Rhyl OAP Friendship Club, a social club for elderly persons, was founded 1952 in upstairs premises at 72 Queen Street. The building was owned by Alderman P.T. (Phil) Trehearn JP who became the club’s life-president. The photograph above (TOP) shows the entertainments room, which had a piano for informal sing-songs and for use by the club’s choir.
The lower photo suffers from exposure problems, nevertheless it shows club members fundraising for money to buy the premises. Mr. Trehearn is front left with dog. The gent with glasses and trilby is his friend Mr. Frank Hadley (of Hadleys Typewriter Co., 9 Bodfor Street) the club’s Honorary Secretary.
In 1962 the club became owner of the entire building which included flats and shops. In the television age pensioners became more indoorsy, so numbers at the club began to ebb away. It continued to operate until end of the 1990s.
My thanks to P.T.'s grandson Peter Trehearn for most of this information.
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MON 1st OCT 2018 UPDATE: Front and back of a souvenir programme dated 1959:
Click on an item to see a bigger version.
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The following references are added here for indexing purposes:
Silver Threads Choir, Mrs. G. Holland Roberts, James Fielden Ilfracombe.
Sopranos: Mrs. A. Withers, Mrs H. Henson, Miss B. Cooper, Mrs. R. Richards, Mrs. L. Pope, Mrs. C. Jones, Mrs W. Cunningham, Mrs. A. Hadley, Mrs A. Hapgood.
Contraltos: Mrs. A. Gibson, Mrs. E. Taylor, Mrs E. Belcher, Mrs. M. Bedson, Mrs. E. Brown, Mrs. F. Sproston.
Tenors: A. Hadley, H. Ash, F. Sproston, W. Swallow, A. Bramley, Sam Evans.
Bass: Arthur Beardmore, M. Longley, E.T. Roberts, D. Williams, W. Shaw, J.A. Mottram, Mr. Satch.
Also mentioned: Miss E. Ambrose, Florence Wilson, B. Batt and R.T. Davies.
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