Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholl's Honeymoon, 1854.

On  Tuesday, 4th July, 1854, five days after their wedding and having spent four full days in North Wales, our honeymoon couple Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls caught the train from Bangor to Holyhead. They would cross the Menai Strait which divides mainland Wales from the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) travelling through Robert Stephenson’s tubular railway bridge - The Britannia Bridge- which had only been completed and opened in 1850.               The Britannia tubular railway bridge. The iconic lions which act as sentinels at both ends of the Britannia tubular railway bridge and which no doubt Charlotte and Arthur admired from their steam train.  The Britannia Bridge as it is now. It was rebuilt as a road and railway bridge after being burnt down in 1970. Travelling in Arthur’s and Charlotte’s footsteps we drove over the top road of The Britannia Bridge which comes out in  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogo...

Hopefully rested after at least a day in Conwy, the honeymooners set off for Beddgelert via Llanberis travelling up the impressive and breathtaking Llanberis Pass (Pen-y-Pass) to see the Snowdon horseshoe of mighty mountains; Snowdon being the highest mountain in Wales. They then would drop down through the lush Gwynant valley to Llyn (lake) Gwynant and on to the charming village of Beddgelert. One assumes they would have stayed a night there as it would be impossible to do a day return journey by horse and carriage, their hotel for the night probably being the Royal Goat given the son of an acquaintance of Charlotte’s -Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth - had married the landlord’s daughter.  Beddgelert is nestled in a lush, green valley with a river fed by copious amounts of mountain rain, a delightful Anglican Church, St Mary’s, and solid Welsh stone cottages. I would imagine Charlotte and Arthur enjoyed their stay there and might have visited the grave (bedd) of the poor dog Gelert. If...

 No doubt Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls would have enjoyed a walk around medieval Conwy with its impressive castle, Elizabethan houses, the suspension bridge and tubular railway bridge they would have traveled through. They probably took the air strolling through the city wall gates at the end of the street where their hotel is, the Castle Hotel, walking by the Conwy Estuary on Conwy Quay. Walking to Conwy Quay from their hotel Mighty Conwy castle  On the city walls  Suspension bridge  Tubular railway bridge Walled medieval Conwy Market square looking down to the street with the Castle Hotel on it. Conwy Quay and estuary  Ty Aberconnwy - Elizabethan merchant house Plas Mawr -Elizabethan house opposite their hotel. They were not blessed with the weather we enjoyed. They maybe enjoyed the first full day of their honeymoon here on 30th June, 1854. ??

 On 29th June 1854 Charlotte walked from the Parsonage to the church for her 8.00a.m wedding to Patrick’s Irish Curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. At the last minute, her father Patrick felt unable to go to the church to give her away. The rules were hastily checked which allowed Miss Wooler, as a family friend, to perform the task. Charlotte and Arthur were married by Arthur’s curate friend Sutcliffe Sowden who was the vicar at neighbouring Hebden Bridge. Ellen Nussey, Charlotte’s school friend from Roe Head, was her bridesmaid. The wedding group returned to the Parsonage after the ceremony for the wedding breakfast and then set off in a horse and pair for Keighley railway station to start their journey to Conwy in North Wales. Finally, after three changes, they arrived at Conwy Station which is only a short walk to the Castle Hotel where they would spend their first night. We enjoyed an afternoon tea in the delightful Castle Hotel, Conwy.  Charlotte and Arthur would have hauled t...