Belgian Promenade

What is it?

The Belgian Promenade is a walkway on the Anglesey shoreline in between the Menai and Britannia Bridges.

What’s there?

The scenic promenade is lined with benches and has good views of Church Island and Menai Bridge. It also runs alongside Coed Cyrnol, which is home to rare red squirrels.

Facts -

During the First World War, refugees from German-occupied Mechelen in Belgium were accommodated in Menai Bridge. In gratitude for the town’s hospitality, they built this promenade along the Menai Strait from Church Island to Carreg yr Halen, completing it in 1916.
It was rebuilt in 1963. The ceremonial reopening in 1965 was performed by the only surviving refugee, Eduard Wilhelms. The promenade was resurfaced in 2000 as part of a millennium project.
The 63 Belgian refugees – men, women and children – arrived by train in October 1914
Most of the refugees lived at three houses in Menai Bridge, with 12 housed at the Village Hall in Llandegfan. Most of the men were skilled in marquetry (decorative use of small pieces of wood)
The promenade is next to The Swellies – a dangerous area of the Menai Strait where tides mix, creating whirlpools.

In Culture

The North Wales artist JB Evans used the promenade to paint Menai Bridge in one of his most famous works.