I took this photograph a couple of weeks ago in Rhyl. The building getting a facelift is house number 17. The question is:
Last Wednesday I posted a larger version of the photo at the top and said that it showed part of the front of a building in an area of town bounded by Abbey Street, Bath Street, Wellington Road, and West Parade.
This is a photograph of former guest house ‘Normaz’, 19 Aquarium Street. Residents in the vicinity are expressing concern about the alleged involvement of Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn Housing Association in the recent purchase of this and other properties. Their fears are understandable, given the association’s record of housing people with behavioural problems in the town centre and west end.
Above (TOP) is White Rose Centre, High Street, Rhyl. There, as the financial year draws to an end, the unit formerly occupied by Dr. China is closed and a new clothes/shoes shop named ‘Designer Outlet’ has opened where Contessa used to be. Clarks Shoes has moved from one unit to another and is now in a more prominent position. Mothercare has gone. The unit formerly occupied by Bay is closed. Boots the Opticians (not the chemist) has moved to 27 High Street where once was Dolland & Aitchison.
These photos were sent by Alan Evans who was at Ysgol Llywelyn 1959 to 1966 and Rhyl Grammar / High School 1966 to 1973.
Denbighshire County Council has an ambivalent attitude towards alcohol. The council tut-tuts at all the harm and havoc caused by the stuff but last Christmas helped to organise a pub crawl round villages, and recently postponed a ban on pubs which had been caught selling alcohol to children, and now has become involved in giving awards to licensed premises.
Mr. Dafydd Timothy the proprietor of Siop y Morfa, 109 High Street, Rhyl, has announced that his shop closes down at the end of next week. Dafydd has been selling books and music in Welsh language, local history books, and clothes/fancy goods associated with Wales for 29 years (25 of them at the present address).
Previously on this blog there have been references to the minstrel pitch. It was an area of the sands cleared for use by street entertainers (possibly to stop them wandering the streets). In early days it was a tradition for performers of this kind to be ‘blacked-up’ (as above) and sometimes the public referred to them cheerfully as ‘the niggers’. They performed several shows a day, with the accent on comedy and music, while some members of the troupe or helpers moved among the audience collecting money.
Tom Wood died in 1898 and the pitch was taken the following year by E.H. Williams who kept the name Merry Men but changed it to Merrie, and he created a bigger troupe and achieved wider renown. In this photograph, which is also from Gaynor, a member of E.H. Williams’ Merrie Men appears to be semi-supervising a children’s dance (audience participation was a large part of the fun). In the background the Grand Pavilion has gone so this photo would be later than 1901 but before Gilbert Rogers’ Jovial Jesters took the pitch in 1907.
The photo above was taken last week in Rhyl and shows part of a building in an area bounded by (in alphabetical order) Abbey Street, Bath Street, Wellington Road, and West Parade.
Last Wednesday I posted the photograph above (top) and asked: What monarch is commemorated in the name given to this place?
At the top is a pic provided by George Owen showing Rhyl Pavilion being built in 1907 (it opened on Thursday 30th July 1908). Most sources say the building was constructed in only a short time, which might account for why it was rumoured to be unsafe from the start. It proved safe enough to stand foursquare until it was demolished with some difficulty in 1974.
Last Saturday evening there was a buffet party at St. Mary’s Church, Wellington Road. The event was organised by Mrs. Geraldine Griffiths of John Street to honour the work of volunteers in the community; it was prompted by news that the Abbey Street Centre (above) is to close at the end of this month.
Last month the posts about Morgan and Shirley Borthwick included a snapshot showing Colin Smith (double bass and bass guitar).
Harry Lightfoot was born in Chester in 1928, moved to Rhyl in 1949. He heard Roy Holliday playing at the Pavilion and went for lessons at Roy’s home in Millbank Road, Rhyl, at "five bob an hour".
These photographs are from the collection of Harry Lightfoot.
This item was sent by Sandra Williams who says, “The photo was taken in late 1930s and shows a shop on corner of Victoria Road and Ernest Street, Rhyl. The proprietor was Thomas Roberts who lived in Victoria Terrace and had a smallholding down Cefndy Road.
I took this photograph a couple of months ago in Rhyl, and the question is:
Last Wednesday I posted larger versions of the photographs at the top and asked, Where was I standing when I took the photos?
I’ve had some difficult picture restorations in my time but this faded postcard of St. Beuno’s College took the biscuit. You are looking at the improved version!
Multiview postcards such as these are popular with collectors of old adverts, and for the same reason: they are ‘period pieces’ that carry a strong flavour of the times in which they were published. Although edited to give the best impression, they offer an insight into architectural fashions and flavours of the day.
This photograph was sent by Diana & Berwyn Jones. Diana says, “It was taken in late 1920s and shows my great-grandfather W.H. Roberts at his butcher’s stall in the market hall at back of Rhyl Town Hall.
The photograph of Kings Avenue at the top was sent by George Owen and must be over 100 years old; it was taken at the far end looking towards Wellington Road. The corresponding colour picture underneath, taken by Yours Truly, shows that the houses on the right haven’t changed much. The big difference is the prevalence of cars.
Photographs from World War 1 period submitted to this site by Gaynor Williams have won admirers.