Friday 31 August 2018

LIFE GOES ON: AUG 2018


Youngsters on a camping holiday in Rhyl, August 1927
Vintage pic of lady at ease in a 'continental' 
basket chair on Rhyl sands

RHYL IS AN AUGUST RESORT

This summer the good weather helped to bring more visitors to us. On a couple of occasions this month I have been in Rhyl and Prestatyn town centres on the same day and found more people in Rhyl. We must be doing something right.

The seafront looks agreeable, and the works under construction on the prom are generating interest and creating an atmosphere of progress. The shopping centre is less impressive, but even here new businesses are popping up all the time.

Commentators that hurl insults at the town routinely should get out more and do some comparing with other places of similar size with similar economies. Soon they would arrive at the conclusion that Rhyl has bigger pluses than minuses.

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During August 2018 the following posts were updated.


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PERSPECTIVES

Rhyl is a young town. Some towns and villages in North Wales go back a couple of thousand years, whereas Rhyl would not reach 200 years as a parish until 2044. Rhyl is an immature settlement (“a spotty teenager”) and the problems associated with it in recent years can be regarded as growing pains.

Rhyl is a purpose-built resort. When the land around here was drained and made fit to build on, the strips near the sea were advertised for sale as suitable for tourist development. This would have been a silly place to build a town for any other reason. Residents who complain about spending public money on tourism miss the point.

Rhyl’s future is more important than its past. The Victorian-Edwardian era of piers and pavilions has gone. That chapter in our local history may – in the long term – be considered as Rhyl’s ‘Jurassic Period’. Destinations for family holidays, short breaks and day trips are always needed and so Rhyl always has a reason to be here.

The scene in 2013 © Daily Post
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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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