FROM CANADA # 1

Here are more items from Diana Davies (was Diana Nicholas) who lives in Canada. A previous batch of Diana’s photos of St Mary’s Convent School, Russell Road, Rhyl, brought favourable feedback from readers earlier this month.Diana says, “This photograph of the nuns with the Bishop was taken when I was a pupil 1945 to 1956. The nuns are wearing the ‘old’ habit which was updated while I was there. Of the ones in the photo I recall Sisters Agnes, Monica, Angela, Mary Francis, Mary Magdalen (Headmistress), Ursula (Sister Superior), Mary Catherine (Mother Provincial) and Dorothy (School Nurse).

“Sister Mary Cecelia (usually known as Sister Cecelia) is probably in the photo. She was a teacher, but not all nuns were teachers and not all the teachers were nuns. I remember well a teacher named Mrs Kelly who was a doctor’s wife from Wellington Road; her daughter Moira attended the school.”

Above is a sports team of about 1953/54. Front row (sitting) left to right: Ann Churchill, Don’t know, Jackie Roache, Madeleine Jones, Ann Lloyd-Ellis, Violet Pritchard. Second row (sitting) left to right: Barbara Corson, Marie Churchill, Don’t know, Mary Muscamp, Jill Williams, Don’t know, Don’t know, Maureen Digan and Don’t know. Third row: Jennifer Kirkup, Mary Sellwood, Don’t know, Don’t know, a Wadsworth twin, Diana Williams, Marjory Jones, Don’t know, Ann Marlow. Back row: Jennifer Grout, Maureen Howarth, Catherine Davies, Judy Watson, Sheena Kimpton.

In this photo of a sports day around 1955 the girls are a bit of a jumble but front row includes Jackie Roache, Catherine Davies, Judy Watson, Dilys Nelson, Nora Watts, Eileen Roberts, Pat Williams, Mary Higgs, Janet Jones, Maureen Howarth, Diana Williams, Angela Stokes.

The middle includes Pat Walker, Diane Sheppard, Sheila Hayton-Williams, Margaret Monk, Violet Pritchard, Pamela Threlfall, Frances Poultney, Joan Barnard, Jennifer Grout, Marjory Jones and Sheena Kimpton.

Back row: Marian Jenkins, Sylvia Parr, Don’t know, Anna Kavanagh peeping over the shoulder of Jennifer Kirkup, Susan Robinson, Don’t know and Angela Cummins.

The clergyman may be Father (later Canon) Collins. Can anyone confirm? Please send email to: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

l

l

l

l

FROM CANADA # 2

Here are more items from Diana Davies in Canada; these relate to previous posts about Royal Alexandra Hospital, Marine Drive, Rhyl. They are postcards published by Rae Pickard and would be from the early 1900s when the Alex was a children’s’ hospital.

From the top: (a) Hesketh Ward (this picture was sent in by John Powell as well - thanks John); (b) convalescents’ dining hall; (c) open-air treatment, the intended use of the balconies; (d) boys’ balcony; (e) Murray Browne Ward; and (f) the salt-water bath – so much safer than the sea.

There are more pictures from Diana in the pipeline.

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM JOHN # 1

John Powell, Rhyl Life’s Minister of Transport, has sent these. At the top is a picture of Rhyl Railway Shed Staff taken in 1947.

In the front row (left to right) Don’t know, Mr Maddox, T. Hornby, Jack Passey and T. Molloy. In the middle row (l to r) Percy Harrison, John Robinson (Shed Foreman), J. Parsonage, J. MacDonald, Lew Jones, Harry Boulter, Ben Jones and Percy Jones. In the back row:
T. Williams, F. Tasker, T. Austin and Bill Neal.

John took the colour photo on October 6th, 1983 in Rhyl. A train is loaded with track which had been stored in the yard here; the train is being made ready to take the load to Colwyn Bay where the track was needed in re-positioning the line to make way for the new A55 road.

The yard area, right hand side of the picture, is now for car parking/
retailing including Morrisons supermarket.

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM JOHN # 2

Here are more items from John Powell.

