RHYL 1969: A FAMILY ON HOLIDAY

On my YouTube channel RhylTime you would find some home movies taken mainly in the 1960s in Rhyl. This week I added another video of this kind; it came my way as a reel of cine film in a box marked ‘Rhyl 1969’.

It is fairly typical family holiday footage (family unknown) comprising a series of short sequences shot in Rhyl and places nearby. The emphasis is on flowers and birds. Pity our seagulls, so loved at that time, are now despised by the eat-in-the-street generation.

In the video, our Floral Hall is in evidence and so are a lion, tiger and other zoo animals in cages. Biggest surprise is a scene of elephants bathing in the sea near Rhyl Pavilion whose resident circus had gone long before 1969.

See what you make of it all, and remember – only YouTube videos marked RhylTime are mine!

Please click on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4PCOcOKW0Y

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FLORAL HALL TOP-UP

Duplicate pictures are becoming harder to spot but I believe these three haven't appeared before in this blog.

 Click on any picture to see a bigger version.

The little boy's sombrero takes me back. I used to have one. No, honestly.

To see all posts relating to the Floral Hall please click here:
http://rhyl-life.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/FLORAL%20HALL

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SEAFRONT EAST

The eastern side of the seafront, far from noisy attractions in the west, has a relaxing atmosphere preferred perhaps by older residents and visitors.

Below: Sandhills that used to be at the east end of the beach. Eventually these were removed by Flintshire council. Some observers felt sad to see this natural part of the landscape disappear.

The following snapshot of an unknown family is dated 1929 and has East Parade in the background. Love the cloche hats - I do wish they would come back into fashion!

Click on any picture to see a bigger version.

Spaces on eastern prom for exercise on bowling greens and tennis courts shown below, and there was swimming at The Baths (see under the label SWIMMING on your left near top of this page).

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This rare pre-WW2 item shows the Sportsland amusement arcade in East Parade, near to High Street. The picture came from Peter Trehearn; the arcade was run by his maternal grandfather (his mum's dad) Bernard Bestwick who also had an arcade in Barmouth.

Mr. Bestwick's other business in Rhyl included the Joyland amusement arcade in Queen Street, and silver plating factories in Bedford Street and off Vale Road. Here is a photo of him from Peter's collection:

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The postcard below shows the prom east of the pier just as I remember it as a kid in early 1950s. On your left are chalets that were for hire if you preferred a little more privacy by the seaside - and could afford it.

Below from Rhyl History Club is an image showing the Floral Hall being built at the end of the 1950s, and from my own collection a later image of the gardens outside what was - by then - the Royal Floral Hall.

These postcards of the Rock Gardens and hotels in East Parade including the Westminster have a 1960s/70s period charm:

You know I would end with a donkeys picture, didn't you?

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These references are added here for indexing purposes: Marine Drive, super speedway.

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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

Don't forget my YouTube channel featuring Rhyl videos and slideshows. The channel is named RhylTime. Click here to see RhylTime's Top Ten:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BKgZiQNRSaVpnyTl8PgEpPusmd3dl_z

Only YouTube items labelled RhylTime are mine.

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THE WAY IT WAS

A reader has kindly provided the following set of pictures. This first one should gladden the hearts of silver surfers: Rhyl Pavilion on your left, Floral Hall on right:

The picture captures the Floral Hall not long after it was built and before June 1960 when it was renamed Royal Floral Hall, so the pic would be circa 1959. 

Click on any image to see a bigger version. 

In the next one we can see the familiar pinkish roof of the Sports Cafe aka Sports Garden Cafe, so I have thrown in an old advert for the place:

Ah yes, proprietor C. Tinker, Clwyd Cream Ices - very evocative! 

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In the next one we can see the red roof of the cafe that separated roller skating opposite Water Street from cycling opposite the Queens. On roof the word is spelt the French way, Café:

Ah, the lavatories bottom right with the red phone boxes outside! 

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I like particularly the next one. There are not many pictures in circulation showing passengers waiting to board a pleasure boat like this:

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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

See my Rhyl videos on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RhylTime

Only the videos marked RhylTime are mine!

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FLORAL HALL ADVERT 1970s

This advert for Royal Floral Hall, Rhyl, is from early 1970s when the town knew it was a holiday resort and was proud of itself. The Floral Hall was a principal attraction located on the stretch of promenade that would be - in today's terms - between the Seaquarium and Events Arena. 

