A very popular holiday resort on Cardigan Bay. The town owes its origin to the land reclamation schemes of a Mr. Madocks, who, in 1800, drained the estuary of the vale of Madoc, and started the building of Tremadoc town. He followed this up with the construction of a embankment which reclaimed many acres. The embankment, however, was damaged by a storm, and had to be rebuilt. In this work he was assisted by the enthusiasm of the poet Shelley, who was staying at the time in Wales. In 1821 the town of Portmadoc began to be built. There is a good and long stretch of beach, offering safe bathing. The angling in the district attracts many, especially to Borth-y-Gest, an attractive little place nearby, where there is an excellent fishing for both salmon and trout. Portmadoc also has an 18-hole golf course. On the promontory between the Glaslyn and Dwyryd rivers there is a model village, called Port Meirion. It was designed after the Italian style, and runs steeply down from a graceful hell tower, or campanile, built on a wooded rock, to the estuary below. A few pink and blue washed houses cling almost precariously to the steep slope. Seen from the Harlech coast, Port Meirion looks delightfully clean and sparkling, and a closer inspection does nothing but enhance the first impression. The village can be visited, for a small fee, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Portmadoc claims association with two great men of letters. Shelley stayed for a while at Pen-yr-allt about a mile from the town, while T. E. Lawrence of Arabia, one of the almost mythical figures of the twentieth century, was born in the town itself.