From the top: (1) Railway Station, Kinmel Bay (Foryd Station) 1890s; (2) Rhyl Railway Station 1908; (3) Crosville Bus Depot in Crescent Rd after a devastating fire in July 1945; (4) Rhyl Bus Station, High Street, June 1950; and (5) Rhyl Locomotive Shed in September 1962.

Readers with a special interest in transport in North Wales please click on the following link to see John’s own web site: http://www.6g.nwrail.org.uk/

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM ANN # 1

Ann Hayes of Ruthin, who on one memorable occasion fought me on eBay for a postcard of Rhyl donkeys, has been contributing items to this site for ten or twelve months.

During the course of email correspondence, Ann and I discovered that her father Les Hayes and my father Len Jones were colleagues from 1930s onwards on MANWEB (Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board). Mr Hayes passed away in 1995. My dad soldiers on at the age of 94 refusing all help – he'll be a hard act to follow.

Of the Rhyl pictures above, the unidentified group at the top looks austere enough to be a Sunday School class.

The town hall card is postmarked 1930 and shows the part of the building that used to be the public library, Carnegie Free Library, with trees outside; it is now a county council rent collection office with no trees. I see that the camera or print was tilted in the time-honoured way so as to make the clock tower look straight.

The photo of St Anne’s Church, Vale Road, looks rather rural bearing in mind it shows the side that faces town, and the Foryd Harbour shot is by local photographer Rae Pickard whose work has become sought after eagerly by collectors.

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM ANN # 2

These pictures are postcards from the collection of Ann Hayes.

The one at the top looks the earliest; note the glider – you could take trips from the sands in one of those if you dared. The next one is another from the pre-World War 2 period, and the final one dates from after the promenade improvements to the eastern stretch were completed in 1951.

The sight of those salty, sandy steps brings a wave of nostalgia that not even photos of the old Pavilion and pier could match. I can smell the steps and feel their texture . . .

l

l

l

l

QUIZ ANSWER # 58

The questions:

The photograph above (TOP) was taken in early 1950s in Rhyl; pictured is a small push and pull train which ran a shuttle service between Rhyl and Llandudno.What was the name of the train?

and

What family name was associated with the White Rose bus company?

-----

The answers:

The Welsh Dragon
and
Brookes. (The proprietors were the Brookes brothers.)

-----

The winner: The Great Gareth.

That ends the recent run of history questions and at this point in the quiz as a whole: Gareth has a total of eight wins; The Legendary Lloyd & Kerry have five; Jane Shuttle has five; Gaynor Williams has three; and there are 11 readers with two wins or one. All these results are carefully inscribed in copperplate handwriting in a ledger of honour here at Jones Towers overlooking the glamorous west end of Rhyl.

-----

WED 2nd JUN 2010 UPDATE: To add an egg to the pudding,
John Powell has sent this photo of the launch of The Welsh Dragon
in 1951 in Rhyl. On right is district motive power superintendent
Mr G. C. Parslew; the other person is unknown.

l

l

l

l

QUIZ ANSWER # 57

The questions related to the photos above:
What was on the promenade walkway opposite what is now Mr B’s from 1892 until World War 2, and why was it removed?
and
Was the promenade picture showing the old Pavilion taken before or after 1959, and how can you tell by looking at it?

The answers are:
A large and splendid ornamental fountain, and it was removed in a scrap metal drive to help the war effort during World War 2 (by which time it was about 60 years old and not so splendid);
and
After 1959. You can tell because on the left of the picture the single-storey Coliseum Theatre (originally open-air) is shown with a roof.
It was roofed in 1960.

The winner:
Peter Trehearn. Second win for Peter.

-----

Here are pictures showing the ornamental fountain referred to in QUIZ ANSWER # 57. The one at the top is a card postmarked 1906. The black-and-white photo shows the opening ceremony in 1892. The fountain was switched on by the Lord Mayor of London with other dignitaries in attendance. The photo is from the book ‘Glorious Rhyl - a peep at its past’ by Philip Lloyd (published 2002).

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM GEORGE # 1

These are contributions sent by George Owen.

At the top is a drawing made with a great deal of artistic licence and, if that’s Marine Lake top right, the picture is not as old as it looks. Marine Lake opened in 1895, and so the drawing would be c.1900.

