THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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In Rhyl just over 100 years ago, visitor numbers were high and many business opportunities suggested themselves to the town’s entrepreneurs. Arthur Cheetham was versatile. Down on the beach he gave lectures on phrenology and would read your character by feeling the bumps on your head. He was a printer, publisher and retailer of stationery.
The advert above mentions that he was also a medical electrician, a hygienist, and the inventor of a patent medical battery.
Mr. Cheetham loved scientific novelties and he was a photographer, so it is not surprising that he started making films as soon as the technology became available. He made films round the streets of Rhyl and elsewhere in North Wales, and exhibited them locally to astonished audiences.
Moving pictures! Imagine seeing them for the first time ever!
Arthur Cheetham was an enterprising man and a genuine movie pioneer. You can read more about him in books by author Philip Lloyd.
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TUE 12th JUN 2018 UPDATE: A pic of Mr. Cheetham's phrenology stand on the sands, circa 1900.
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