You’d expect Anglesey, a sea faring island, to have a maritime museum. And you would be right.
Holyhead is your destination, home of a thousand sailors' tales, an extremely busy ferry link with Ireland, a lifeboat station, and just about everyone in the town has some connection with the sea.
Ask the local divers and they will tell you about the wealth of marine life to be found around the island. It is one of the UK’s favourite diving destinations. They will tell you of the fascinating wrecks, now supporting that marine life. Unfortunately, many souls perished on the North Wales coast, and in the maritime museum you will be introduced to the tales of those who survived, and those who didn’t.
Many survivors will have owed their lives to the lifeboat stalwarts. The museum once housed the oldest lifeboat station in Wales, founded by the independent Anglesey Lifesaving Association. There is, within the museum, a great collection of Holyhead lifeboat models from 1857-1928, and you might wonder how on earth they fared against the Irish Sea.
During World War II, Holyhead Harbour was also a target for the German Luftwaffe. As enemy bombers headed for Liverpool and Lancashire, some of the homeward bound planes would target the British Navy and Royal Dutch Navy shipping vessels taking shelter on Anglesey. As part of the museum's complex there is a permanent exhibition "Holyhead at War" housed in a Second World War air raid shelter situated alongside the maritime museum.