FLASHBACK #9

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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As a follow-up to photos of Robins Corner Cafe, 14-15 West Parade (corner of West Parade and Queen Street) posted on this blog recently, here’s the scene before that cafe was built. Judging by styles of dress, the picture appears to be from the 1920s. Previous occupier of the Robins site is revealed to have been a coach office: Rhyl & Potteries Motors.

On the opposite corner was and still is Savoy Enterprises, 7-13 West Parade, owned by the Trehearn family. Their Savoy corner reached a pinnacle of fame in the 1990s as the Bistro night club. My thanks go to Mr Peter Trehearn for the picture.

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LITTLE TRAINS

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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Not many activities in Rhyl have drawn as much interest, or brought the town as much credit internationally, as our miniature railway at Marine Lake. The photographs above are from 1920s/early '30s.

The railway dates all the way back to 1911 when Miniature Railways Ltd laid a track fifteen inches wide and ran scale-model steam locomotives round the lake. Shortly afterwards Rhyl Amusements Ltd under Albert Barnes took over the track and trains. Eventually Mr Barnes ran bigger locomotives built at his Albion Works in Ffynnongroew Road (the site now occupied by Arriva Bus Depot).

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OUT OF TIME

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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According to today’s Daily Post, John Damon Gizzi (shown above) could be out of prison next week. Mr Gizzi, described gleefully by local papers as a gangster, was a household name as a criminal in Rhyl for years before North Wales Police could be persuaded to take close interest in his activities.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of serious assault, two of grievous bodily harm and one of actual bodily harm. Two of his homeless victims ended up in hospital after they were beaten with wooden staves and kicked and punched. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell counterfeit cigarettes, and 22 charges of mortgage fraud totalling £1.4m were taken into consideration.

If he is released next week, Mr Gizzi will have been in prison for little more than three years - a remarkably short time - but he should find that Rhyl has been going through changes. Much of the atmosphere of dereliction and depression in which he thrived is becoming a thing of the past.

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ROBINS CORNER CAFE #1

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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Renovation work has nearly finished on the former Robins Corner Cafe at the junction of Queen Street and West Parade.

The photo above (TOP) shows the cafe when it first opened in 1934. The picture has been provided by Mr Anthony J. Robins who says, “I am the last surviving member of my generation of the Robins' family who built the Corner Cafe in 1933/4 (from the houses at 14 and 15 West Parade). I worked there in my holidays from school and university with my father and uncle until about 1959 when they decided to retire and sold the property to Mr P Trehearn of the Savoy, having previously sold the other family business properties (cafe, bakery and shops) lower down Queen Street in the mid-1950s.”

The other photo has been provided by Rhyl’s town clerk Mr Gareth Nickels. This was taken early in 2008 and provides a stark contrast. It’s a sobering reminder of how dilapidated West Parade had become and the extent to which current improvements are transfiguring the seafront.

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FORYD HARBOUR

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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The photo above dates from 1912 or thereabouts – not long before World War One. It shows a three-masted schooner being towed at the Foryd harbour, which was then a busy place of commerce. (Marine Lake was the preferred destination for those interested in boating for leisure purposes.)

Today I tiptoed over the border into the Foryd ward to see if the harbour was still there. I can report that it is. Nearly £2 million pounds of improvements have been carried out, and Denbighshire has bid for money to create office space and work units at the harbour – plus a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

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A STONE CIRCLE

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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Recent mention of the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Marine Drive, in this blog brought a reminder of the photo above; this shows the Alex (background, right) a year or two after it officially opened. In the foreground is a Gorsedd stone circle laid in 1903 in advance of the arrival of the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1904. The Proclamation Ceremony and other Bardic ceremonies were held inside the circle. It remained there until the late 1940s.

The National Eisteddfod has been here four times: in 1892, 1904, 1953 and 1985. An A5-size booklet titled ‘Rhyl’s National Eisteddfods – A Valuable Heritage’ by Harry Thomas was published by Countryside Publications just before the 1985 visit. This 36-page illustrated booklet is bilingual; the Welsh translation is by Dafydd Timothy ex-Siop y Morfa.

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QUEEN'S PALACE

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 the photographs of West Parade shown above, the glass-domed building was named the Queen’s Palace. It opened in 1902 and was destroyed by fire only five years later. The Queen’s Palace was a privately-owned four storey entertainment complex comprising a theatre and ballroom, fairground sideshows, a zoo with a monkey house, and underground ‘Venetian’ lake complete with gondolas.

In the photos you can see that the top of the dome had a tower from which sea and surroundings could be observed – even as far as Snowdon and Isle of Man on a clear day. Next to the building (on the left side) was a shopping arcade.

