Tysilio (Church Island) to Carreg yr Halen, completing it in 1916. It was rebuilt in 1963 and ceremonially reopened in 1965 by surviving refugee Eduard Wilhelms. Accessed from Beach Road, the hill running down from the Anglesey Arms Hotel, the Belgian Promenade follows a route along the water’s edge that emerges in the Coed Cyrnol car park near the Waitrose supermarket.

Menai Bridge was built between 1819 and 1826. The first stone was laid on 10th August 1819 and the completed bridge opened to traffic on 30 January 1826.