QUIZ QUESTION # 68

These photographs were taken on the same day in April 2010 in Rhyl by Yours Truly.

Re: the upper photo:
(a) What is the name of the street in which I was standing?
and
(b) What's on the other side of the fence on left side of the picture?

Re: the lower photo:
(c) What is the name of the street in which I was standing?
and
(d) What's the name of the street at the far end of the alley?

ALL readers sending all four right answers shall be credited with
a WIN.
No second tries accepted!

The closing date is Tuesday 3rd August 2010 at 12 noon and the result will be published on this site a day or two afterwards. Please send your answers by email to:
rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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QUIZ ANSWER # 67

Last Wednesday I posted these photographs and asked:
(a) Where was I standing?
(b) What is the name of the street on the right?
(c) What is the name of the street on the left?

Answers:
I was standing on the roundabout in The Boulevard. On the right is South Drive and on the left is North Drive.

Winners:
Dorothy Jones (5th win)
Geoff Hughes (3rd win)
Jane Evans of Scotland (4th win)
Pauline Hammans (7th win)
Richard & Ceri Swinney (5th win)
Sue Handley (8th win)
The Great Gareth (12th win – still in the lead)
The Legendary Lloyd & Kerry (11th win)
Wayne Chadwick (4th win)

Although this blog is winding down to a close in late Oct/early Nov, the quiz will continue until we get to 100 questions (some of which may be Rhyl history questions). So if you haven’t sent even one correct answer yet, you could still be Rhyl Life Quiz Champion!

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RAILWAY SCENES

These items are from our man in transport, John Powell. The photo at the top shows the famous ‘Flying Scotsman’ train passing through Rhyl station, the occasion being a special trip from Lincoln to Llandudno on Saturday June 6th, 1966.

The newspaper cutting about a mail train is something that I have never seen before. John thinks the date would be c.1910-1920.

Finally, another shot of the railway line that ran from Foryd harbour to Foryd Junction station in Kinmel Bay. This one is dated c.1956 and John wonders if the Clwyd Hotel still exists. The answer must be yes and no – there have been name changes.

These days as you cross the Foryd Bridge into Kinmel Bay, the pub on right is Ferry Hotel and on the opposite side is Harbour Hotel.

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HIGH STREET SCENES

At the top is a photograph dated 1948 showing Habesch the jewellers on the northeast side of High Street. Love the 1940s headscarves.

Next comes a shot from March 1959 showing Boots (centre left) in its present position. To the right of Boots is W. Garson Allen the gents’ outfitters, later Bradleys.

Finally, dated 1962, is a photo that catches part of W. Garson Allen’s shop (far left) and shows Marks & Spencer in its present position. Somewhere in between was Lawrence’s chemist shop.

All three pictures are from Rhyl History Club Community Archive.

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LIL'S LIFE

To add to our stock of lifeboat pictures, this unused postcard has come to hand. It was published just after the present lifeboat house was opened in 2002. Photo by Terry Williams.

The lifeboat marked 12-24 is ‘Lil Cunningham’ which is a 12-metre Mersey class self-righter. The small craft behind, which looks like a rocket, is the D class inshore lifeboat D-485 ‘Stafford with Rugeley’.

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MIND THE DONKEYS

Left-click on any picture to see a bigger version.

The portrait at the top shows a young Lizzie Fletcher sitting on what appears to be a real donkey in a photographer’s studio in Rhyl. Lizzie was born in 1881 and was a Shropshire girl. When she retired she came to live in Rhyl, at Llys Cynon in Bath Street. I'm obliged to Sue of Shropshire for sending the picture.

The donkeys postcard with an elaborate border is from a series in circulation during WW1. This is from June Turner – thanks June.

Finally, from my own collection, a multiview card with a row of donkeys as the centrepiece. The card is postmarked 1953.

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Donkey rides in Rhyl date back to Victorian times. It was an idea copied from seaside places where donkeys were already in use for other reasons such as in the cockle industry.

A hired donkey on the sands would have a name on its bridle be expected to carry a child (or some cases a woman) at walking pace along the sands. The activity became less fashionable and less popular over the decades.

In 2008, new rules tried to ensure that donkeys in British resorts would receive adequate care and rest, and a maximum allowable load was introduced. A would-be rider weighing over 8 stones can be ruled out.

