THIS BLOG IS CLOSED

Rhyl Life IS CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR READING & PARTICIPATING.
IT SHOULD REMAIN ACCESSIBLE ON INTERNET FOR A FEW YEARS, AND THEREAFTER VIA NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES:
 https://www.library.wales/

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At the time of closure, it is not clear what is happening with regard to the Government’s plan to strip us of our European citizenship.

In case there is a second referendum, let me address people in Wales:

Don’t get fooled again. The UK’s membership of European Union is good for Wales. About sixty per cent of exports from Wales go to continental countries; in some industries the percentage is higher.
As a comparatively poor part of Europe, Wales has benefited over and over again from EU investments in a range of areas from sea defence works to cultural projects.

Before MPs at Westminster had the EU as a higher authority looking over their shoulders, we in Wales were treated with a lot less consideration and respect – I am old enough to remember that.

So don’t be so willing to pay heed to English newspapers and English voices telling you what’s best for England. You don’t live in England.

Be a proud Wales-based European and – if you get the chance – vote to Remain in the EU.

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

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QUIZ QUESTION # 195

In the late 1950s this entertainer topped the bill at a Sunday concert in Rhyl Pavilion.
The question: What is her name?

In the early 1970s the entertainer below topped the bill at a Sunday concert in Rhyl Pavilion.
The question: What is his name?

No need to send me an email - just check your answers against mine on Sunday 26th November 2017 after 12 noon.

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I note with glee that Scottish Government has overcome legal objections and is to impose a minimum price per unit of alcohol. Welsh Government is poised to follow suit.
The alcoholic drinks industry is pernicious; more action is needed against it. Imagine how much less our social services, NHS and policing would cost if alcohol consumption in general were cut back drastically.
The Chief Medical Officer for Wales and Chief Constable of North Wales Police are both on record as supporting the idea of a minimum price per unit of alcohol, so it's time for everybody – including the legions of local daily drinkers of the stuff – to realise that it has been dangerously cheap for too long.

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PLAID ON DISPLAY

As Labour enjoys popularity and the Conservatives descend into disarray yet again over Europe, Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales - holds its own very well as a pressure group within the Welsh Assembly. Its four MPs and MEP are hard at work too.

Last Friday at the party's annual conference, at Galeri in Caernarfon (pictured above), Plaid's leader Leanne Wood expressed support for Catalonian independence and condemned the violence by Spanish state police that shocked us all in television news reports.

Plaid’s position on Brexit is same as Labour’s. Both parties believe that leaving the European Union is a bad idea but they are going along with it anyway as long as leaving the EU (a political institution) does not mean having to leave the single market and customs union as well.

Hmmmm.

Plaid wishes to see the establishing of a Welsh Government fund to help businesses across any transition period, and an end to the scapegoating of migrants who came to UK lawfully and in good faith and have contributed a lot to strengthening the economy.

Leanne moved on to talk about the need to expand rail transport within Wales (including electrification of the North Wales Coast line) and about Education being the route out of poverty, and Community Action being an antidote to deprivation and budget cuts.

The speech touched on other issues but avoided controversies within the party such as arguments for and against legalising drugs, and for or against banning the sale of council & housing association properties.

Certain elements within Plaid would prefer to have a new leader before the next National Assembly for Wales election in 2021. Why they feel that way is a mystery; they are anonymous and therefore cannot be questioned about the matter.

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THU 30th NOV 2017 UPDATE: Photo from the latest edition of Plaid Cymru’s publication The Welsh Nation – a delegation from Plaid’s youth wing Plaid Ifanc showing solidarity with campaigners for independence in Catalonia (Catalunya).

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MON 1st OCT 2018 UPDATE: Plaid Cymru holds a leadership election every two years. Leanne Wood lost last month after a hat trick of wins, and the new leader is Adam Price.

Adam Price AM - Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Leanne Wood is often quoted as saying, "I will always be a European" (to which I would respond, "Me, too!").

You can read about Adam Price in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/28/new-plaid-cymru-leader-adam-price-leanne-wood-wales-independence

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QUIZ QUESTION # 192

The above appeared as a 2-page spread in Rhyl's tourist guide book 1959. The advert was out-of-date by then.

The question: How might you have known the advert was out of date?

Click on the image to see a bigger version.

No need to send me an email - just check your answers against mine on Sunday 1st October 2017 after 12 noon.

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Recently a row broke out between Welsh Assembly member Neil McEvoy and his Plaid Cymru colleagues over the question of whether tenants of social housing properties (council and housing association) should be allowed - under certain conditions - to buy their homes as is the case in England.

Mr. McEvoy believes that tenants should have that right, but Plaid is ganging up with the Labour Party to bring an end to the right to buy in Wales because it reduces the social housing stock.
[Reducing would be welcome in places such as Rhyl West where we have too many Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn Housing Association properties.]

Private landlords can pitch their properties down or up market according to demand, but General Purposes social housing remains only for the comparatively deprived. Therefore it keeps poorer communities from being anything other than poor.
[That suits the Labour Party because tenants of social housing, if they vote at all, are most likely to vote Labour.]

I have been the tenant of a Pennaf/Clwyd Alyn Housing Association flat for 16 years and would not wish to own it under any circumstances - wouldn't even want it as a gift - but I don’t believe there should be a law to prevent others from buying theirs.

Those of us in Wales who voted to have our own government did not expect that twenty years later we would have one ready to pass a law that left us with fewer legal rights than people who happen to live in England.
Welsh Assembly members need to tread carefully here.

