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Belfast and County Down Railway". Irish Railwayana. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007 . Retrieved 1 September 2007. Bangor remained a small settlement until the start of the 18th century, when a political desire to enhance communications between England and Ireland via the London- Holyhead- Dublin corridor saw it designated as a post town in 1718. [3] Growth was spurred by slate mining at nearby Bethesda, beginning in the 1770s by Richard Pennant, becoming one of the largest slate quarries in the world. The route between London and Holyhead was much improved by Thomas Telford building the A5 road, which runs through the centre of the city and over the Menai Suspension Bridge which was also completed by him in 1826. Bangor railway station opened in 1848.
a b Internet Memory Foundation. "ARCHIVED CONTENT UK Government Web Archive – The National Archives". Archived from the original on 2 October 2015 . Retrieved 30 April 2016. Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Menna, Baines; Lynch, Peredur I., eds. (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p.651. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6. North Down Softball Club (previously Bangor Buccaneers Softball Club, est. 2014) compete in the Softball Ulster league. Based at Ward Park the club comprises two competitive teams; the Buccaneers & the Barracudas (2023). Conlig (from Irish: An Choinleac, meaning 'the hound-stone', referring to a standing stone on Runestone Hill)In 1967, The Beatles came to Bangor, staying in Dyfrdwy, one of the halls comprising Adeilad Hugh Owen (Hugh Owen Building), now part of the Management Centre, for their first encounter with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, during which visit they learned of the death of their manager Brian Epstein. [48] [49] Cathedral Church of St Deiniol, Bangor". British Listed Buildings. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 . Retrieved 30 April 2016. In the early 1990s, Bloomfield Shopping Centre, another out-of-town development, opened beside Bloomfield Estate. In 2007, a major renovation of the centre began, including the construction of a multistorey car park. The trend towards out-of-town shopping centres was somewhat reversed with the construction of the Flagship Centre around 1990. The Flagship Centre went into administration and was closed in January 2019, it is currently undergoing appraisal for re-development options. [35] Bangor Castle". Bangor Historical Society. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020 . Retrieved 22 February 2021. The Woman Who Took on King Billy, And Won". Historical Belfast. 7 October 2019 . Retrieved 23 June 2022.
Bangor is home to a small BBC broadcasting centre, producing a large amount of output for BBC Radio Cymru. The studios are also the main North-West Wales newsroom for television, radio and on-line. The BBC's Light Entertainment Department moved to Bangor during World War II and many classic programmes (like It's That Man Again) came from Bangor. Bangor lies at the western end of the North Wales Path, a 60-mile (97km) long-distance coastal walking route to Prestatyn. Cycle routes NCR 5, NCR 8 and NCR 85 of the National Cycle Network pass through the city. NI Assembly: Key Statistics for Settlements, Census 2011 NIAR 404-15" (PDF). niassembly.gov.uk. 1 October 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 April 2017 . Retrieved 10 August 2017. The North Wales Wildlife Trust is also based on Garth Road, and manages the nature reserves at Eithinog and Nantporth. [25] Music and arts [ edit ] Bangor Town Hall, now home to Storiel
Bangor railway station is a stop on the North Wales Coast Line, between Crewe, Chester and Holyhead. Services are operated by Transport for Wales. [22] In May 2022, it was announced that, as part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours, Bangor would be granted city status by Letters Patent. [38] It received the status on 2 December 2022, [39] becoming Northern Ireland's sixth city, alongside Armagh, Belfast, Derry, Lisburn, and Newry. In 1865, Morris Wartski, a refugee from the Tsarist pogroms, first established a jewellery business on Bangor's High Street, and then a drapery store. His son, Isidore, went on to develop the drapery business and to create a large, fashionable, store. He also redeveloped the Castle Inn on High Street in Bangor, which then became the high-class Castle Hotel. Wartski was a very popular mayor of the city and a great patron of local sports and charities. Wartski Fields were bequeathed to the city and people of Bangor by his widow, Winifred Marie, in memory of Isidore Wartski. The town is mentioned in the Fiddler's Dram 1979 hit single " Day Trip to Bangor". The release was shrouded in controversy after reports that the song was actually inspired by a trip to nearby Rhyl, and there were rumours of an outcry among local councillors and businesses in Rhyl about the missed opportunity for tourism which would have been generated. Songwriter Debbie Cook stated that the song was specifically written about Bangor. [50] Bangor, Pennsylvania [ edit ]
George McWhirter, author; winner with Chinua Achebe of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize inaugural Poet Laureate of Vancouver, Canada, former teacher at Bangor Grammar School The sea area to the north east of Bangor is Ballyholme Bay, named for the township of Ballyholme in the east of the town. During World War II the bay was used as a base for American troops training for the Normandy Landings. [50] Two ships have been named SS Ballyholme Bay. In 1903 a Viking grave was found on the shore at Ballyholme Bay: it contained two bronze brooches, a bowl, a fragment of chain and some textile material. [51] It has been said that "Ballyholme Bay is a sheltered bay and studies have suggested that it is one of the best landing places on Belfast Lough and would therefore have made a good location for a Viking base. It is possible that the burial was associated with a Viking settlement in the area." [52] In 1689 Field Marshal Schomberg landed with 10,000 troops either at Ballyholme Bay or at Groomsport, a little further east. [53] Demography [ edit ] 2021 Census [ edit ] The first section of Belfast and County Down Railway line from Belfast to Holywood opened in 1848 and was extended to Bangor by the Belfast, Holywood and Bangor Railway (BHBR), opening on 1 May 1865, along with Bangor railway station. It was acquired by the BCDR in 1884. [60] and closed to goods traffic on 24 April 1950. [61] Bangor West railway station was opened by the Belfast and County Down Railway on 1 June 1928. [61]No warning for IRA car bomb: Four police officers seriously injured by second terrorist blast in seaside town in six months". The Independent. 8 March 1993 . Retrieved 23 June 2022. David Trimble, Nobel Laureate, former Ulster Unionist Party leader and former First Minister of Northern Ireland