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PRESTATYN PIONEERS

The following photographs came from George Owen who says that they must date from World War 2. On the back are pencil notes indicating parts of the camp used by soldiers. J. W. Jones in his book Rhyl The Town And Its People notes that Prestatyn Holiday Camp was used as a training place for ‘the Pioneers.’ The Pioneer Corps was a fighting unit used for light engineering.

The top picture shows The Britannia Bar which became their Mess, the next shows chalets where they slept 3-per-chalet, and the final one shows The Ballroom where they had concerts and film shows.

The camp was new at the time, having only just been opened in 1939 by the railway company LMS in conjunction with Thomas Cook’s. Pontins took over in 1970s and closed it in mid-1980s. It lay derelict until the present housing estate was built on the site. The estate is named Tower Gardens in memory of the camp’s famous landmark tower which is shown to good effect in these later pictures:

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QUIZ QUESTION # 67

These photos were taken in February 2010 in Rhyl by Yours Truly. The questions are:
(a) Where was I standing?
(b) What is the name of the street on the right?
(c) What is the name of the street on the left?

ALL readers sending the right answers shall be credited with a WIN.
No second tries accepted!

The closing date is Tuesday 27th July 2010 at 12 noon and the result will be published on this site a day or two afterwards. Please send your answers by email to:
rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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UP THE TOWER

Here are views looking westwards from Skytower. The one at the top is from days of Rhuddlan Borough Council 1974-1996, and the other shows the scene since the present Drift Park was completed in 2007.

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FORE AND MORE

Not being a golfer, I find the terminology of the game rather puzzling but Diana Davies (now of Canada) feels at ease on a green and has sent these late 1950s/early '60s photographs of Rhyl Golf Club members. See if you recognise anyone:

Left-click on any picture to see a bigger version.

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Diana has sent scans of a complete Rhyl Golf Club Official Handbook circa 1950. This 18-page booklet describes the course and greens and is illustrated with photographs by local photographer Pat Williams. (Has anyone got information about Pat?)

The scans are yours for the asking. Please send email to:
rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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QUIZ ANSWER # 66

Last Wednesday I posted a larger version of this photograph which shows the meeting point of three streets. The question was:
What are their names?

The answers: Ellis Avenue, Warren Road and Wood Road.

The winners are:
Geoff Hughes (2nd win for Geoff), Richard & Ceri Swinney (4th win), Jane Evans of Scotland (3rd win), Jane Shuttle (10th win), Dorothy Jones (4th win), Sue Handley (7th win), The Legendary Lloyd & Kerry (10th win) and Julie Morgan (first win for Julie).

The Great Gareth is currently in the lead with 11 wins.

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A STUDY IN STYLES

At the top is a postcard recently acquired by Yours Truly. It shows the altar at the old St Mary's Church in Rhyl by the highly-regarded local photographer Rae Pickard. The card is postmarked 1927.

The sight of it sent me scurrying down Wellington Road to the present St Mary’s, officially named Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, to take a photograph of the current altar area for comparison.

Father Charles Ramsay takes delight in describing the present altar stone (table top) as being made of volcanic lava material 150 million years old. The present Joseph and Mary figures make interesting comparison with the figures in the old postcard.

My thanks go to Charles (pictured in the final photo) for his hospitality. You can get in touch with him by phoning (01745) 353395 or sending email to: chas3free@msn.com

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AT THE LAKE

Here are some images of the long-gone Marine Lake Fun Fair and its still-here miniature railway. They are from a variety of sources and are in probable date order with the oldest picture at the bottom.

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WALES IN WHAT?

In the past few weeks, flowers and plants have been appearing in Rhyl town centre to catch the eye of judges in the annual ‘Wales in Bloom’ competition. We now have planters along Market Street for instance, and in the square at the back of the town hall (where we used to have a circular garden until Denbighshire council took it away).

The ‘Wales in Bloom’ competition seems to me pretty worthless because towns and villages are not judged on their all year round performance.

A big enthusiast for it is Chris Ruane MP whose Labour Party colleagues are in a majority on Rhyl Town Council. There has been controversy over the town council’s financial involvement. Please click here to see: http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/internal_review_rhyl_wales_in_bl

While all the nonsense goes on, we westenders who walk into Rhyl town centre have to contend with cars on pavements, shopping scooters, advertising boards, canvassers, foulmouthed ranters and ravers, spitters, drunks, pavement cyclists and dog poo.

