THE OTHER VILLAGE

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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Pentre Bach Model Village (Pentre Bach translates as Little Village) was an outdoor attraction 1970-1975 in West Parade; if it existed today it would take up part of the land between Sandringham Ave and Sydenham Ave. The village was created by Rhyl Amusements Ltd the company that owned the fun fair and designed by their structural draughtsman Ronald Towler.

Pentre Bach had a castle, pub, school and other miniature buildings including the one the lady in traditional dress is showing to children in the black-and-white picture above: Ty Gwyn Farm (Ty Gwyn translates as White House). The talented Mr Towler went to work as
a technical assistant for Trust House Forte and later Alton Towers.

The colour postcard shows Pentre Bach's slate quarry. All the roofing of the model village was genuine Welsh slate.

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RHYL ON PARADE

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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Rhyl used to love parades. Here are two nice examples from Mrs Gaynor Williams.

(TOP) is a church parade featuring C. Squadron (Rhyl) of Flintshire Territorial Army which was attached to 5th Royal Welch Fusiliers; Rhyl was part of Flintshire in those days. The rather grand building that they have just marched past is a Post Office in High Street; if the same building were there today it would be opposite Boots chemist. The picture is on a card postmarked 1908.

The other picture was taken at the Men’s Convalescent Institution in Bedford Street when it had become temporarily a British Red Cross Hospital during World War One 1914-18; the staff on parade were mostly volunteers. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement continues to carry out essential humanitarian work whenever and wherever war breaks out.

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JOHN STREET

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 John Street in the county council ward of Rhyl West. At a glance, it is an unremarkable place: bedsits and flats mostly owned by private landlords, some housing association properties, a few guest houses and a corner shop. The street has been in the news because residents hired a private security firm to help keep law and order.

People with behavioural problems have been dumped into the area for years by NACRO, SOVA, Clwyd Alyn, the county council's Social Services department and other organisations. We residents are expected to live alongside an unusually high proportion of criminals, substance addicts, resettlement cases, basket cases and all sorts.

Yesterday a resident of John Street handed me a list of incidents including sexual abuse, threatening behaviour, abduction, car torching, domestic violence, stabbing, robbery, attempted suicide, assault and battery. If I had the ear of government I would say, send no grant aid here except to remove cheap rented accommodation.

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FIRE IN COSTIGAN'S

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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There has been a fire in Costigan’s pub, Bodfor Street, Rhyl; the pictures above show damage to the roof as seen from front and back.

Costigan’s was in existence before the railway arrived here in 1848.
It was the home of Mr James Costigan, an Irishman who secured a licence to sell alcohol. Eventually it became ‘Railway Refreshment Rooms’ where Rhyl's first Catholic Masses were held before the town had its own Catholic church.

In 1951 the building became ‘The Mermaid’ pub. Later on, after reverting to the name Costigan’s, it was a home of Rhyl Folk Club
for a while before becoming derelict.

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BEDFORD STREET

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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Another set of goodies from Mrs Gaynor Williams of the shop 'Aquarius’ in Market Street: two pictures of the Men’s Convalescent Institution in Bedford Street plus a picture of
the dining hall.

At present the building is occupied by The Samaritans, Shelter Cymru, Benefits Advice Shop and West Rhyl Young People’s Centre. The dining hall is a meeting room used by various groups including Bedford Street Community Company.

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THE GIRLS

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 first crop of stills that I have winkled out of a resident’s home movie that came my way via Bill Ellis a few years ago. The film is titled ‘Rhyl May Day 1957’ but it appears to be made up of segments from differing years.

Pictured above are some of the young ladies in scenes shot at the Westminster Hotel, East Parade; they are getting ready and relaxing before what was probably a Miss Rhyl contest. Who are they and where are they now?

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A LONG JOURNEY

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 a front page story highlighted the Government’s failure to deal with the nation’s alcohol problem. The decision to lower the classification of cannabis had to be reversed in the light of experience, and now the decision to relax controls on alcohol needs to be rescinded. The number of alcohol-related deaths, illnesses and crimes has been underestimated. Taxpayers have to pick up the bills.

