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Morfa Conwy is aspit formed originally of marshy sand, north of the western end of the modernA55 entrance toConwy inConwy county borough, north-westWales. A widely used corruption of the place name isConwy Morfa, likely to have come about from the nearbyConway Marsh changing toConway Morfa. TheNorth Wales Coast Line railway once had a stop at 'Conway Morfa'.
Known locally as "The Morfa" (Welsh,Y Morfa - meaningthe sea marsh), it shapes the south side of the estuary of theRiver Conwy. Today a large sandy bay, which at low tide forms part of the extensive sandy beaches and mussel banks ofConwy Bay, Morfa Conwy has many developments on its land, including:
In 1869, three Scots laid out a few holes on Morfa Conwy, and in doing so may have been the first to play golf on Welsh soil. In 1875 members from TheRoyal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, realised the potential of the Morfa Conwy, and had a 12-hole course professionally laid out. On 30 June 1890 TheCaernarvonshire (Conwy) Golf Club was formed, and on 30 July the Club's first Captain, Mr. Sydney Platt, opened the club house – a donated military mess hut from the local army base. In 1895, the club became one of the founding members of the Welsh Golfing Union, and after extending the course to eighteen holes staged the first Welsh National Championship.
Today it is a typicallinks course, with an abundance of gorse and wind adding to the challenge. Douglas Adams, the golfing painter, created three of his most famous paintings on Morfa Conwy:A Difficult Bunker,The Putting Green andThe Drive. These are on display in the present club house, completed in 1996, the fifth since 1875.
There is a debate as to who came up with the design for theMulberry Harbour, but what is known is that North Walian civil engineerHugh Iorys Hughes was given the task of proving one of the competing designs – the one to which he had most input. The prototypes were constructed at the Morfa, with the area transformed into a huge construction site and over 1000 labourers were drafted in. These includedOleg Kerensky, son of former Russian Prime MinisterAlexander Kerensky, who supervised the construction process. Hughes constructed three 'Hippo' caissons, which were towed from the Morfa to the test site at Rigg Bay, on theSolway Firth nearGarlieston, Scotland. The site of full production was behind what is now the second green, before the caissons were launched into theRiver Conwy estuary for their journey south, where they were ultimately to play a key role in theD-Day landings.[2]
Llandudno Junction F.C. had been resident at Morfa Conwy for some time, but with falling attendances and high costs due to the Entertainment tax, by the 1953–54 season they and local rivals Conwy Borough occupied the bottom two places in the Welsh League (North) – a complete reverse of the previous season. An agreement was struck, andBorough United were created who left the Morfa and played for 15 seasons at Nant-y-Coed,Llandudno Junction, where they wore the maroon and white colours of Llandudno Junction. In the 1962–63 season, they won theWelsh Cup, beating League opposition inNewport County F.C. 2–1 – although they made a £73 loss. They thus entered theUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, beatingMaltese teamSliema Wanderers in the first round, but lost out toCzech cup-winnersSlovan Bratislava 4–0. In 1967, Nant-y-Coed’s owners, the IrishOblates of Mary Immaculate order, evicted the club. The football club could not move or merge with various other local clubs, and rejected a return to the available Morfa site which lacked facilities other than the pitch itself. Resigning from the Welsh League, they survived two more seasons as nomads before folding in 1969.[3]
For the 1953–54 season the Llandudno Rugby Club became established on the Morfa, after Conwy Football Club left the Morfa sports ground. In 1957 a fire destroyed the dressing rooms at the Morfa ground, and the club departed to a new ground inLlandudno.[4]