Ever fancied a wander around Portmeirion, aka The Village from The Prisoner? In the past you’d have to travel to Gwynedd in North Wales in order to do so but since August 2010 it’s been possible to roam the place using Google’s street view. This is somewhat surprising on two counts: firstly, while Portmeirion masquerades as a shrunken Mediterranean town it’s actually an open-plan hotel which visitors have to pay to explore. More surprising is finding the street view camera leaving the roads to follow many of the paths around Clough Williams-Ellis’s trompe l’oeil architecture. I imagine Google has done this elsewhere but this is the first instance I’ve come across. In addition to exploring a woodland walk it’s possible to follow the paths down to the beach, past the stone boat and along the coast for views of the Dwyryd estuary. There aren’t any white balloons or Mini Mokes in evidence, of course. If you want those you can always watch the TV series where the place appears larger thanks to camera lenses and some canny editing.
And speaking of lenses, ironies abound when you notice the surveillance cameras in the hotel car park, never mind the way the Google Panopticon has laid the place open to global eyes. In the Chimes of Big Ben episode of The Prisoner Number 6 asks whether Number 2 wants to see the whole world as the Village. “Yes,” says Number 2. Are we there yet?
The two maps here are from The Prisoner (1990), a book by Alain Carrazé & Hélène Oswald. Unfortunately the key to the map of Portmeirion wasn’t included. The following shots are my selection from the Google views starting at the toll booth and working down to the beach. Be seeing you.
The Toll Booth.
Battery Square.
The Pantheon (The Green Dome in the TV series).
The Gloriette and reflecting pool.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Patrick McGoohan and The Prisoner
• Brion Gysin’s walk, 1966
• Infernal entrances
• Tite Street then and now
• Ginsberg’s Howl and the view from the street
Loving the blog John. Thought this music video by the Welsh band Tynnal Tywyll might interest you as it’s filmed on a lovely summer’s day in Portmeirion. The song is Telyn Wedi Torri (Broken Harp).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4AHLIoeziw
Hi Tel, and thanks, not seen that before. It’s a place made for pop videos really, as shown by the two times The Tube filmed there, first for an XTC performance, then in their Laughing Prisoner special which featured XTC (again) and Siouxsie & the Banshees doing their rather fine version of The Passenger. Good that Tynnal Tywyll were there on a sunny day, Portmeirion doesn’t look right under gloomy winter skies.