By Lyn Funnell
I’ve been a lifelong fan of the cult series, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, and I’ve always had a visit to Portmeirion high on my bucket list. So when I read that Lynn’s Coaches from Eastbourne had a trip there we eagerly booked it.
We stayed in Barmouth, which is on the West coast and a couple of hours away from Portmeirion. I was really excited about visiting The Village at last.
And there it was, just as it looked on the TV; an Italian folly with different-shaped buildings built on the sides of the hills, in beautiful original colours.
The colour codes are a secret, only known to a couple of people.
Although it was the end of September, the weather was glorious. We happily wandered around, along the different paths, pointing out famous landmarks, like the village square with the giant chess board, the clock tower, and The Prisoner’s front door.
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, a qualified architect who was knighted in 1972, spent many years searching all over the world for a suitable site for his dream Italianate village, then he found it just five miles away from his family home.
But what is the link between Portmeirion and Sussex, I hear you say.
We walked into The Dome, and there was a painting by Hans Feibusch! What on earth is that doing here? I thought.
https://unknownkentandsussex.co.uk/helping-hands-for-hans-who-will-save-his-paintings/
I knew that some of his paintings are in Chichester. But I didn’t know that he had connections in Wales!
Meurig Jones, the Location Manager told me that Clough and Hans were friends, probably from back in their Hampstead days. They had an agreement that Hans could stay at Portmeirion in exchange for his paintings.
Here is another Kent and Sussex link; it’s a very interesting interview with Hans Feibusch by Prof. Vaughan Grylls, Kent Institute of Art & Design:
Hans Feibusch died a couple of weeks before his 100th birthday.
At last I’ve been to Portmeirion, but now I want to go again as we didn’t really have time to see everything. We spent time gazing at the views. So we’ll keep an eye out for when Lynn’s Coaches has another trip there!
Portmeirion, Penrhyndeudraeth
Gwynedd LL48 6ER
Cymru
01766 770000.
Lynns Travel Limited
70 Seaside Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN21 3PE
01323 438704
What prisoner number would you be, then Lyn?