CHILD SAFE ZONE

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 poster above announces Rhyl Child Safe Zone. The scheme operates as follows: when you go into town with a child, you get a wristband from the customer information desk in the White Rose Centre. Then you write your mobile phone number on the inside of the band and wrap round the child’s wrist. Then you explain to the child that if you get separated, he or she should go to a shop or cafe displaying the yellow sunshiney logo and people who work there would phone to reunite you.

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MORTICIA RULES

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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Having taken half the seats out of High Street and removed the canopies that shoppers found useful, Denbighshire council now delivers a masterstroke: the remaining seats are being painted a wonderfully unseasidey black. At least the Addams Family fans should like it; I expect to hear them giving the customary double-click of the fingers in appreciation as they pass by.

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FLASHBACK #12

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 is another early photograph of the top of High Street as seen from the junction of Wellington Road and Russell Road. The picture is undated but the scene looks Edwardian i.e. during the reign of the avuncular, bearded King Edward VII (1901-1910). Motor cars were manufactured in Britain from the 1890s onwards; only one is in sight here and it’s not moving fast enough to scatter the shoppers!

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THE GREAT NAVAJO

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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Prompted by an enquiry from Nick Bourne at BBC North East Wales, here’s a picture of Marine Lake Fun Fair’s self-styled 'Great Navajo' whose real name was Parney Warner. He wore a big feathered head-dress and full Red Indian regalia and told fortunes. Parney was from Coventry and half-German. He retired in 1939 and sold his fortune-telling rights to a 'Spaniard' by the name of Jack Crisp.

The picture is from Rhyl Library and the information is from the book ‘Rhyl At The Fun Fair’ by Eric Hughes (now out of print).

There's a lot of discussion about the town’s past and present on BBC North East Wales web site: www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/

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SPITFIRE

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 unusual photograph was provided by Mrs Gaynor Williams of the shop ‘Aquarius’ in Market Street for inclusion in my book ‘Rhyl In The Second World War’ (now out of print). The picture may have been taken during fundraising events for the Spitfire Fund in 1940. Rhyl was part of Flintshire then, and the county raised enough money to donate two Spitfire fighter aircraft to the war effort.

The photographer was standing on the prom near the top of High Street looking westwards. The crowd seems to having a jolly good time, war or no war. Top left is the Queens theatre/ballroom entrance, and opposite in Queens Gardens - where there was usually a cycling track - a Spitfire is on display. In the far distance is the familiar dome of the original Pavilion.

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LIFEBOAT DAY

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 photograph above shows the Rhyl lifeboat named ‘Caroline Richardson’ as towed into position by the Clayton tractor for a fundraising flag day on the prom, near the Conway Memorial Fountain which faced High Street.

The ‘Caroline Richardson’ served from 1897 to 1939. Judging by styles of dress I would date the picture as being before the 1920s; it appears in the book: ‘Rhyl Lifeboats 1852-2002: 150 years of gallantry’ by Jeff Morris, published in 2002.

The book may be on sale at the RNLI shop attached to the Lifeboat House near the Crown Green Bowling Centre opposite East Parade. If planning a special journey there please phone to check the shop’s opening hours (01745) 350956.

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DRIFT BACK

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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No information came to me with this picture; it seems to have been taken from a balcony on the original Pavilion, looking west towards Foryd harbour in the 1960s. The row of sheltered seats in the foreground was a popular sun-trap, and I seem to recall that it was nicknamed ‘the South of France’. The white building on the far side of the children’s paddling pool is the Coliseum which began in 1921 as an open air theatre and was roofed in 1960.

The Coliseum had suffered water damage and its roof was green with moss by the time the building was done away with a few years back - along with the paddling pool - to make way for Drift Park, which opened officially in February 2008. Drift Park has an open air performance space and a repositioned pool. I’ve said nothing about Drift Park publicly except that it has “turned out to have some interesting features.”

Drift Park has won three or is it four design awards, which proves that someone somewhere is good at putting in for awards.

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THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

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 postcard above is postmarked 1905 and shows part of the promenade walkway as it would have looked if you had been standing with your back to High Street. The crowd is watching a performance by the Merrie Men on an open stage known as the minstrel pitch (centre left) which had artistes’ changing rooms behind.