Click on any image to see a bigger version.

In the Floral Hall were hundreds of varieties of flowers, plants, shrubs and cacti - and staff to give you advice on growing your own. There were tropical birds to say hello to, and a Continental Zoo which I think had a separate entrance at the rear. Readers will know, readers will tell me.

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FRI 7th AUG 2015 UPDATE: Just arrived here at Jones Towers is this undated image of the Royal Floral Hall interior:

And some comments from Dilys Bagnall who writes: 
“When the Floral Hall first opened it was managed by the Henleys who also ran the roller skating rink. My late husband Peter's pals Mike Dean and Stan Williams worked there. I recall George the parrot - he was very naughty and swore at little old ladies.
"I remember going to a flower show at the Floral Hall and touching one of Bill Steed’s chrysanthemums and all the petals fell off!!!! I didn’t hang around. I still have a key ring bought there, which has a viewer with pictures of my two children. Happy, happy days.”

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WED 21st MAR 2018 UPDATE: From the 1960s - an unused postcard showing birds outside the premises:

The seller comments: “There always used to be two birds as you entered the Royal Floral Hall, outside if it was warm enough, just inside the entrance doors otherwise. On this postcard the birds are outside; you can see the 2nd bird in the background. Visitors were able to go up close.”

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Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

See my Rhyl videos on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RhylTime

Only the videos marked RhylTime are mine!

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PAIRING UP

This post pulls together pairs of pictures that have not appeared here before. Firstly, the statue that now stands with its back to the sea in the Garden of Remembrance, is shown below in its two previous positions.

The colour card shows the statue where it was first erected, near the old Pavilion and facing the sea. This is postmarked 1918.

The other card shows the statue in its second home, just west of the pier and Amphitheatre, close to the top of High Street and again facing the sea. It is postmarked 1932.

Click on any image to see a bigger version.

Above: Botanical Gardens, Grange Road, Rhyl. The sepia card showing the 'entrance' is undated. The colour card is postmarked 1966.

Below: Gardens outside the Royal Floral Hall on eastern promenade. The black-and-white card is postmarked 1962. The colour card is undated:

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The following shots were taken in 2013 by Yours Truly.

Firstly, P.A. (Percy) Thomas & Sons, 18 Wellington Road, not far from High Street. This shop is for sale but still open for business:

Marks & Spencer at 63 High Street, Rhyl, closed down in March 2013.
The premises are now occupied by Poundland.

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SAT 18th JUL 2015 UPDATE: While we are thinking in pairs, how about these two images from Rhyl History Club showing men at work?

The first is a 1966 shot of demolition in High Street between Boots chemist and Marks & Spencer. Second is a 1955 shot of the Woolworth building being erected on corner of High Street and East Parade (now B&M): 

We think of the Woolworth/B&M building as being in High Street but its address is actually 1-7 East Parade.

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MORE FLORAL

Above are unused postcards of Royal Floral Hall, Rhyl. These particular images have not appeared on this blog before, and they speak for themselves.

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TUE 18th JUL 2017 UPDATE: Another image new to this blog.

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FRI 15th JUN 2018 UPDATE: The exterior of the Floral Hall is used to good effect on the following poster. You would be forgiven for thinking that the poster might be from the 1960s or '70s, but there is a chance it may not be authentic.

Bottom right is a Cambrian Railways logo and therein lies an anomaly. In 1923, a long time before the days of the Floral Hall, Cambrian Railways had wound up and become part of the Great Western Railway.

Transport fans please comment.

Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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FURTHER TO

Further to the recent post about Victoria Inn, Vale Road (Greenfield Place) c.1890, the photograph above (TOP) was sent by George Owen. It shows the same building bearing the name Victoria Hotel circa 1950. The photo is an item from Rhyl History Club Community Archive. George says, “In my misspent youth I celebrated my 21st birthday at The Vic. In the houses next door for some years was Rhyl Tyre and Battery.”

Further to posts about Rhyl Football Club, the photo of the club’s Belle Vue ground in Grange Road, was sent by Dave Williams. It is undated but must be from comparatively recent times. Close examination reveals that the red advert far right is for the highly-regarded Roe’s Plaice, fish and chips, 166 Rhuddlan Road, Rhyl.