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IN RESPONSE

In response to an appeal some time ago on this site, Mr James Russell of Wolverhampton has sent these pictures of Kinmel Bay and Towyn. The one at the top is a card postmarked 1954; the black-and-white is interestingly labelled; and the Towyn card dates from the days of Clwyd County Council 1974-1996.
Thanks, Jim.

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QUIZ QUESTION # 66

This photograph was taken in April 2010 in Rhyl by Yours Truly. It shows the meeting point of three streets. The question is:
What are their names?

ALL readers sending the right answer shall be credited with a WIN.
No second tries accepted!

The closing date is Tuesday 20th July 2010 at 12 noon and the result will be published on this blog a day or two afterwards. Please send your answer by email to:
rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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QUIZ ANSWER # 65

Last Wednesday I posted a larger version of this photograph. On the right-hand side of the picture a street name has been blanked out. The question:
What is the missing name?

The answer: Thornley Avenue.

The winners:
Geoff Hughes (first win for Geoff)
Wayne Chadwick (3rd win)
Jane Evans in Scotland (2nd win)
Sue Handley (6th win)
Dorothy Jones (3rd win)
Richard & Ceri Swinney (3rd win)
Jane Shuttle (9th win). Jane has now drawn level with The Legendary Lloyd and Kerry and is looking dangerous; they are only
2 wins behind the leader, The Great Gareth.

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BLIGHTERS

Today I took a stroll up Abbey Street to see whether the eyesore on the corner of Aquarium Street has been demolished as promised months ago by Denbighshire council. Of course it hasn’t, as the photograph above shows.

Note the new wheelie bins fixed in the street, making the place look uglier. This idea began in nearby John Street in November last year; John Street and Abbey Street are parallel turnings off the seafront.

Chances are that very few people would have been given the opportunity to object to the bins in advance, and the department dealing with refuse collection is arrogant enough not to have taken any notice anway.

Some say that the department is run by a tyrannical expatriate Geordie. If that is the case, I think he ought to be repatriated at the earliest opportunity. County councillors seem too frightened to stand up against him.

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LOWTHER COLLEGE

There has been a previous post about Clarendon School at Kinmel Hall, St George. Clarendon was a private school for girls, and so was Lowther College not a million miles away at Bodelwyddan Castle.

Lowther College (as shown on the old postcard above) started in 1896 in Lytham St Anne’s, Lancs, and moved to Bodelwyddan Castle in 1920. Eventually the operators of the school bought the building.

Lowther College was one of the first schools to have a swimming pool, and it had a private golf course too. Boys were admitted from the late-1970s onwards but the school closed down in 1982 due to financial difficulties.

The colour photo was taken by Adrian Pingstone in June 2008, by which time the castle was owned by Warner Leisure Group.

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MAP OF RHYL, 1884

Ann Hayes has sent the following map and text from one of the North Wales guide books that she has been collecting for years.

Do a left-click on any piece of map to see a bigger version:


Do a left-click on any piece of text to see a bigger version:


Nice item! Thanks, Ann.

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HEALTH AND . . .

Our local hospitals are in disarray. In March 2008 came news that the newest of them, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan, would have to be rebuilt at a cost of £200-300 million because of asbestos. Then came a long wrangle over the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Rhyl.

At present the Alex seems to be dealing only with out-patients and has no wards open. The controlling body, the awkwardly-named Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board which is based near Bangor, seems deaf to public protests about this.

Last week’s Denbighshire Free Press front-paged the closure of H. M. Stanley Hospital, St Asaph (pictured above) which has a stroke unit and eye clinic. Closure will be in March 2011. Betsi strikes again!

Meanwhile, the new Conserberal government has promised a major shake-up of the NHS. We are told that this will not mean cutting the budget, but NHS workers and patients have been concerned for some time about ‘creeping privatisation’.

Readers who are Facebook members may care to note that there is a group named 'Keep Our NHS Public (KONP)'. Here's a link:
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622&s=20#!/group.php?gid=40921988278

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QUIZ QUESTION # 65

This photograph was taken in April 2010 in Rhyl by Yours Truly. On the right-hand side of the picture is a street sign on which the name has been blanked out. The question is:
What is the missing name?

ALL readers sending the right answer shall be credited with a WIN.
No second tries accepted!

The closing date is Tuesday 13th July 2010 at 12 noon and the result will be published on this blog a day or two afterwards. Please send your answer by email to:
rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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