Recently the Government ducked an opportunity to fix minimum prices on alcohol (an idea already under consideration in Scotland) and allows booze to be sold in convenience stores and grocery shops as if it's some sort of food; some supermarkets sell the stuff dirt cheap almost as a loss leader. Britain is going the wrong way and needs to turn round and start a long journey towards getting alcohol classified as an illegal drug.

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EPWORTH COLLEGE

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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Epworth College for boys in Rhyl (shown above) started in 1880 in the building now known as Ysgol Dewi Sant, Rhuddlan Road. Initially the college was a small private residential school; gradually the house and grounds were extended to include more dormitories and also hockey, cricket and football pitches. By the 1930s the entire spread occupied about 18 acres.

After World War Two, Epworth College experienced a reduction of student numbers. In the 1950s it moved to smaller premises in Waen near St Asaph; a lot of the land in Rhyl was sold for house-building. My thanks go to Mr Philip Lloyd for some of this info. The picture is from Mrs Gaynor Williams.

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THE DOCTOR IS IN

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 new chief executive of Denbighshire county council has been announced as Dr Mohammed Mehmet (pictured above) who was already working for the council as corporate director of Lifelong Learning. His expertise in education should be reassuring for parents who are worried about the standard of schools in the county. The chief exec's aim – along with his colleagues – is to bring Denbighshire closer to the community and provide quality, value for money services for all. I wish him the best of luck.

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THE SANDHILLS

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 a postcard showing the sandhills which used to be opposite East Parade. It has an Edward VII stamp; Edward reigned from 1901 to 1910. The card was sent from 6 Marlborough Grove in Rhyl to a Brassington family in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, and says, “Dear Lewis, Annie & children, just a line to say we arrived safe and sound at 11 o’clock. The weather is A1 and diggings (i.e. accommodation) same, wish you were coming. The group on this picture will write more particulars later. With love from Father & Mother.”

I take 'the group' to mean the figures standing on a grassy mound near the centre of the picture. So there we are: you could have your photograph taken on the sands, and then the photographer would go away and turn it into a postcard for you to send home.

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BOYS WILL BE BOYS

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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These pictures are from Mrs Gaynor Williams of the shop ‘Aquarius’ in Market Street.

Shown at the top is Colet House, East Parade (now David’s Residential Home for the Elderly) when it was a boys' school. It is a card postmarked 19 September 1904 and addressed to Rev C. J. Bradshaw of Altrincham, Cheshire, from R. M. Hugh Jones of Colet House saying, “Will you kindly let me know this week if you wish your son to learn any of the following subjects – Music, Drawing, Dancing, Carpentry.”

The other picture was taken by local photographer Rae Pickard and is strongly suspected to show boys from Colet House; they look dressed about right for a private ‘prep school’ of the type. I wonder if they were less trouble than your average Rhyl lads . . .

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TOAST RACK

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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Ripe for restoration – when I get around to it – is this postcard which was never posted and therefore is undated; the clothes suggest early 1920s. Thanks to information received from Mr Anthony Robins we know that Primrose Motor Coaches was, like Rhyl & Potteries Motors, a business owned by the Robins family.

Shown here is the kind of coach or charabanc known as a ‘toast rack’ because it had a row of long seats with no aisle up the middle; each seat had its own pair of doors. It was usual for coach parties to have a picture taken together before setting out on a trip; the picture was part of the service. Bill Ellis’ book ‘The Spirit of Rhyl’ published in 2004 has photographs of some toast racks owned by Primrose’s competitors, Brookes Brothers White Rose Motors.

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NO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

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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To what extent should experiments on animals be used to advance medical research? Recently some animal rights activists were jailed for using unlawful ways of campaigning. Rhyl resident Judi Hewitt of North Wales Animal Rights and Wales Against Animal Cruelty (on the right of picture above, with Ann Jones AM) is not associated with any extremist groups or organisations.

