On the summit of the Great Orme, there are two different sets of structures devoted to tourists’ requirements, even if the day is a bit wet or windy. The Summit Complex, which includes bars, restaurants, cafés, amusements, and gift stores, is located on somewhat higher elevation, as is the Aerial Cable Car Station. The Great Orme Visitor Centre is located next to the Upper Tramway Terminus.
The Summit Complex building was formerly known as ‘The Telegraph Inn,’ from which messages warning of the impending arrival of sailing ships carrying important goods were transmitted between Holyhead and Liverpool. It was then renamed ‘The Summit Hotel’ and served as the 19th hole for the Great Orme Golf Club, which closed in 1939. The golf course location is now a sheep pasture. During WWII, the hotel was converted into a signalling station and became the RAF Great Orme Radar Station.
People have been utilising the top of the Great Orme for the purpose of transmitting and receiving messages for the past two hundred years, therefore it’s no surprise that two radio towers dominate the peak. Classic FM is broadcast by one of them. The square white building on the right in the photograph above houses (visible through the windows) the giant wheel around which the cable passes, the cable that holds the two cable cars in their counterbalanced positions, and plays an important role in the safe operation of the Great Orme Tramway system.
