THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARDl
The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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An old picture of Foryd Harbour posted on 26 February brought calls for more of the same showing sailing ships – so here are three.
The harbour played a crucial part in the development of Rhyl as a resort; visitors were landing there in early 1800s. By then sailing ships were starting to be replaced by faster steam ships known as packets. The journey time from Liverpool to Rhyl by packet, calling in at Mostyn, was only about 3 hours.
At the Foryd there were landing stages on both sides of the river, so the estuary must have been a lot wider than it is today. Around the harbour area were two bridges, Lifeboat station, a couple of hotels, a ship building/repairing yard, a cluster of fishermen’s cottages and a lot of marsh land. The long road from harbour to town was called originally Quay Street and later renamed as Wellington Road.
A book to look out for: ‘Maritime History Of Rhyl And Rhuddlan’ by D.W. Harris, published 1991.
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