Wednesday, 23 March 2016

WORLD TOUR OF ABERGELE # 1



The little town of Abergele is more or less half way between Rhyl and Colwyn Bay. It is many centuries older than Rhyl, and seems to have a slightly more Welsh flavour. The picture above of Market Street, Abergele, is a card postmarked 1915.

The following card of County School is postmarked 1911. The school opened in 1899, became Abergele Grammar in 1945 [and was absorbed the present comprehensive Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan in 1967]:


Below is a 1930s picture of the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, still a cornerstone of Abergele:

Catholic Church

This church also takes care of Christ The King, Gors Road, Towyn.

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I visited the Luxor Cinema, Abergele, in early 1960s with school pal Peter Hollis. We went to see an Army comedy 'On The Fiddle' aka 'Operation Snafu' starring Alfred Lynch and Sean Connery, and were underwhelmed.

Glynn

The Luxor changed name to the Glynn Cinema before closing down. Comparatively recently Pete became a resident of Llanfair Talhaiarn (Llanfair T.H.) high up to the south of Abergele. Part of it looked like this circa 1907 and probably still does:

Llanfair T.H.

This Llanfair T.H. postcard of Williams "The At Home" Tea Rooms is undated:


Click on any image to see a bigger version.

Here are a couple of other Abergele villages: Dolwen undated at the top, and then St. George circa World War 1:


The St. George picture is detailed and impressive enough to be the work of Rhyl photographer Rae Pickard (unsigned).

By way of contrast here is a 1950s/'60s shot of council houses and a butcher's shop at Llanddulas:


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MON 20th MAR 2017 UPDATE: Below are more old/vintage images of various Abergele villages.
Click on any image to see a bigger version.

Belgrano - The Bell Stores (undated)

Betws yn Rhos - card postmarked 1969

Llanddulas - card posted 1904
Rhyd-y-Foel as seen from Llanddulas
Rhyd-y-Foel card postmarked 1913
Rhyd-y-Foel (undated)
St. George - Kinmel Arms card posted 1907

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