JEWISH CONNECTIONS

Bill Ellis’ collection of material relating to Billie Manders & Quaintesques continues to grow. This was a concert party that entertained at the Pier Amphitheatre, Rhyl, in summer seasons from 1921 to 1963.

Among Bill’s memorabilia is a book presented to Mr. Manders in 1942 by The Rhyl Hebrew Congregation in appreciation of letting them use the Amphitheatre for Yom Kippur Services. Here is the title of the book and the presentation page:

 

The President is H. Huglin; the Honorary Secretary is J.H. Lysman.

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From my own resources comes the following blurry photo taken in 1951 showing a meeting room of the Congregation, location unknown. The pic is followed by a detail showing some names:

Click on an image to see a clearer version.

The names are Solomon Rifkin, Gabriel Alis, Marie Alis, M. Cohen, Gedaliah Fox, Aaron Adolph, Morris Sugarman, Ada Sugarman, Lewis Lipman, Hannah Leah Lipman, William Jachcel, Regine Jachcel.

Mr. Manders' wife had the maiden name Fox - so it could be that they were Jewish - a thought that had never occurred previously to me or Bill Ellis.

Apart from references to J.H. Lipman The Wire King and Sir Anthony Meyer MP there has been no mention of Rhyl's Jewish connections. Further information would be welcome.

Info about other ethnic groups in Rhyl would be welcome too.

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

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MON 13th FEB 2018 UPDATE: The room was on the first floor above what was then Lloyd's Bank, next door to the left of the old Carmel Welsh Chapel (now pawnbrokers).

This information comes from ex-Rhylite Geoffrey Fox, grandson of Gedaliah Fox and son of Reuben Fox who ran a fancy goods shop in the ornate building on the corner of Water Street and Crescent Road. The family was not related to Mrs. Manders.

Of the black-and-white photo Geoffrey says, "I know that room very well. My Dad and Uncle Harry Fox used to look after the synagogue. On that board the lettering was gold, the curtains were velvet red and the seats were light wood grain with a rich colour carpet. The window was also highly decorated.

"We had the room next door too - for functions. The Tora scrolls (Bible) were kept behind the curtains on the left and the two of them were bought by my family and dedicated to the memory of my grand parents and uncle. I know all the other families on the board. "

Geoffrey mentions the Rifkin / Rivken family had a scrap metal business. The Sugarmans, originally from Dublin, had the Army & Navy Stores in Queen Street. Family member Sara Sugarman is an actress and film maker, see Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Sugarman

Geoffrey concludes, "I grew up in Rhyl got married and moved to Israel worked as an Aeronautical Engineer for IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries). Worked in a number of places in Europe and US on aircraft projects and now live in San Diego."

Thanks for writing, Geoff.
Best wishes from Sunny Rhyl to Sunny California!

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EARLY ENTERTAINERS

Recent mention of Adeler & Sutton's Pierrots on this blog brought some correspondence about early entertainers in Rhyl. Above is Charley or Charlie Harvey who was a prominent member of the Adeler troupe - no pun intended.

The photo was taken circa 1908 in Rhyl and shows Mr. Harvey wearing standard pierrot costume. Similar attire was still in use in 1940s as shown in this postcard of Billie Manders' Quaintesques:

Concert parties such as the two mentioned were principally theatrical. In that sense they differed from open air entertainers on our minstrel pitch even though the mix of comedy and music was somewhat similar.

The minstrel pitch on Rhyl sands is shown in the foreground here . . .

. . . and on your left in this shot dated 1905 taken from Queen's Palace:

The minstrel pitch was established in 1890s by the council to get minstrels (strolling players) off the streets and get some rental money out of them.