After destruction, the Queen’s Palace was replaced by the Grand Theatre (known as the Futurist Cinema off-season) which had an indoor roller skating rink on the ground floor. In the 1920s this complex was redeveloped as the Queens Theatre & Ballroom, and from 1960 onwards it has been Queens Market.

Is the underground ‘Venetian’ lake still in evidence in some way? Probably not, but it’s nice to believe that it may be!

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COLET HOUSE

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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This is Colet House, 36 East Parade, which is opposite crown green bowling and the lifeboat station. Colet House has the year 1903 inscribed over its front entrance and was a 'prep school'. It prepared children up to the age of 11 or 13 for the fee-paying institutions that we British describe perversely as ‘public schools’.

The photograph is undated and you would be brave to hazard an exact guess because the building’s appearance hasn’t changed a lot in more than a century; I would say that the picture is pre-1945. These days Colet House is St David’s Residential Home for the Elderly and worth a second glance as you stroll along.

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TUE 17th AUG 2010 UPDATE: The postcard below shows another use of Colet House. It is a card from 'Billy' to his parents in Rossington near Doncaster, postmarked 1956:

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THE REAL PRICE

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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Yesterday the Daily Post front page story was about a Rhyl teenager who was the victim of a ‘glassing’ incident last year in the ZuBar night club, West Parade. The young man has had six operations and may not recover sight completely; his attacker admitted to being very drunk at the time. In the same newspaper: a middle-aged disabled man who was more than twice the drink-drive limit crashed into the back of a parked car, and his mother who was his passenger died of her injuries.

Drinking alcohol can increase your aggression and/or decrease your powers of concentration. To the NHS, police and social services, the cost of dealing with problems caused by alcohol is said to be in excess of £20 billion a year in UK. The money is taken out of the pockets of taxpayers (and we are all taxpayers of one kind or another). I believe that it ought to be taken out of the profits of the alcohol industry instead. The cost would be passed on to drinkers of course, and they for the first time in history would pay the real price.

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YMCA CHARITY SHOP

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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Pictured above is the YMCA charity shop which opened today in the White Rose Centre. You can find out about this admirable organisation on their web site: www.ymcawales.co.uk/

The Rhyl shop will be open Monday to Saturday, 9-5. The manager Nikki Wilson and assistant manager Shelley Baker will be glad to accept your donations although, if you wish to donate anything very large or unusual, perhaps it would be better to check first by phoning (01745) 354339. Use the same number if you would like to offer your services as a volunteer in the shop –just a couple of hours of your time would be a big help.

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THE ALEX

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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THE PICTURE ABOVE (TOP) is a postcard which was issued to commemorate the opening of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. You may have noticed that the year 1900 is inscribed above the main entrance, but the official opening was in 1902. The hospital had a pre-history as a Children’s Convalescent Home at more than one seafront address. The Alex, as it is affectionately known today, was named after its patron Princess Alexandra of Wales who laid the foundation stone.

The hospital is pictured without its east wing (on the side nearest to Prestatyn); this was added in 1908. The setting looks almost rural; the present coast road between Rhyl and Prestatyn was not created until about 20 years later. The Alex today is still one of our most handsome buildings despite many alterations.

THE OTHER PICTURE is my attempt at capturing an image of the Alex’s ‘Flying Fox’ weather vane. The story is that the Duke of Westminster was a big contributor to the building fund, and in 1899 he promised that if his horse Flying Fox won its next race on July 14th at Sandown Park he would send a further £10,000. The horse duly obliged and the Duke – being a gentleman – sent the money; the weather vane commemorates the gesture.

You can see the ‘Flying Fox’ weather vane. Go and stand on the corner of Marine Drive and Alexandra Road and look up.

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NANCY CLARKE

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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The photo above of Nancy Clarke was taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s when she was becoming a household name in Rhyl as a dancer and dance teacher. Nancy originated from Manchester and came to the Rhyl area when her husband Clarence (Clarrie) was posted to Kinmel Park Camp during World War Two; they were both championship class dancers.

After the war Clarrie managed the Queens Ballroom (now Queens Market) and he did some exhibition dancing and private tuition; Clarrie died in 1973. Nancy had her own studio which moved here and there and is best remembered as being upstairs at the back of the Alexandra pub in High Street (now Bar Blu).

As a teacher, Nancy was world class. She was one of the first judges on the TV programme ‘Come Dancing’. Later she was the first lady president of the International Dance Teachers’ Association and held the post for several years. Nancy's presence in Rhyl raised the town's profile considerably; she passed away on February 13th, 2008.

My thanks go to a lady universally known as Dutchy for the picture and information. Dutchy was a close friend of Nancy for more than half a century and fondly remembers her broad Lancashire humour and absolute professionalism.