One of the three buildings on the right may have been a donkey shed. Nearby and not in the picture were a camera obscura (inside which there was a projected mirror image of the scenery outside) and a rifle range. The white building on the pier was a small theatre originally named Bijou Pavilion, and near the end of the pier was a bandstand.

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DECORUM

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 like this Edwardian photograph of paddlers in Rhyl. Ah yes, ladies in long dresses and wearing little hats; gentlemen in suits and trilbies. They knew how to dress in those days – even when standing in the sea!

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CHEETHAM'S GHOST

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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Previous mention of pioneer film maker Arthur Cheetham on this blog brought a ripple of enquiries. The world’s first-ever film show was presented by the Lumiere brothers in Paris at the end of 1895. Mr Cheetham, an entrepreneur who lived in Rhyl, made his first film as early as January 1898; it showed children playing on the sands (see above). He travelled around North Wales making his ‘Silvograph’ films and exhibiting them in various places including Rhyl Town Hall where there is a plaque in his honour.

In 1906 he established a permanent cinema at the Central Hall in Market Street, which is pictured above as it looks today. The building stands between the Lorne pub and Wilkinson store. The side of the building facing Wilkinsons was resurfaced a few years ago, and for a while the name Silvograph was uncovered writ large, and then as work progressed it disappeared again – Cheetham’s ghost, I called it. The building became a labour exchange (Jobcentre) in the 1930s before going retail.

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KINDLY LEAVE THE STAGE

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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Last Friday was Red Nose Day promoted by the charity organisation Comic Relief. I saw no red noses in the Bodfor ward (other than the usual ones). There was an outbreak of fancy dress in a small number of shops but, on the whole, not much enthusiasm in evidence. You would think we had no sense of humour.

In the 1890s on a cleared area of beach near High Street, a minstrel pitch was built with open stage and dressing rooms. Troupes of performers rented it from the authorities for a season and some for several years. Shown above are two of the troupes: E. H. Williams’ Merrie Men (top) and the later Gilbert Rogers’ Jovial Jesters.

The Merrie Men are pictured about 1905 and the boy seated in the middle of the front row is strongly suspected to be Jack Hylton who grew up to be a famous dance band leader in the 1920s and ‘30s. The Jovial Jesters took over the minstrel pitch in 1907 and were still there during World War One 1914-18.

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SIXTH FORMS

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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Teachers at Rhyl High comprehensive school in Grange Road went on strike recently in protest against a plan under which the school would lose its sixth form. A proposal dating back a couple of years would put the sixth form of Rhyl High and the sixth of the Catholic school Blessed Edward Jones, Cefndy Road, together on a new site linked to Llandrillo College.

Implementing the proposal means that both schools would lose status and some teachers would lose jobs. If you'd like to get more information or express an opinion about the situation, the telephone number for Blessed Edward is (01745) 343433 and contact details for Rhyl High are on the web site where I pinched the photograph: http://www.rhylhighschool.net

The change has the support of the Welsh Assembly Government’s education minister and the county council. Rhyl Town Council has no direct involvement in the matter, and I can offer blog readers no view of my own other than a slight worry about Llandrillo College’s expansionist tendencies.

The college, like Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, appears to have access to vast amounts of grant aid and may become similarly bloated and over-extended. Llandrillo College is already involved in nearly 200 learning venues across Denbighshire and Conwy and seems to be taking over Coleg Meirion Dwyfor which operates as far away as Glynllifon (near Caernarfon), Pwllheli and Dolgellau.

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FANCY A DIP?

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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Photographs showing Rhyl’s Open Air Bathing Pool are not hard to find, although this shot is new to me. It is an unused postcard and therefore undated (probably 1930s). The pool was on the promenade to the east of the pier, so it was more or less opposite Bath Street and fairly close to where the Events Arena is now.

It was council-owned and opened in the year 1930 at a cost of £23,000 which was serious money in those days. It was 110 yards long and 30 yards wide and held three quarters of a million gallons of clean water. There were 380 changing cubicles, and sunbathing areas and a cafe. The amenity was floodlit and could seat up to 2,500 spectators.

In addition to swimming sessions for which professional tuition was available, there were aqua shows, bathing beauty competitions and exhibition diving. The Open Air Bathing Pool was an outstanding success and stayed in service for nearly half a century.

