Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales

(ar Ynys Môn, Cymru)

Welcome to the Welsh village with the longest place name in Britain!

(Hint : To save you typing the complete name you can get to this website using longestintheworld.com instead !)

Here are some facts and some trivia relating to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch :

(The locals usually refer to the village as either 'Llanfairpwll' or 'Llanfair PG')

Longest Valid Internet Domain Name in the World !

The LONGEST VALID INTERNET DOMAIN NAME IN THE WORLD also links to this website, and is : llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf.com. This has 63 characters plus the suffix. The ending "uchaf" is the Welsh for "higher" or "upper", and refers to the upper (old) part of the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The lower village is known as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochisaf ("isaf" = lower).
The image is a simulation of a vintage (pre-1970's) computer punched-card ('Hollerith card'). Can you work out what is written on it ? (Cheat link)


Longest Platform Ticket in the World ??

Illustrated is a platform ticket for the railway station at Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch from the 1960's (note the pre-decimal currency; 3d (240 old pence in £1) is equivalent to just over 1p). This gave access to the platform to non-travellers for 1 hour. This ticket was, of course, the largest platform ticket available (6 inches/15cm long), and probably the best-selling souvenir. Genuine platform tickets are no longer issued.

Where is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ?

Llanfairpwll is on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn in Welsh). Anglesey is separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait. There are 2 bridges - Britannia Bridge and Menai Bridge. Llanfairpwll is just over the Britannia bridge.


The Royals - William and Kate

Anglesey was also the home of the present Prince and Princess of Wales (at that time they were Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) - Prince William (heir to the British throne), and Kate (Middleton) and their new baby, Prince George.
Prince William was based at the Royal Air Force base on Anglesey where he served as a helicopter rescue pilot. Their home was in Bodorgan - just a few miles from Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.


Myxococcus llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis

In June 2019, a previously unknown soil bacterium was discovered in the village by researchers from Aberystwyth University. After DNA sequencing, it was subsequently named and registered in December 2020 as Myxococcus  llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis.
The scientific name of this bacteria is the longest name in the binomial nomenclature system.



Guinness Book of Records

The Domain Name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk was listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 2002.
At that time, the maximum number of characters allowed for an internet domain name was 58 (not including the suffix).
This limit was subsequently extended to 63, which, luckily, was exactly enough to enable the name of the upper part of the village to be registered. So an even longer domain name was registered with the 'uchaf' ending.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf.org.uk now holds the record as the longest valid (i.e. not made-up, such as abcdefg...etc.) domain name in the world.
The additional 'uchaf' signifies the upper part of the village. In the same way, the lower part of the village would be called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochisaf.


Another Record - this time a song !

There is another record associated with Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
This time it was a 45rpm vinyl EP, with 'Llanfairpwll' being the first track (called 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyll' in the cover notes), issued in 1978 on the Tryfan label.
It was written and performed by Aled Hughes and his daughter Nia, who lived in a nearby village.
Unfortunately the single failed to reach the UK top 20 ...




Films :
'Barbarella' with Jane Fonda
'The Road to Hong Kong' with Peter Sellers
'The Naked Truth' with Peter Sellers

The name was used in the 1968 cult film 'Barbarella' (Jane Fonda) as the password for Dildano's headquarters:
Dildano: [radioing instructions to the rebel army] 'Our rendezvous point will be at 1600 hours. And our password will be ... Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.'
Barbarella: 'You mean the secret password is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?'
Dildano: 'Exactly.'


It was also used by Peter Sellers in 'The Road to Hong Kong'. Portraying an Indian neurologist, he examines Bob Hope and tells him to open his mouth and repeat 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch'.

Peter Sellers also used it in the 1958 film 'The Naked Truth', in a Dublin Pub setting.

Cure for Lockjaw

In around 1900-1910 a shrewd shopkeeper in the village was reputed to be selling "An English, Irish and Scotchman's cure for Lock-jaw", which comprised a sealed envelope with instructions inside. A copy of one of these cards is shown here (top image).

During same period, various tourist postcards appeared on sale, printed with a similar 'lock-jaw cure' theme, but appearing to target the 'Englishman' only.

This prank obviously exploited the fact that many tourists were unable to pronounce Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch correctly (Can you? Why not enter the 'Say the name competition?'

(Lockjaw is a medical condition where the sufferer is unable to move/open their jaw)


Anglesey Monopoly

Anglesey has its own Monopoly board, with Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Railway Station as one of the property cards.


Mis-Spellings

There have been many cases of misspelling - sometimes by those who would be expected to spell Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch correctly !
Here are a couple of images to illustrate this.
a) The British Tourist Board (Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch) - 'L' missing from middle
b) A souvenir walking stick pin (Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch)