COPYRIGHT IN THIS CARD BELONGS TO IRIS PUBLISHING LTD.The card is part of a collectors’ series marked Yesterday’s Britain 1890s - 1950s and the picture of a little girl with dinghy is titled ‘Rhyl, 1923’. It was taken at the Promenade paddling pool aka Children's model yacht pond.
In 1920s Rhyl’s pier was standing but had been declared unsafe and was closed to the public throughout the decade. Marine Lake Fun Fair was in full swing. Rhyl Pavilion was in a commanding position on the promenade. Visitor numbers were high; the town was buzzing.
In 1920 our first purpose-built cinema, Cinema Royal, opened at the top of High Street on what I still call the Woolworths corner. In the following year the Coliseum Theatre (open-air at first) opened on the prom, and also Billie Manders’ Quaintesques began to play summer seasons at the Pier Amphitheatre.
In 1923 the present coast road opened from Rhyl to Prestatyn. Later in the decade, Queens Theatre and Ballroom opened in West Parade, and the 1920s ended spectacularly with Sunny Rhyl’s June Carnival 1929 – an extraordinary 3-day event about which I will say more later this week . . .
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THU 25th FEB 2016 UPDATE: On the subject of 1920s the following pic seems to capture the fun. It is a card postmarked 1924 showing bathers near the Pavilion. I'm glad I found a place to put it:
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