OUT THERE

The above publication has been around for more than 40 years and at last has joined this blog’s Book List. It is 'Shipwrecks of North Wales' by Ivor Wynne Jones. Pictured is the first edition published in 1973 (there are more recent editions).

The main body of the book is split into geographical or nautical areas: Cardigan Bay, Caernarfon Bay South, Caernarfon Bay North, Holyhead, and eastwards in stages to Liverpool Bay which includes Rhyl.

Our famous sunken submarine the Resurgam gets a mention and there is an account of the hovercraft being rescued by Rhyl Lifeboat Anthony Robert Marshall. From a map in the book, this detail covers wreck locations nearest to Rhyl: 

[The following names of vessels are added here for indexing purposes: St Olaf, Dido C, Richard, Eagle, Four Brothers, Ocean Queen, Conways Pride, Polly, Mary Ann, Fawn, Oriental, Thomas, Mary, Jane Mary, Temperance, Lady Stuart, William Henry, Raven, William, Jane, Glynne, Friends, Caroline, Cherokee, Lord Blayney, John Welsh.] 

'Shipwrecks Of North Wales' is illustrated with many maps and photos, a bibliography, lists of ships and an index. It is a thorough piece of work and very readable.

Ivor Wynne Jones is author of several books including others about North Wales. Click anywhere on the following link to see them on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ivor+wynne+jones&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Aivor+wynne+jones

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TRANSPORT TOP-UP

Above are a couple of variations on a photo that appeared on this blog years ago courtesy of John Powell. These are from an other source and labelled "LNWR Rhyl Station, up platform looking west 1925".

LNWR or L&NWR (London & North West Railway) ceased operating in 1922 so either the name of the company or the date are wrong.

John says LMS (London, Midland & Scottish Railway) 1932, and I jolly well believe him!

Here is a snapshot that includes the William Roberts coal yard (where Morrisons is now). It is undated but feels pre-World War 2 and seems to have been taken from Vale Road Bridge. Very evocative:

Click on any picture to see a bigger version.

Below is an unusual snap taken in 1962 during the hovercraft trials. A British United Airways employee shields his face from the wind and spray:

The following two photos from 1976-77 show lost shops in background. William Roberts' shop on your left in the first, and Woolworth's store on your left in the second.

Finally a poignant, rainy-day image dated 1981 taken on the promenade more or less opposite Quay Street. That must be a fragment of Schooner Inn on your left. I wonder who the conductor is.

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6720. Additional image added here in June 2020:

A well-travelled old snapshot of a bus driver and conductor on the Rhyl circular service. The photo is undated; if you were to twist my arm I would say 1950s rather than earlier.

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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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TRANSPORTS OF DELIGHT

Now for some Rhyl transport pictures that have not appeared previously in this blog. Below are  a couple of 'toast racks' owned by Brookes Brothers' White Rose Motors. The buses usually had seats with their own doors each side, no centre aisle.

The upper pic may have been taken in East Parade, but the lower pic was taken near the Brookes' booking office & departure point in West Parade.

Many trips included a commemorative photo as part of the package. Good idea to capture the moment before passengers set out on a tour rather than when they came back with ladies dishevelled and gentlemen worse for wear.

Dates? Probably 1920s, and the black-and white at the top would be earlier than the sepia which has in the background Billie's Cafe - new one on me. Good place for a cafe with all those people hanging around waiting.

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From 1962 here are two more shots of the hovercoach known generally as the hovercraft. The black-and white was taken in Rhyl , by chalets on the eastern promenade. The colour pic must have been taken at the Wallasey end of the route.

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The Astra Cinema cropped up recently in a quiz question. Here it serves as a background for a couple of Crosville pix. The white bus to Grosvenor Avenue is 1976 and going the wrong way; the green bus is 1981.

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HOW MUCH?

This card is a reproduction of a poster. The card was published, probably in the 1980s, by Clwyd County Council. Last year while this blog was hibernating, there was a proposal to bring a hovercraft service back to Rhyl.

In 1962 during the hovercoach trials I was 16 years old and remember seeing crowds on the prom watching over the sea wall. I don’t remember actually seeing the craft myself – would have been in too much of a hurry to get round the arcades and down to the fun fair.

At 16, it is uncool to stand in a crowd gawping at something. Right?

