DO you have a story about the historic Marquess of Anglesey column?

The Anglesey Column Trust is inviting the public to a special event to share their memories, knowledge and experience of the iconic Anglesey landmark.

The column in Llanfairpwll was built in 1817 as a memorial to the 1st Marquess of Anglesey’s role in the Battle of Waterloo.

Over the past 200 years the iconic column, with 115 stairs inside, has been a popular community space and tourist attraction.

Charities have also used the column as a focus for fundraising events, including activities such as abseiling.

Standing on the skyline above the Menai Strait the column was closed to the public in 2012 when its internal staircase was deemed unsafe.

In 2017, the Anglesey Column Trust launched a campaign to restore the Grade II* listed column.

A spokesperson for the Trust said: “In late 2018 we were successful in attracting development funding of £59,800 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (previously the Heritage Lottery Fund) to help with progressing plans to apply for a full National Lottery grant at a later date.

“We have appointed a project manager, who is investigating the construction work needed on the column, cottage and surrounding grounds, and to firm up what that work might cost.

“A second-round application will be made to the National Lottery Heritage Fund next summer by which time we will also have had to raise all the match-funding required."

Consultant teams have been appointed to develop ideas for the interpretation and activities to help people discover the history of the column, the Marquess and the events that it commemorates.

The team is undertaking research and exploring ways for activities to generate income to ensure long term sustainability of the project.

The Sharing Stories event is at the WI Hall in Llanfairpwll, from 3pm–6.30pm, on Thursday, November 28.

It will be an opportunity for local people to meet the team, see the current proposals and share stories and memories of the column.

The spokesperson added: “If people have photographs or newspaper cuttings that feature the column we would love to see them and maybe take a scan so that we can use them in the future.

"These might be old holiday photos or more recent pictures of the column as it is today. We would love to hear from anyone who has connections to people who worked on the column or who know about the subscribers who paid for it to be erected.

“We urge everyone who is interested in our project to call by and we look forward very much to meeting them."

For more details see: www.angleseycolumn.com.