Judi feels concerned about a proposed new European Parliament directive on animals used in scientific experiments; she has contacted Wales' MEPs urging them to oppose any measures that would reduce the current level of protection offered to animals. If you wish to do the same, you could write to any or all of the following:

Kay Swinburne (Conservative), Rhea Court, Rhea Lane, Ledbury HR82PT; Derek Vaughan (Labour), 4 Wenham Place, Neath SA113AH; Jill Evans (Plaid Cymru), 72 Tyntwla Road, Llwynypia, Rhondda CF402SR; John Bufton (UKIP), 12 Green Gardens, Rhayader LD65EH

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HMS RHYL # 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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A couple of days ago on this blog there was a post about HMS Rhyl. To my delight, this brought a response from Mr Mervyn Weaver of Worcestershire who is pictured above with a large piece of the ship. Merv says that it’s a generator engine which was fitted to the bow of HMS Rhyl to provide emergency electricity supply if the usual system failed to operate. The generator is in working order and goes on display at vintage shows. What a great picture – thanks, Merv!

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OCEAN BEACH

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 land on which Ocean Beach fun fair stood is still derelict awaiting progress of the Modus ‘Ocean Plaza’ development of flats and shops. The land was bought in the 1930s by Rhyl Amusements Ltd who ran Marine Lake fun fair; at first it was used as a coach park and a place for travelling circuses and exhibitions.

Eventually the company began to move rides from Marine Lake to Ocean Beach, and by the 1950s we had a fun fair on both sites. The picture is a card postmarked 1975 showing Ocean Beach’s big slide. A notice to the right says: PERSONS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO SLIDE HEAD FIRST. I dare say some were daft enough to try.

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HMS RHYL # 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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The first ship named ‘HMS Rhyl’ was a World War Two minesweeper. The one pictured above is a Rothesay class anti submarine frigate built at Portsmouth and completed in 1960; it became, like all other Royal Navy warships of the time, part of the NATO fleet which patrolled to discourage aggression by Russia and the Soviet Block during the days of the ‘cold war’.

The vessel made several visits to Rhyl from its base in Birkenhead. Its arrival was welcomed by cocktail parties, football matches, church services and very special events. Among town council documents is a letter dated 15 August 1981 to the Mayor from a member of crew saying that HMS Rhyl was in the Indian Ocean and had been at sea a long time and it would be nice to get some friendly correspondence from the town’s residents – particularly young ladies no doubt.

In October 1983 the ship was retired after having been part of the Navy’s task force during the Falklands conflict. In 1985 it ended its life as a target for guided missile practice before being blown up and sunk to the bottom of the sea off Land's end.

The picture is from the collection of Rhyl Town Council.

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THE PRETTY CROOK

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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Around the time the original Rhyl Pavilion opened in 1908, Violet Charlesworth (pictured above) was residing in Rhyl and district. Aided and abetted by her mother, Violet ran up local debts on the promise of repayment when she received a massive inheritance on her 25th birthday. Violet and Mum are believed to have conned about £27,000 out of some comparatively wealthy men, and to put that figure into perspective I can tell you that the average wage was £1 - £2 per week.

Being ahead of her time, Violet was a bit of a stock-market swindler as well. Quite an extraordinary life for a mechanic’s daughter from Stafford in that period of history! After many dramas, a fake suicide by Violet over a cliff at Penmaenmawr followed by a nationwide hunt for her ending in Scotland, the two women were sent to jail and that’s where the story ends. No one is certain what happened to them afterwards. About Violet one thing is certain: she wasn’t boring.

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COLISEUM THEATRE

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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(TOP) is a colourful picture taken from near the junction of John Street and West Parade sometime after the original Pavilion Theatre was demolished in 1974 and before the Skytower was erected in 1989; let’s call it circa 1980. On the promenade left to right: a boating pool, children’s paddling pool and Coliseum Theatre.

The other is a picture that I took in the year 2000 when the Coliseum was derelict having lost its lessees. The theatre became an eyesore while arguments raged about its future, and eventually it was knocked down to become one more of many Rhyl theatres, cinemas and other attractions to bite the dust.

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EAST IS EAST

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 picture is undated. In the background the underdeveloped look of East Parade indicates probably early 1900s. This part of the beach (east of the pier) was for gentlemen bathers although there appears to be a stray nanny paddling with children bottom right.

Near the water's edge are bathing machines (changing rooms on wheels); most of these were the other side of the pier for lady bathers who were more modest of course. Eventually Rhyl would be among the first resorts to allow mixed bathing.