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MR COX

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 the number of visitors increased dramatically when the Chester to Holyhead railway arrived in the 1840s. Somewhere in the new crowds was artist David Cox who painted the picture above on Rhyl Sands in 1854. In the background you can see a steam ship known as a 'packet' and some 'bathing machines'. They were changing-rooms on wheels, which could be towed to the edge of the water by horses for convenience and privacy of bathers.

Mr Cox painted more scenes on our beach and helped Rhyl to become more widely known in London where he exhibited regularly. He was an English landscape watercolourist of some renown. You can read about him on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cox_(artist)

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QUEEN AND WATER

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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THE PICTURE ABOVE (TOP) is of a postcard which is postmarked 1908. In view is Queen Street as seen when looking towards the prom from near Market Street. In the foreground (left) is the People’s Boot Company on the corner where today we would find Lloyds TSB. In the foreground (right) is what could be a very early motor scooter or – according to one of my neighbours – a large insect.

(BELOW) is a Raphael Tuck & Sons “Real Photograph” postcard from a later period. It shows Water Street as seen from what some still call the ‘Clwyd Alyn corner’ of Crescent Road, and looking towards Wellington Road. The first door in the picture would be 57 Water Street. The long row of front garden walls no longer exists.

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CONFIRMATION

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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Further to a comment in the post below about basket chairs, this photograph shows even more clearly that sunbathers on Rhyl sands remained fully dressed. The picture was taken about a hundred years ago opposite the Queens in West Parade. To the left of the Queens you can see a single-storey building next to High Street, which today is an arcade named The Bright Spot, and when Yours Truly was a bright spot it seemed to be named the UCANKUMINANAVSUMFUN.

I like this picture; it shows the low sea wall with lots of people sitting on it, mums and nannies enjoying a stroll, and cherubs digging intently. The sand may have been deeper then. Sand to the west – near Foryd harbour – is said to have dropped 15 feet just in the last fifty years.

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BASKET CHAIRS

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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Shown above are basket chairs that first appeared on Rhyl sands in the 1910s. They were heavy, high-seated, hoodbacked chairs which offered shelter on three sides. You could face away from the wind and stand a chance of reading your newspaper without the pages blowing away and eat a sandwich without getting it covered with sand.

You will see that the figures in the picture are fully dressed; it was regarded as most improper for adults or children to disrobe in public in those days. Not so forty years later when Yours Truly as a small boy dragged the chairs around and tried to topple them over. A favourite trick was to put two basket chairs face-to-face and sit inside as if hiding in a shell.

The chairs were carted away by council workers at the end of the day and were back early next morning as if brought by the tooth fairy.

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FLASHBACK #8

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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This early 1950s shot of an open-topped double decker bus was taken in High Street. The bus is stationary at its departure point; its destination panel announces: LOCAL SERVICE TO AND FROM PROMENADE & BOTANICAL GARDENS VIA HIGH STREET & GRANGE ROAD.

We are looking at a stretch of High Street which today would be between the Oxfam shop and the Co-op; the chap with the rolled-up newspaper would be outside the Co-op but in those days the Regal Cinema was there.

Along with the Marine Lake Fun Fair, the original Pavilion Theatre and the pier, the Botanical Gardens was one of the town’s principal attractions; a trip to Rhyl would have been incomplete without a visit to the gardens.

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FOR HEAVENS SAKE!

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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The picture above was taken on November 10th 2008 of the Baptist Church in Sussex Street and it still looks the same. At the front of the building there are three large metal attachments to the each of the pillars, and cables are wrapped round the pillars, and two rusty- looking loudspeakers sit high above the main entrance. The overall appearance is tatty and there are weeds in evidence. I set out to discover whether council permissions had been given for all this; three months later still no reply. Is there a conspiracy of silence about the disgraceful state of this Grade II Listed Building?

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MORFA HALL

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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Morfa Hall and the smaller Morfa Lodge next to the present Rhyl Library, have quite a history of uses. They were built as private residences and then became the Parade Hotel for a while. Eventually they evolved into Rhyl Women’s Convalescent Home, which is pictured above circa 1900.

Rhyl Women’s Convalescent Home was run mainly by voluntary subscriptions and donations; the residents/patients paid a small weekly amount. There was a convalescent home for men in Bedford Street and a children’s convalescent home in East Parade. Rhyl was and still is a good place to recover after a long illness.

Morfa Hall was the original home of Ysgol Dewi Sant (the Welsh primary school now in Rhuddlan Road). Later occupiers include the Registrar’s Office and Shopmobility. A few years ago the hall and lodge were refurbished by Denbighshire council; at present they provide accommodation for agencies connected with the voluntary sector.