First to take up the pitch were the black-faced Tom Wood & his Merry Men, then came E.H. Williams' Merrie Men (from 1899) and finally Gilbert Rogers' Jovial Jesters (from 1907 until 1920s):

Tom Wood & his Merry Men

Before leaving the topic of early entertainers here are two rare images from the Gilbert Rogers era, both dating from around 1909 and showing the newer, smaller edition of the pitch:

The pic of Tom Wood & his Merrie Men is from Bill Ellis' Entertainment in Rhyl and North Wales. The remainder are from Yours Truly.

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

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THE BAY

Bae Colwyn aka Colwyn Bay is approximately 11 miles oh all right 17 kilometres to the west of Rhyl and there has been a lot of cross-fertilization of residents and visitors.

If the planned merger of counties Conwy and Denbighshire goes ahead the resorts of Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay & Llandudno would be in the same local authority area - a sensible move.

History of Colwyn Bay is well covered elsewhere, notably by authors Graham Roberts and Cindy Lowe. Here are some of my favourite pix chosen at random:

Above: Old Colwyn, Fairy Glen card posted 1907 and Old Village card posted 1918.

Click on any picture to see a bigger version.

Below: the entrance to Colwyn Bay pier, followed by the entertainment venue Catlin's Arcadia:

You would find more about promoter Will Catlin of Arcadia in Bill Ellis' book 'Entertainment In Rhyl And North Wales'. Will's real surname was Fox. His daughter Gladys Fox married Billie Manders whose Quaintesques played season after season at Rhyl's Amphitheatre.

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Below: Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, on a card postmarked 1905, and part of Eirias Park on card posted in 1930s:

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Here are shots of The Bay looking eastwards. First is a view from Bryn Euryn on a card postmarked 1917; the more recent photo is (1960s?):

According to reliable sources there is still plenty going on in Colwyn Bay.

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

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ROY LANCE # 1: ROY TAKES THE STAGE

Roy Lance drew cartoons for Rhyl Leader newspaper, such as these  of promenade entertainers. The item below featuring Billie Manders of Pier Amphitheatre appeared on 27th March 1948, and the one featuring Will Parkin of Coliseum Theatre on 19th July 1948.

Click on a cartoon to see a bigger version.

Bill Ellis says, “Roy Lance lived in Kinmel Bay. His surname was Roylance. He provided illustrations for Rhyl Liberty Players and appeared on stage in variety shows at Pier Amphitheatre and Coliseum drawing cartoons. I have heard that Roy was colourblind."

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The cartoons in this post and the next are from files of the late Glyn Rees who may well have seen them first time round and would have enjoyed them to the full!

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THU 4th AUG 2016 UPDATE: An email has been received from Dawn Brown saying, “Roy Lance was my grandfather, he died 10 years ago. Lovely to see some of his cartoons. My mum has loads more. His name was actually Gordon Roylance and you are right he split his surname for his stage name, hated the name Gordon. He was indeed colourblind, he had all his chalks and paints in marked spaces.”

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PIX FROM GEORGE # 1

These are contributions sent by George Owen.

At the top is a drawing made with a great deal of artistic licence and, if that’s Marine Lake top right, the picture is not as old as it looks. Marine Lake opened in 1895, and so the drawing would be c.1900.

The second drawing is captioned ‘Rhyl Pier and buildings pre-1880’ and is interesting if only because we never got the buildings. The illustration may be one of several speculative plans commissioned by the private company that owned the pier, in advance of deciding to construct the pier’s Grand Pavilion (opened 1891).

The third picture shows the scene after the Grand Pavilion was destroyed by fire in 1901. A little wooden theatre was erected – the Pier Amphitheatre – which was rebuilt in brick in the 1920s and occupied by Billie Manders’ Quaintesques season after season. On that site now is the Seaquarium.

The colour photo, presumably 1950s, shows the view down Wellington Road from Foryd Bridge.

Finally, we have a mystery picture of which George says: “The portrait of a lady has intrigued me for years. It was among my father’s photos but I don’t know who she is or whether she is a relation. Photographer was J. Hughes, described on back of the portrait as a landscape photographer. He may have been local.”

