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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The Winter Gardens development opened in 1876 between Butterton Road (which was in existence) and Sandringham Avenue (which wasn’t). It ran from the seafront down to Wellington Road and encompassed what we know today as North Avenue, South Avenue, Lake Avenue and Palace Avenue. The names Lake and Palace refer to places in the Gardens; they are both illustrated in the old drawing shown above.
Cricket, football, hockey, tennis, outdoor and indoor exhibitions, music events and public meetings took place on the site. There was a switchback railway, a seal pond and a monkey house. The 1878 summer programme included archery, bowls, a brass band contest and even performing fleas, which I presume would have to be kept well away from the monkey house.
As the years passed the Winter Gardens development was renamed Rhyl Palace and Summer Gardens, then the Old Gardens, before being sold off for residential development in the 1890s.
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