The gardens at Happy Valley, a public park, are situated on the Great Orme headland with superb views west across Llandudno Bay and beyond. They were established to commemmorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee (1887) on land donated to the town by the Mostyn Estate following closure of the local quarry; later additions were made. The southern extent of the park may already have been a public open space prior to construction. The topography has influenced the use of the site so that the garden falls into three distinct sections.

The north-eastern part is the focal area with a plantation of pines and native hardwoods and zigzag paths within it. On an area of lawn there is a commemorative drinking fountain with a bronze bust of the Queen, marble basins and iron railings. A Gorsedd circle has been erected nearby (1896). On a grassy bank below, trees were cleared to allow the word 'Llandudno' to be laid out on the turf, probably as beds for bedding plants, designed to catch the eye of steamer passengers. In the north-eastern corner is a playground and along the southern edge various visitor facilities.

Occupying the head of the small valley leading up to the west is the rockery or terraced garden, the second main area. Built mainly of rough stone walling, with many steps, some level areas, and numerous paths criss-crossing it, it steepens towards the top, and the revetting walls get higher. The western apex is sheltered with pines. A significant collection of alpine and other plants was planted on the terraces of which part survives.

The third, southern, area is separated from the first two by the road which leads to the artificial ski slope above to the west. This is a craggy bluff overlooking the town. To the west of this are grassy areas levelled for a putting green and, at the south-western extremity, for a possible bowling green. On the top of the bluff, on the southernmost high point in the gardens, is the camera obscura, a replacement of the original nineteenth-century one. At the other end of the bluff is the cabinlift station, giving rides to the Summit Station on the Great Orme. A colonnaded walk ascending beside the road was opened in 1932 and the theatre in 1933 (now demolished), to replace an earlier structure which had burned down.  

Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd, 116-8 (ref: PGW(Gd)1(CON)).
Ordnance Survey, 25-inch map: Caernarvonshire I.16 (second edition 1900).

RCAHMW, 20 June 2022