The second drawing is captioned ‘Rhyl Pier and buildings pre-1880’ and is interesting if only because we never got the buildings. The illustration may be one of several speculative plans commissioned by the private company that owned the pier, in advance of deciding to construct the pier’s Grand Pavilion (opened 1891).

The third picture shows the scene after the Grand Pavilion was destroyed by fire in 1901. A little wooden theatre was erected – the Pier Amphitheatre – which was rebuilt in brick in the 1920s and eventually occupied by Billie Manders’ Quaintesques season after season. On that site now is the Seaquarium.

The colour photo, presumably 1950s, shows the view down Wellington Road from Foryd Bridge. Finally, we have a mystery picture of which George says: “The portrait of a lady has intrigued me for years. It was among my father’s photos but I don’t know who she is or whether she is a relation. Photographer was J Hughes, described on back of the portrait as a landscape photographer. He may have been local.”

l

l

l

l

PIX FROM GEORGE # 2

These are contributions sent by George Owen.

The photograph at the top shows the interior of St John’s Church, Wellington Road in 1948.

Of the next picture George says, “It shows a St John’s Church Choir outing to Chester Zoo in late 1940s. Second from the left, back row,
is Frank Port who was Headmaster of St John’s School (‘Gas School’) and later became Head of Clwyd Street School. Second from right in the back row is Norman Clark who was the Verger at St Thomas’ for many years. John Asher, the choirmaster and organist at St John’s for many years, is on the right of the front row with a flat cap on; he was succeeded as Choirmaster at St John’s by Frank Port. The only choirboy I can name is Arthur Oakley, third from left front row, who now lives in Abergele.”

The colour snap is a 1950s shot of Wellington Road, looking to the west from a corner of River Street.

Finally there is a photo showing remains of Salem Bungalow which had been standing on the beach near Rhyl Golf Club opposite Robin Hood holiday park. The bungalow was destroyed during a storm in 1944; the photograph is dated 1945. Some remains can still be seen and I know of at least one eight year old girl who believes it to be a mermaid’s house.

Interesting batch, thank you George.

l

l

l

l

ODEON CINEMA

The Apollo Bingo Club, photographed above last year by Yours Truly, holds a commanding position on a corner of High Street and Brighton Road and still looks modern despite the fact that the building dates back to the 1930s.

It opened in 1937 as an Odeon Cinema, part of national chain, and cost £45,000. The Odeons were distinguishable by the swish art deco style with curves rather than corners and large areas of cream tiling. Another Rhyl example of the style is Harker’s (formerly Robins) Corner Cafe which was built just a few years earlier.

In the 1930s, cinemas were big business and audience numbers were high (younger readers please note that was before television). The black-and-white photo above is from an Internet source; the other items were sent by George Owen. Some readers will have memories of going to the Odeon’s Saturday Morning Children’s Club.

In 1972 the Odeon, by then taken over and renamed Astra Cinema, underwent alterations to become the first three-screen complex in Wales: Astra 1, 2 and 3. By the mid 1980s it had been taken over by Apollo and was running as two cinemas plus bingo at first, and bingo only since the present Apollo Cinema Complex opened on the prom.

If memory serves, in the Odeon auditorium to the left of the screen there was a suitably stylish, numberless clock of six-sided shape. George wonders if it still there. Bingo goers will know, bingo goers will tell me.

l

l

l

l

QUIZ ANSWER # 56

The questions:
Where was the roller skating in the colour postcard above?
and
The other picture shows a Rhyl lifeboat. It was on station from 1968 to 1990 and saved 28 lives. Was the lifeboat’s name Har-Lil, Mary Gabriel or Lil Cunningham?

The answers:
The roller skating was on the site of the Queen’s Palace, later Queens Theatre/Ballroom, sometime after the former had been destroyed by fire in 1907 and before the latter opened in 1926.
and
The lifeboat’s name was Har-Lil. Author Jeff Morris says that the cost of building the lifeboat was provided out of the legacy of Miss Janie Watt of Renfrewshire, and was named in memory of her late parents Harry and Lilian.

The winner:
Sue Handley. Sue’s second win.

l

l

l

l