Previous posts about Royal Floral Hall on the promenade brought correspondence from readers who remember fondly this particular attraction and the slogan ‘Rhyl – the floral resort’. Here is a postcard showing gardens outside Floral Hall on the side facing East Parade. The card is postmarked 1979.

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These references are added here for indexing purposes: Burton brewery, Ind Coope brewery.

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OVERTURES

In the photo at the top, Roy Turner the Chairman of Rhyl Urban District Council 1957-58, is making a speech opening the Floral Hall on the promenade. The lady in the rather fetching hat is Roy’s wife June; sitting next to her is Albert Edwards the Clerk to the Council, then Councillor F.S. Williams. Standing the other side of Roy is Tom Leigh the council’s publicity manger.

Roy and June were deeply involved with Rhyl & District Amateur Operatic Society (now Rhyl & District Musical Theatre Company). In the nearest picture, taken in 1964, June is doing a photoshoot inside the Floral Hall to promote the Society’s show ‘South Pacific’ which was staged at Easter that year in Rhyl Pavilion.

The show was produced by Freddie Collier and featured songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein such as ‘A Cockeyed Optimist’ and ‘Some Enchanted Evening’. June (soprano) played the lead Nellie Forbush and her partner in the scene above playing Emile de Becque is Clwyd Pierce (baritone) who was from a Rhyl family of bakers and caterers.

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WED 20th JAN 2010 UPDATE: Peter Trehearn has identified the man standing far right in the middle picture. He is none other than Rhyl council’s parks and gardens superintendant Mr. John McCartan who was mentioned in a previous post about the Floral Hall. Peter says of him, “He constructed the Garden of Remembrance and presumably created the Floral Hall. Rhyl gardens were at their peak under McCartan."

THU 25th FEB 2010 UPDATE: With regard to Tom Leigh above, his grandson Stephen Buckley has been in touch to say that Tom was Rhyl council’s publicity manager and entertainments manager based in the town hall. Also, Tom was a sports reporter for a couple of newspapers. I wonder what he did in his spare time. The family now operate a crane hire company in Glan Conwy; the company was established in 1964. Thank you, Stephen.

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WE GET REQUESTS # 2

Mrs. Maureen Davies (was Hughes) has asked for more pictures of the Floral Hall. Mrs. Davies was a frequent visitor there in the 1960s when she was growing up in Rhyl and later in Meliden near Prestatyn.

The Floral Hall was created by Flintshire County Council and opened by Roy Turner who was Chairman of Rhyl Urban District Council 1957-58. (Roy also had the melancholy duty of opening Queens Ballroom as a market). Roy’s dates in office put a question mark over the widely-held belief that the Floral Hall opened in 1959.

What is certain is that on Wednesday 8th June 1960 the Floral Hall was
reopened by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and re-named as Royal Floral Hall. At the time Rhyl council’s parks and gardens superintendant was Mr. John McCartan.

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FLARZE

Being a fan of the author, the late P.G. Wodehouse, I treasure the story of Lord Emsworth getting a visit to his stately home by a little Cockney girl. Lord Emsworth asks her if she would like to take something for her baby brother.

‘Could he ‘ave some flarze?’ says the little girl.

‘Certainly, certainly, certainly. By all means,’ says the kindly Lord, ‘What is flarze?’

The butler comes to his rescue: ‘I think the young lady means flowers, your Lordship.’

All this has nothing to do with the pictures. They show the council-owned Royal Floral Hall and its gardens. The Floral Hall opened in 1959 on the eastern promenade (opposite Bath Street) and helped to justify the advertising slogan 'Rhyl – the Floral Resort’.

Eventually the building passed into private hands for a while as Butterfly Jungle. It was demolished in the early 1990s.

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[This reference is added here for indexing purposes: bird aviary.]

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6720. Additional image added here in June 2020:

Part of the Floral Hall interior. This is a card postmarked 1969.

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PALMS UP

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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The new look of our High Street area has inspired some comments, especially about palm trees. “Oh well, it’s something new,” I heard one lady shopper say when looking at the one shown above (TOP). Well not really, Madam. Rhyl had palm trees in other parts of town recently and long ago.

The other picture shows part of the eastern promenade in 1970s, and no doubt the history of palm trees in Rhyl goes back further than that. The large glass building, incidentally, is the Royal Floral Hall.

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