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INTO THE BEE #2

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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Here are two shots from the great Bee expedition of February 6th, 2009. The Bee Hotel in Bodfor Street dates back well into Victorian times, but inside the building there was surprisingly little period detail. Fixtures and fittings were comparatively modern and nearly all were wrecked. The tiling in the lobby (shown above) was particularly interesting.

Our shepherd for the occasion was Gary Richards of Denbighshire county council’s Design and Development department. Thanks to Gary and his colleague Paul Smith for making special arrangements.

Fred Burns of Phoenix Studio, 44 Bedford Street, Rhyl, tel (01745) 356900, took more than 80 shots which have been put on disc for Natalia in New Zealand. With her permission the pictures are available for council and community use. Anyone wishing to see them please get in touch; my phone number and email address are shown in the post below.

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INTO THE BEE #1

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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I took the pictures above with my mobile phone today at the derelict Bee Hotel, Bodfor Street. They show the front door open, and the stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.

A professional photographer was doing a photoshoot at the time and his pictures should be available soon.

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THE CROSS

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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The point where Wellington Road and Russell Road meet High Street used to be known as ‘The Cross’. The two photographs above were taken from there.

AT THE TOP: an Edwardian-looking scene with boys wearing knickerbockers, baggy knee trousers popular in the early 20th century. We are looking from High Street down Wellington Road. There are trees outside the town hall! The picture was supplied to me by Councillor Michael Espley of Foryd ward (thanks, Mike) and in 2008 it was touched up and restored by photographer Geoff Abbott.

BELOW: at the Cross a quarter of a century later I would guess, looking up High Street towards the sea. In the foreground left, above the ‘Wellington Road’ sign is an advert on the side of Evans’ Clwydian Restaurant which was in business a long time. I can remember climbing the stairs to Evans’ Cafe (as we called it) decades later and the lovely smell of bread and cakes baked on the premises.

Opposite is a Maypole grocer's shop, and passing by is what looks to be a White Rose open-topped charabanc. The White Rose Garage was in East Parade, just round the corner from High Street; the present day White Rose Centre carries its name. Facing the top of the street in a position where today we would expect to see the clock tower, is a drinking-water fountain on the promenade.

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OOPS!

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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Some months ago in the Bodfor ward I rounded a street corner and had a near-collision with an oncoming cyclist on the pavement. He had a cigarette in his mouth and was speaking into a mobile phone while holding the handlebars with one hand. On seeing me, he wobbled, then stopped and glared as if I were causing an obstruction.

Last year some residents who raised concerns about the growing incidence of cycling on the pavement, were told at a community police meeting that it was not an offence (unless the bicycle was being ridden dangerously). Nevertheless a recent enquiry from town council elicited an official police response to the effect that:

Yes, it is an offence to ride a pedal cycle on a footway. Police constables and police support officers can issue riders aged 16 and over with a fixed penalty of £30.

To raise public awareness of this, I've suggested that perhaps there ought to be a local poster campaign. The chances of police being able to make a sustained attack against cyclists on the pavement are remote. I can just hear cheeky and cheerful enforcers of the law saying, “What do you want us to do, Councillor? Chase after bikes or catch criminals?’

To which I would reply, 'Both, dammit!'

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BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD #2

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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Pictured above is the Vickers Armstrong VA-3-001 the world’s first hovercoach, which arrived in Rhyl just a few days after the Beatles first played in the town in July 1962. The hovercoach was based here for trials between July and September and had great novelty appeal; the hovering was due to downward-pointing fans which held the craft aloft over land and sea.

The hovercoach proved capable of ferrying passengers and mail from Rhyl to Wallasey in 32 minutes, but fate decreed that 40 of the scheduled operating days would be too windy, and on one occasion it blew off its moorings and had to be rescued by Rhyl lifeboat.

A few years later, the luckless VA-3-001 was reported to be lying at the bottom of the sea near Southampton having been badly damaged by optimists trying to find out whether it could withstand the impact of exploding mines.

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PLAN BEE

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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The photographs above were taken this chilly morning; they show the derelict building known as the Bee Hotel in Bodfor Street.

On a previous occasion, I blogged a street scene which included the Bee and this prompted a personal message from a lady named Natalia in New Zealand. Her grandfather was born in Rhyl, and his grandfather had been born inside the Bee as the youngest son of the then-owner R. D. Roberts.

The colourful Mr Roberts was sometimes referred to as ‘Mwrog’ which was was a bardic name; he was a poet as well as a publican and local politician. Natalia is putting together the story of Mwrog and wants pictures of the Bee interior.

Not knowing of any in circulation, I've hatched a plan with county council staff and a local photographer to go inside the building for a special photo shoot. Natalia will be covering the cost and is happy for council and community to make use of the resulting pictures.

So it’s into the Bee and click click within the next week or so. For a report on the expedition, keep watching this blog.

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