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TRADITION

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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Town councillors are involved in many kinds of committee meetings whereas meetings of full council take place only once a month and are chaired by the Mayor. Full council meetings begin with a prayer from the Mayor’s Chaplain and this is a routine act of tradition which is not underpinned by any requirement of law.

The connection between a mayor of Rhyl and the Almighty would be hard to trace; the tradition is as dusty and quaint as some other civic procedures. Like the vast majority of my residents I do not observe any religion but I’m perfectly happy to stand quietly during the prayer; it’s a harmless exercise.

The prayer reminds me of morning assembly at primary school. Thankfully, it is not followed by town councillors singing a chorus of ‘All Things Bright And Beautiful’ and then playing a game of running, jumping and standing still.

Out in the real world the demand for non-religious marriages and funerals continues to grow and the need to modernise public institutions becomes ever more apparent.

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MUSIC IN RHYL

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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Next to the old Pavilion, on the east side, was Pavilion Gardens, Promenade Gardens or Marine Gardens (same place). The picture above (TOP) is a postcard of the bandstand there. The postmark seems to say 1916, in the middle of World War 1. Given that the Pavilion was opposite Edward Henry Street, the bandstand must have been opposite Water Street; the junction is just about visible when the picture is enlarged.

Music in that context would have been ‘light music’, Palm Court stuff perhaps, and patriotic tunes. The musicians may have been from the resident orchestra at the Pavilion. Live music was usual outdoors and in theatres, ballrooms and dance halls, at cinema shows, in the larger restaurants and hotels. Quite a few residents became part-time musicians to earn ‘a few bob’ on the side.

The lower picture, a sepia card postmarked 1924, shows the layout of the bandstand area as seen when looking eastwards from the balcony of the Pavilion. Eventually the area became a roller skating rink.

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DAYS OF SAIL

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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An old picture of Foryd harbour posted in this blog 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, a lifeboat station, a couple of hotels, a ship building 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 Wellington Road.

A book to look out for: ‘Maritime History Of Rhyl And Rhuddlan’ by D. W. Harris, published 1991.

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FLASHBACK #11

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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From Peter Trehearn comes this portrait of one of his ancestors wearing a fetching straw hat, accompanied by some of his employees. Peter says that the photo was taken between 1910 and 1914 in West Kinmel Street.

Horse-drawn vehicles such as this were commonplace at the time and gradually faded away over the decades. I could testify that there were still a few around in the 1950s, and one or two made it as far as the 1960s.

Thank you Peter, nice picture. The horse may be barely visible but I’m sure to get some fan mail for it.

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CRIMESTOPPERS

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 forecast in this blog on 27 February, John Damon Gizzi has been released from jail. Described as a ‘violent fraudster’ (Wales Online) and ‘a bully and a thug’ (North Wales Police), Mr Gizzi seemed to have megalomaniacal tendencies: he believed that he ‘ran Rhyl’. His various criminal activities brought nothing but discredit to the town.

Now that Mr Gizzi is free, it’s time for him to think about whether his talents and what’s left of his wealth could be utilised for benefit of the community as a way of making amends. Meanwhile in reply to enquiries received here, I can confirm that the charges against him did not include anything about supplying illegal drugs.

If you suspect anyone anywhere of being involved directly or indirectly in supplying illegal drugs, you should tell Crimestoppers; they would not ask you to identify yourself. It’s a national scheme, so you might have to explain that you are calling from North Wales and spell the name of the town (and any other awkward names).

The telephone number is: 0800 555111.

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THE MONORAIL

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 the Monorail that appeared in August 1980 about 15 feet in the air on specially constructed pillars along 600 yards of central promenade. It was the middle section of a proposed longer line. The doomed Monorail’s 40-seater trains ran for only six or seven weeks. The owners were forced into liquidation with debts of more than £650,000. (The early 1980s, like now, was a period of economic recession.)

In the lower picture the Clock Tower, which now faces the top of High Street, is shown in its original position a few yards to the northeast and on the promenade walkway – with Punch and Judy standing by.

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BIRDS IN HAND

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 shows one of my ward residents known as John the Pigeon Man a couple of years ago in Town Hall Square.

