The 25th October 2010, marks the 200th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Jubilee Tower situated on the summit of Moel Famau. In 1810, 200 years ago, 5000 people hiked to the top of Moel Famau, to watch Lord Kenyon of Flintshire as he laid the tower’s foundation stone on behalf of the Prince of Wales.
Rightly so, the event is being celebrated and you’re invited to the party! The organising team behind Jubilee Tower 200 have put together a website detailing the event details along with some great information relating to the history of Moel Famau. Please do ask them any questions that you have about the forthcoming celebrations.
Wrexham-based artist Chris Oakley has been commissioned by Flintshire and Denbighshire councils to install a light beam in the tower. The installation will involve a vertical beam of light, visible during the hours of darkness. The four sides of the tower will be lit with video projection illustrating the historical and contemporary meanings of the tower, using images and text created through a number of community workshops. Hopefully there’ll be clear night skies and the light beam might be viewable from far and wide.
The BBC North East Wales team have also published an item about the event on this page – I’m not sure if there is a problem with the short video but it won’t currently load for me.
Don’t forget to visit the Jubilee Tower 2oo website.
Andrea says
I turned up for this event and it was a shambles. Stewards were deterring people from parking anywhere near the official parking grounds so the only alternative was the shuttle bus from Mold. When I got there, there must have been 1000+ plus people waiting even then for the buses. Did I say buses? There were TWO – and not even large ones. After waiting for over an hour people started to leave as it was already 4.45. I desperately wanted to see this event but there was no way of being able to get up there on time as it would already have been time to come back.
Nigel says
Fantastic event. Walking up the mountain in the fading light embers of a sunset over Snowdonia with the kiddies and their lanterns in a long winding column making their way up to the illuminated tower was a delightful experience. Below Ruthin’s lights were winking at us in the twilight. The weather was perfect which brought out families galore with all ages represented. The fireworks combined with light show were spectacular and the crowd showed their appreciation with an applause. The bus drivers did a fantastic job moving people to and from the event. Thanks again to all the people who before the event and especially on the day who did so much to make the event something to remember till the 300th anniversary.
The only niggle I have is that I waited 2 hours in each bus queue, to and from the event. I keep myself fit with mountain walking and cycling but my legs were getting tired from the standing! I understand that it is very difficult to assess how many buses are need for an event like this but a risk assessment on numbers needs to err on the largest number in case the weather and publicity are so good, as in this case, and huge numbers turn up in the Park and Ride zones!
Sarah says
What a fantastic and memorable day. Everybody worked so hard on the event – congratulations to everyone involved. My son is not yet 4 and was so excited about the whole event and enjoyed it thoroughly. He had his face painted, a balloon model made especially for him, took part in the story corner – what more could a child want! We then walked to the summit, and really felt part of it all. Well done Caffi Florence for enduring the temperatures, we certainly deserved those hot chocolates and chocolate brownies when we got to the top! The laser show and the fireworks display were worth the wait, and the lantern procession is something I’ve never experienced before, and it was a wonderful sight. The only disappointment was the parking, as we were far up in the dark woods rather than the main car park, so a bit scary to say the least, but this certainly won’t be what we remember the day for. Well done!
Keith says
What a shame, such a transportation shambles it was unbelievable.
Whoever organised the transportation arrangements needs to be given their termination notice for gross incompetence, (that’s if they don’t get the usual council pay off for screwing things up).
Apart from the above really enjoy the event but I’m sure people will think twice about attending any other such organised event.
FCC will probably blame DCC and visa versa, whoever is to blame, probably some highly paid council exec who was actually responsible will not get touched, they will probably be in a position to point the finger and sack some poor minnow within the army of council employees scattered throughout the two counties under his/her control as the scapegoat.
Such a shame.
Should be used in council training video/presentation on how not to encourage people into the area entitled ‘Screw up the transport’.
Keith says
What a shame this event was spoiled by the non organisation of the park and ride scheme, a 2 hour wait to get up there and virtually no chance of getting a bus back to Ruthin before 10.30pm.many families with toddlers were left stranded on the side of a mountain whilst tempratures plumeted into the minus,arrogant me first types bagged all the early buses in scenes that reminded me of the Titanic sinking,stewards were clueless as to where people should que and the buses soon created a log jam as they tried to do 3 point turns amongst 2000 people in the dark,my partner and i left the scene and walked the 9 miles back to Ruthin,no thought went into planning of the transport and it was only the skill of the drivers that prevented a an almost certain accident in such poor conditions,in future i will always take my car to such events,a great night spoilt by the councils poor planning.
