21/08/2026
📍📸 Penmaenmawr from above 🌊⛰️🚁
A different perspective of Penmaenmawr and the North Wales coast, captured from above the A*5.
These aerial views really show just how much is packed into this small stretch of coastline. Looking across Conwy Bay, you can see Penmaenmawr stretching along the shoreline, with the sea and extensive sandbanks and tidal flats beyond.
The A*5 North Wales Expressway can be seen following the coastline, running alongside the beach and the railway. The road is one of the main routes connecting North Wales with the rest of the country, while the North Wales Coast Line runs alongside it, with Penmaenmawr railway station visible among the town.
The views also capture the promenade, beach and coastline, which have a fascinating history. Penmaenmawr was once a fashionable Victorian seaside resort, attracting visitors from across Britain. One particularly famous visitor was former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, who visited Penmaenmawr 11 times between 1855 and 1896 and was a great believer in the health benefits of sea bathing.
Behind the town is the feature that has shaped Penmaenmawr more than almost anything else — Penmaenmawr Quarry. Commercial quarrying began around 1830, initially producing granite setts and paving stones. The arrival of the railway in 1848 transformed the industry, allowing huge quantities of stone to be transported across Britain. Later, the quarry became an important source of crushed stone for roads and railway ballast.
From the air, you can really appreciate the scale of the quarry workings carved into the mountainside. The distinctive scars, terraces and exposed rock are a reminder of almost two centuries of quarrying. The landscape has been dramatically altered by extraction, including the loss of the prehistoric hillfort of Braich y Ddinas during later quarry expansion.
The coastline itself is equally fascinating. The mountains rise dramatically behind Penmaenmawr, while the town is squeezed into the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the Irish Sea. From above, you can clearly see the residential streets, fields, woodland, caravan sites, roads, railway, beach and promenade all fitting into this relatively small area.
The A*5 also played a major role in changing the appearance of the coastline. Before the expressway was constructed, the old coastal road carried large amounts of traffic through Penmaenmawr. The development of the modern road dramatically changed the relationship between the town and the sea, with the present promenade dating from 1988.
Looking further across the bay, you can see the surrounding coastline and mountains stretching towards Conwy and Llandudno, giving a real sense of the scale and beauty of this part of North Wales.
It’s incredible how different familiar places can look from the air. From ground level, the A*5, railway, quarry and houses can seem like separate parts of the landscape — but from above, you can see how they all fit together.
📍 Penmaenmawr, Conwy, North Wales
📸 Aerial photography by MKDronePhotography
Have you travelled along the A*5 through Penmaenmawr before? It’s certainly a different view from up here! 👇
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