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WATCH OUT!

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 campaign team above were in the White Rose Centre today looking for new Neighbourhood Watch volunteers. In the foreground (left) is PC Alyn Smith who was a moving force behind the Child Safe Zone scheme mentioned in this blog last week. Police help to set up a Neighbourhood Watch group in the first place; thereafter it is run by a local resident known as a ‘co-ordinator’ to whom other residents can feed information.

Neighbourhood Watch is an effective way of reducing crime and making the community safer, and it has the backing of the Home Office. There’s a lot of support available for groups and co-ordinators. You can find out more about the scheme by popping into Rhyl Police Station in Wellington Road (opposite town hall) or phoning Denbighshire Neighbourhood Watch on (01745) 539208.

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PALMS UP

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 new look of High Street area – inspired by Rhyl Business Group – has brought a mixed bag of comments, especially about palm trees. “Oh well, it’s something new,” I heard one lady shopper say when looking at the one shown above (TOP). Well yes and no, Madam. Rhyl has had palm trees in various parts of town recently and long before.

To illustrate the point, the other picture shows part of the prom opposite East Parade in 1970s; no doubt the history of palm trees in Rhyl goes back even further. The large glass building is the Royal Floral Hall.

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CHILDREN'S PARADISE

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 fence shown above is at the side of the derelict Bee Hotel, Bodfor Street; it displays logos relating to a Denbighshire council redevelopment plan which nearly took place a few years ago. The plan is still on the table waiting for funds to be found. Meanwhile 'The Children’s Paradise’ poster brightens the scene.

The poster was designed by Jackson Burton for promoting Rhyl in stations on the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMS) which operated from 1923 to 1948. The style of the poster suggests the 1920s when the council of the day liked to use the slogan ‘Rhyl – The Children’s Paradise’.

The slogan conjured up a picture of laughing children playing safely on the sands where their parents and nannies could watch minstrels and jesters who gave “several performances during the day of a highly refined and entertaining description . . . No vulgarity allowed.” Quite right, quite right.

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CLAREMONT HYDRO

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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These are photos of the Victorian hotel named Claremont Hydro. Hydropathic hotels such as the Claremont had their own indoor baths for relaxation and health treatment. They were expensive places in which to stay and Rhyl had quite a few of them because in those days the town’s visitors were comparatively wealthy.

Claremont Hydro was in Brighton Road and it became eventually a men’s convalescent/retirement home named Y Gorlan; the building was demolished in the early 1980s. A decade or so later Clwyd Alyn Housing Association built flats on the site and these retained the name Y Gorlan.

My thanks go to local historian Bill Ellis and to Mrs Doreen Jones of Rhyl Community Agency for much of this info, and to Mrs Gaynor Williams for the larger picture.

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BOTANICAL GARDENS

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 images of the town’s famous Botanical Gardens in Grange Road, opposite Rhyl High School & Rhyl Leisure Centre. The black-and-white postcard is said to be from early 1960s; the other picture has the feel of late 1970s about it.

In recent years the cafe in Botanical Gardens has been run by the Rhyl South West Central Residents’ Association (RSWCRA) and much improvement to the gardens has taken place as a result. Read all about it on RSWCRA’s web site: http://www.rswcra.org.uk/

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WED 29th JUL 2009 UPDATE: A short history of the Botanical Gardens is on the BBC Wales North East web site. The page is: http://bit.ly/8okm5

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REVIEWING THE SITUATION

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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Businesses at the town end of Wellington Road claim to have been hit by parking regulations introduced last year. Previously some of the traders and their customers had been parking illegally though, and the national economic downturn would have taken its toll anyway – so the situation is difficult to assess properly.

Disabled drivers lost some parking space because the blue badge system had been widely abused by people who could be seen strolling around town shopping for an hour or two with no difficulty. Too many cars were being used unnecessarily and these were clogging up the system and causing traffic congestion and pollution.

I would be happy to see the scheme tweaked a little but a major reversal should not be contemplated. The town centre is not a shopping arcade like the White Rose Centre where no one lives; it
has a couple of thousand residents whose environment has been improved by the regulations.

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