alun says
i followed up the date of this event some 5 months or so ago when i read about it in the liverpool echo, moel famau and many parts of north wales are very dear to my heart and was not going to miss this event for anyone. the event from start to finish was amazing and i congratulate the organisers and all who worked hard on the day. when i first seen the paper article i gathered my friends who also spend time on moel famau and organised the day in great advance, this meant drawing up a plan which would allow us to have a trouble free day and it went a bit like this, get out of bed have a hearty breakfast, watch some tv read or do some emails, text freinds and tell them to be ready with their packs and lunch flasks etc, pick them up, drive to moel famau and get there at LEAST two hours early, get a parking spot on middle car park, which was a doddle, at this point i need to tell you this, moel famau for those that dont know is an extremely well used and well loved area of leisure, the jubilee tower is a focal point to millions and a regular target of tens of thousands of people year in year out which means, that if the local authorities were to hold a party for its 200th birthday then surely an awful lot of people are going to show, i assumed this to be the way so got there EARLY. and it was a doddle. we walked up to the top car park and got an idea of when and how things were going to be done then walked back down to the middle car park and took up one of the benches and ate our lunch before returning to the top car park to enjoy the entertainment and fresh doughnuts (oh yes) before making our way up to the summit/top whichever you prefere, (moel famau is 1800 feet so is a mountain in my humble opinion) and thus enjoyed the views the amazing sunset and festivities before returning to our car via an amazing lantern trail in the dark (very enchanting) and went home very happy. i really hope this helps people to plan better in the future so they dont have to bemoan an entire event because of the frequency or even size of the bus`s. well done to all involved and to all that turned up and made this event amazing. from a very happy scouser and his wirrilian chums.
Keith says
Glad Alun and chums had a doddle,if all 2500 people had got there early in their own cars there would of been bedlum,the locals were all asked to park at their respective council office and use the shuttle service to lessen the impact on the area,the council got it badly wrong but i dont think they care,like everything else these days its all about cost.Lucky for people from outside the area the majority of locals kept away in their cars and used the shuttle bus which inturn allowed others to find a space to park.
alun says
keith erm, hi. can i just say when the foundation stone to the jubilee tower was laid some 200 years ago, 5000 people made their way to the top of moel famau to mark the occasion, i wonder if they had trouble parking or if the local authority laid on enough buses to get them there. the mind ponders.
Keith says
Probably not,but i bet there wasnt many there that walked it from the Wirral,just be grateful to those that made the small sacrifice of leaving their cars at home so people like yourself had the facilities to park.
alun says
i would imagine they walked further afield than wirral keith due to the fact that the city of liverpool paid for the towers construction, so i guess they had some sort of presence there. also 5000 people in that area in that period tells me that local people would have travelled great distances too as i find it hard to believe that the area in which moel famau sits would have been that greatly populated 200 years ago. also in my opinion everybody had an oppertunity to park if they had planned their day in advance, i was prepared to park outside the area and walk to the mount should the car parks be full but because i chose to go early i got lucky. anyway enough of this. its marring everything else that was just so well organised and well presented on the day/night. its a day/night i wont forget ever. fantastic.
alun says
sorry to go on but i visit moel famau nearly every week and im noticing more and more discarded litter on all the routs up the mount, mainly energy drink containers. when your in such an envoironment as this and you see litter it tends to shout out at you because its something you dont want to see. so please if your walking running biking or riding, please discard your litter responsibly or take it home.
Nigel says
Only a small percentage of those who attended, including early birds, could have/would have wanted to take cars to the event. Most people did not want to get enmeshed in a car menagerie and opted to go by bus. I understand complainants’ words because the transport side of things was lacking in bus numbers. I was an eye witness in the queue at both ends of the Mold shuttle and therefore I understand commentators reasons for being upset. Furthermore, the Moel Famau approach roads are long and narrow so I am amazed that any cars other than those of drivers involved in running the event and the disabled were allowed up the narrow road on that day. Commentators do have a right to complain on the bus issue without being made to feel that they are knocking the day. I hope we will have more such Moel Famau events to celebrate other things. It was an excellent idea. However, Health and Safety people need to take a look at this transport issue more closely in any future event where a shuttle service for large numbers is involved. It is only human to make a mistake. Intelligence is to learn and act from them. Having people standing in the cold like this, especially the more vulnerable such as the elderly who would be slower off the mountain and therefore later in the queue, was undesirable. I saw one person who appeared to have become ill perhaps from the standing in the cold being attended to by medics. My legs were feeling so uncomfortable from standing in the great column that I walked up Moel Fenlli and enjoyed an apple and water whilst sitting on the cairn under moonlight. When I came down there was a massively reduced queue of about 30 people left boarding a large single decker bus. This bus had a packed standing load so they could not fit me in, the last person in the queue. The next bus, a large single decker waiting nearby reversed into place just minutes later, and it took me to Mold. I was the only person on it! So there was something not quite right there. The event was great and I thank all but there is a transport issue which needs looking into. I suggest in future: all publicity and media reports prior to event clearly say no cars except for disabled will be allowed on approach roads. LOTS more buses provided from shuttle points. If a strong wind had come up with that temperature things could have got nasty. Finally I want to say THANKYOU to all, including the heroic Caffi Florence people on the summit, who provided such a wonderful evening.