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THE CARNIVAL # 2

‘Sunny Rhyl’s June Carnival 1929’ had exhibitions, a fancy dress ball, fireworks display, special concert and plays, sports events including speedboat racing, and it ended with a huge procession. This photo is one of 14 images of the carnival in the book ‘The Spirit Of Rhyl’ by Bill Ellis (published 2004). Riding in the carriage are the Carnival King and Queen. The King was Bertram Jones the proprietor/editor of ‘Rhyl Leader’ newspaper and the Queen was female impersonator Billie Manders.

Hmmmm.

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THE TWENTIES

COPYRIGHT IN THIS CARD BELONGS TO IRIS PUBLISHING LTD.
The card is part of a collectors’ series marked Yesterday’s Britain 1890s - 1950s and the picture of a little girl with dinghy is titled ‘Rhyl, 1923’. It was taken at the Promenade paddling pool aka Children's model yacht pond.

In 1920s Rhyl’s pier was standing but had been declared unsafe and was closed to the public throughout the decade. Marine Lake Fun Fair was in full swing. Rhyl Pavilion was in a commanding position on the promenade. Visitor numbers were high; the town was buzzing.

In 1920 our first purpose-built cinema, Cinema Royal, opened at the top of High Street on what I still call the Woolworths corner. In the following year the Coliseum Theatre (open-air at first) opened on the prom, and also Billie Manders’ Quaintesques began to play summer seasons at the Pier Amphitheatre.

In 1923 the present coast road opened from Rhyl to Prestatyn. Later in the decade, Queens Theatre and Ballroom opened in West Parade, and the 1920s ended spectacularly with Sunny Rhyl’s June Carnival 1929 – an extraordinary 3-day event about which I will say more later this week . . .

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THU 25th FEB 2016 UPDATE: On the subject of 1920s the following pic seems to capture the fun. It is a card postmarked 1924 showing bathers near the Pavilion. I'm glad I found a place to put it:

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THE QUAINTESQUES

In 1921 Mr. Billie Manders, a female impersonator, and his concert party of entertainers named The Quaintesques played the first of many summer seasons in the Pier Amphitheatre which was at the shore end of the pier, roughly where the Seaquarium is now.

The pictures above were taken in 1930 and are from Rhyl History Club Community Archive. In the group picture Mr. Manders is the one standing with his hands on shoulders of the chap in front. Then it was an all-male company; eventually it became a mixed company.

The advert is from the official tourist guide book of 1948. Mr. Manders died in 1950 when he was in his early fifties. The show carried on under the watchful eye of his widow Gladys with the help of producer/director/ singer/dancer Al Dixon. The Quaintesques continued until 1962 and then withdrew having played 42 consecutive seasons.

A member of the company in its final few years was female impersonator- comedian-singer Johnny Dallas. He went on to be a favourite at the Amphitheatre after it had been renamed the Gaiety, and at the Queens Showbar in West Parade. His death was reported this month.

6720. Additional image added here in June 2020:

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There is a 30-page chapter on Billie Manders & the Quaintesques and a portrait of Johnny Dallas in the book 'Entertainment In Rhyl And North Wales' by Bill Ellis, published 1997. Recommended.

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THE TOP HAT

Here are a couple of postcards with an early 1960s flavour.

At that time Sunny Rhyl was beginning to fall. The Queens Ballroom and Queens Theatre had gone. In 1962 one of the High Street cinemas, the Regal, closed. In the same year the Billie Manders Quaintesques ended their record-breaking run of 42 consecutive summer seasons at the Pier Amphitheatre (later renamed Gaiety Theatre).

Business was ebbing away and the summer season had started to shrink. Fewer people were coming and they were staying a shorter time. In the mid 1960s when entrepreneurs such as Freddie Laker of Laker Airways started running cheap flights to the continent that, as they say, put the top hat on it.

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