Pigeons and seagulls were on the town council agenda in September 2008 following a complaint from the manager of White Rose Centre about the cost of keeping his car park clean. The mayor called for the humane culling of gulls and a bylaw prohibiting people from feeding birds. To many people culling means killing (although that was never the intention) and there was an angry response from the public.

Yesterday evening at a committee meeting the matter came up again and there were sharp exchanges across the floor. Most speakers felt that the presence of a large number of seagulls in the town centre was a problem caused by people eating in the streets and failing to dispose of food waste sensibly. The birds were not the problem, people were. Even the pricking of eggs was not an idea that every member felt able to support.

I had to report that I could find no public enthusiasm for the idea of a bylaw against feeding birds; it seemed a bit mean-spirited to bring in a bylaw prohibiting an act of kindness. If there’d been time I would have added that people who feed birds are not curable anyway. It’s a form of compulsive behaviour; some of them couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.

One day when walking past John who was sitting contently surrounded by pigeons, I said, ‘Are you feeding those birds?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Yes, you are!’

He replied, ‘No I’m not! There’s some seed in my pocket and they come and take it. I ain’t feeding ‘em, it’s self service!’

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THE HUB

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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Building work at Rhyl Youth Action Group (RYAG) has advanced to the stage where much of the interior is already in use. RYAG’s address is 1 Elwy Street and 69-75 Wellington Road, and the premises are destined to become known as The Hub.

The picture above (TOP) is a sample of the dereliction that has been swept away to make space for new RYAG-owned offices and IT suites (rooms containing a lots of computers) and the retail training facility (mock shop) shown in the other picture. In addition to help with training and employment RYAG provides access to a wide range of advice and social activities for young people.

RYAG will be expected to repay loans and generate income by renting out space to various other agencies. In Wellington Road the flats above will be rented by NACRO for housing young offenders – an idea that will dishearten many residents. This is not the fault of RYAG, the blame lies with the funding bodies.

Welsh Assembly and Denbighshire Community Safety Partnership and others create gravy trains of funding that encourage NACRO, SOVA and similar organisations to dump people with behavioural problems into areas where we already have too many, thereby perpetuating the social problems that the funders purport to be trying to solve.

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THE DRAMA

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 unusual shot of the original Rhyl Pavilion is from the collection of Mr Bill Ellis; he kindly provided it for inclusion in my book ‘Rhyl In The Second World War’ which was published in February 2003 and is now out of print.

The photo was taken from the roof of the Coliseum Theatre on the opposite side of the paddling pool during the war when the central and corner domes of the Pavilion were camouflaged as shown in the picture; they were normally white. The banner on the side of the theatre advertises the Manchester Repertory, a drama company which was evacuated to Rhyl.

The Manchester Rep was handy for entertaining the many civil servants and military personnel billeted in the Rhyl district. The Rep's members included Mr Joe Holroyd who began a Saturday morning drama group for children during that period at the Pavilion. Later the club moved to Abbey Street before getting its own purpose-built premises: The Little Theatre in Vale Road.

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ROBINS CORNER CAFE #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 more photos from Mr Anthony J. Robins relating to Robins Corner Cafe at the junction of Queen Street and West Parade. This time we see the building work in progress; the contactor was Alfred G. Jones whose telephone number was Rhyl 339. The interior of the restaurant was very 1930s, very stylish and elegant. What wonderful pictures!

Mr Robins adds more information. He says that the previous occupier of the site, Rhyl & Potteries Motors, was also a Robins family business and members of the family lived upstairs; the buses and routes were sold eventually to Brookes Bros’ White Rose Garage.

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FLASHBACK #10

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 postcard above would have been produced in the 1910s or early ‘20s. On the promenade to the right is the original Rhyl Pavilion theatre which opened in 1908 opposite Edward Henry Street – roughly where the Skytower is now. In West Parade to the left is the Grand Theatre (Futurist Cinema off-season) which was replaced by the Queens Theatre eventually, Queens Market now.

The first purpose built cinema in Rhyl was the Cinema Royal which opened in 1920 on what we call the Woolworths corner. According to my Auntie Pat in St Asaph the best of all Rhyl cinemas was the Plaza, which opened in 1931 on the corner of High Street and Sussex Street currently occupied by the Piazza restaurant. Why – because it was luxurious, atmospheric and cosy? Well yes, but more importantly it had the best ice cream.

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