The trials lasted only a few weeks, and the hovercoach ran only between Rhyl and the Wirral. Now, more than half a century later, given Rhyl's reduced status in the tourism industry, it seems doubtful that such a short route would be viable.

In Victorian times, steam ships operated between Liverpool, Mostyn, Rhyl and Llandudno; they were owned by private companies that survived on their own profits. These days transport companies expect huge subsidies from public bodies and would want a lot of money up front.

Not surprisingly, talks about the current proposal have stalled on the funding issue.

Meanwhile, there is a website that would tell you more about the 1962 trials than you ever wanted to know: http://www.wirralhistory.net/hovercraft.html

And there is a relevant British Pathé newsreel item on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8CBf-XpNd8

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JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

The DVD 'Rhyl - A Journey Through Time' comprises bits of old film presented seamlessly in more or less chronological order. Clips made locally by Rhyl’s pioneer film maker Arthur Cheetham are followed by rather better ones made by his successors the Shannon Brothers. The picture quality improves noticeably around 1920.

There are scenes of a Lifeboat Day c.1920 and aeroplane trips operating from the sands. (The film does not venture into residential Rhyl.) It bursts into colour for footage of the hovercoach/hovercraft trials in 1962 then reverts to black-and-white for a 15-minute segment by local film makers Barry Snelson and Michael Theaker.

The Snelson-Theaker part is titled ‘A Tale of Two Seasons’. It was made in 1960s and compares Rhyl in and out of season. By that time the town had become just a day tripper destination. The DVD rounds off with a short epilogue bringing the story up to date-ish; it was published in 1994.

Philip Lloyd and Harry Thomas played a part in the production, and these names are guarantees of accuracy. Any mistakes would not be their fault. In the commentary Wellington Road is referred to as Wellington Street, and Crescent Road becomes Crescent Street, but these are matters of no consequence.

There is one glaring error. We are told that Marine Lake Fun Fair closed in 1969 “because of a tragic accident in which a holidaymaker was killed on the Water Chute.” In fact it closed because the county council would not renew the lease held by the fun fair’s operators Rhyl Amusements Ltd, and the wretched chute had disappeared decades before.

There is enough on the DVD to interest most readers of this blog, although be warned that the picture quality overall is less than wonderful and the colour balance is all to hell. The playing time is 58 minutes and the price may be on the high side.

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ANTHONY ROBERT MARSHALL

Anthony Robert Marshall was the name of the Rhyl lifeboat that served from 1949 to 1968. This was the lifeboat that in 1962 rescued the Vickers Armstrong VA-3-001 hovercoach or hovercraft (VA-3 for short) which blew off its moorings in a gale.

People on shore helped to secure the VA-3 to the promenade railings. Everyone concerned received official thanks for the operation, especially the coxswain Harold Campini who received Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s medal for gallantry.

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BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD #2

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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Pictured above is the Vickers Armstrong VA-3-001 the world’s first hovercoach which arrived in Rhyl in July 1962, just a few days after the Beatles first played in the town. The hovercoach was based here for trials between July and September and had great novelty appeal; the hovering was due to downward-pointing fans which held the craft aloft over land and sea.

The hovercoach - usually referred to as the hovercraft - proved capable of ferrying passengers and mail from Rhyl to Wallasey on the Wirral peninsula in 32 minutes, but fate decreed that 40 of the scheduled operating days would be too windy, and on one occasion it blew off its moorings and had to be rescued by Rhyl Lifeboat.

A few years later, the luckless VA-3-001 was reported to be lying at the bottom of the sea near Southampton having been badly damaged by optimists trying to find out whether it could withstand the impact of exploding mines.

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TUE 14th FEB 2017 UPDATE: This card from 1962 shows that Rhyl took full advantage of publicity surrounding the hovercraft during the short time it was here.

Recently on sale on Internet was the hovercraft schedule/timetable.
Click on it to see a bigger version.

Note the use of the term The Plastirion Slipway.

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SUN 4th NOV 2018 UPDATE: Another pic of the hovercraft. Note the use of the precise place name Leasowe (this is near Moreton which is near Wallasey). Photo was taken at the Leasowe end.

This is a postcard No.4 of 4 in the series Yesterday's Wirral Coast, published by Ian Boumphrey. Here is a link to Ian's website:
http://boumph.wixsite.com/yesterdayswirral/

The following image looks to have been taken "over there".

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