Plas Menai, the National Watersports Centre for Wales - geograph

Plas Menai is the National Outdoor Centre for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It is situated on the mainland side of the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait ( cy, Afon Menai, the "river Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. It varies in width from from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to from ...

, and is approximately 3 miles East of

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

, North Wales.

History

Opened in 1978 the facility was initially called "Plas y Deri" (Place of Oaks) before it was renamed to "Plas Menai" in 1980. Plas Menai, even though it is governed by different bodies, is a complementary centre to

Plas y Brenin Plas y Brenin, located in Conwy County Borough, Wales, is a National Outdoor Centre owned by Sport England. The centre is situated in Dyffryn Mymbyr, the Mymbyr Valley, in Snowdonia and is less than a quarter of a mile south-west of the centre of ...

, in that it is the major water-sports centre for Wales, however in the past it has undertaken mountain activities as well.

John A Jackson John Angelo Jackson (24 March 1921 – 2 July 2005) was an English mountaineer, explorer and educationalist. Early life He was brought up and educated in Nelson, Lancashire. Before World War II, he was apprenticed in pharmacy. However, at t ...

was initially an advisor to

Sport Wales Sport Wales ( Welsh: ''Chwaraeon Cymru'') is the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales. Working alongside partners such as governing bodies of sport and local authorities, they aim t ...

but then became Plas Menai's first Principal in 1978. The centre was fully functional even before phase II of the building was complete. Like

, Plas Menai was intended to have a dry ski slope, even to the extent of building a small hill, some 80 feet high, however this was eventually shelved at the request of business interests in Llandudno, which had its own quite lengthy dry ski slope and were somewhat negative about competition. However the latter assumption proved incorrect, dry ski slope usage has flourished in Wales. In 2006 the hill that was to be the dry ski slope was successfully converted into a mountain biking training facility and has been called "Trac Jackson" in memory of its first principal. The architects Bowen Dann Davies Partnership won the Gold Medal for Architecture at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

of 1985 for their work on Plas Menai.

Current

Plas Menai is owned and managed by

and provides general and specialist training courses in sailing keel boats and

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

s . It also trains windsurfers, power boat operators and those taking up or improving their skills in canoeing and kayaking. Some non-aquatic training includes mountain sports and mountain biking. A swimming pool on site is also open to the general public at specified times each day.

References

External links

* {{Official, https://www.plasmenai.co.uk/
Sport Wales website
Water sports in Wales Climbing in Wales Tourism in Gwynedd Menai Strait