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GENERAL ELECTION - THU 8th JUNE 2017

Rhyl Life says,
"Vote for Plaid Cymru - the party for everybody who lives in Wales."

Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru

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FRI 9th JUN 2017 UPDATE: Plaid went into this General Election with three MPs and came out with four. Now in Wales our team of 40 MPs is comprised of 4 Plaid, 8 Con and 28 Lab. No Green Party, Independents, Lib Dems or UKIP.

Here in Vale of Clwyd constituency Chris Ruane (Lab) took back the seat from James Davies (Con). James needed more than his 2 years in the job to establish himself as MP.

I am not best pleased to see the return of Mr. Ruin. Perhaps somebody will take him aside and explain that Rhyl is first and foremost a holiday resort. He seemed only vaguely aware of the fact last time he was MP.

As for the Westminster Parliament, the Conservatives emerged with only a slender majority and now no party has an overall majority. Brexit ought to be put on the back burner for the time being because nobody has the un-questionable authority to negotiate on behalf of UK.

The most pleasing aspect of the election results is that the nasty campaign by the hate newspapers (Mail, Express, Sun) against Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has backfired.

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ECCLESIASTICS

The two pictures above of the Parish Church of St. Thomas, Rhyl (organ and exterior) are from the 1900-1910 period, and the interior below is on a card postmarked 1916:

Click on any image to see a bigger version.

The above portrait of the ladies of Church Army Crusaders Group No.2 is undated and is the work of photographer J.A. Harding of Rhyl.
Below: gentlemen of Church Army Pilgrimage Salisbury To Rhyl 1928 posing outside a church. I wonder what church.

Church Army should not be confused with Salvation Army. They are not the same. See Wikipedia:
Church Army -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Army
Salvation Army -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Salvation_Army

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The original Catholic Church in Wellington Road, Rhyl, was known as St. Mary's but actually named Our Lady Of The Assumption (same applies to the present one).
The original's interior was far more elaborate and decorative as shown on this card postmarked 1916:

Here are two rare snapshots of the old church being demolished after the present one had been built behind it. The new church opened in 1975.

The following segment has been moved to here from an older post:

Rev. Father Patrick Collins (later Canon) was based at St. Mary's from early 1950s to early '70s. He was a well known figure on a bicycle visiting parishioners who were in hospital or housebound.
In 1971 he was presented with a motor scooter. Standing left to right in the image below are Mayor of Rhyl Dan Roberts, Les Slee (from whose book ‘The Catholic Church In Rhyl 1854-2005’ the photo was uplifted) and Councillor Herbert Weston.

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TUE 16th MAY 2017 UPDATE: Regarding the photo of Church Army Pilgrimage Salisbury To Rhyl 1928. The Great Gareth and I have been puzzling over the church in background; it may not be a Rhyl church.
The photo might have been taken in Salisbury before starting out.

Same consideration applies to image below of Church Army Pilgrimage Nottingham to Rhyl. This is a card postmarked 1937.

[Taking pictures of pilgrims before they set out for Rhyl seems a good idea - in case they don't return.]

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COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS 2017

Plaid Cymru retained overall control of Gwynedd County Council – that means Plaid has more councillors there than other parties put together. Plaid won a total of 202 county council seats in Wales as a whole (33 more than last time).

Here in Denbighshire the biggest party had been Labour but with no overall control. NOW the biggest party are the Conservatives with no overall control.

County residents are unlikely to notice much difference because unelected officers rule the roost anyway.

In Rhyl all our county and town councillors had been Labour but their stranglehold has been loosened slightly. NOW 2 of Rhyl’s 11 county councillors are not Labour and 5 of Rhyl’s 22 town councillors are not Labour.

Town residents are not likely to notice much difference because town council has no powers worth mentioning.

I note with satisfaction that the election left Wales without any UKIP councillors. UKIP is the nastiest, most racist and most untruthful party. We are better off without them in our council chambers.

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

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LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2017

Rhyl Life will not be covering in depth the council elections that take place soon, but here are a few tips:

1. This time round, voting Conservative would not be a good idea. It might encourage Tory Brextremists in Westminster who would drag us out of the EU at any cost regardless of damage to Wales.

2. On a local level, beware of Rhyl Labour Party's poor record in keeping the town up to standard and their tendency to claim credit for big schemes that are little or nothing to do with them.

3. Consider voting for Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales - even if you have never done so before. Plaid is the ONLY political party based entirely in Wales and it works on behalf of everybody who lives here.

4. In the absence of Plaid see if you can find a Lib Dem or Independent candidate worthy of your support.

POLLING DAY IS THURSDAY 4th MAY 2017

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GO FOR IT, LASS!

Photo of Nicola Sturgeon © Reuters

Watching TV coverage of Scottish National Party's Spring Conference 2017, I was moved by the passion and positivism of speeches by Nicola Sturgeon (leader) and others.

Good luck to the Scottish National Party in their bid to gain a second referendum on independence; they should keep at it until they get the result they want.
Plaid Cymru's leader Leanne Wood has a vision of Britain becoming four independent countries in loose alliance instead of the present UK in which England can and does force its will on the rest of us.

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SUN 7th OCT 2018 UPDATE: This month, tens of thousands of people marched in Edinburgh in support of Scottish independence. There is much enthusiasm for the idea – especially if the United Kingdom goes ahead and leaves the European Union.

Scottish independence rally, October 2018 © BT.com

If I had three wishes, the first would be for a united Ireland. It seems crazy to have the island of Ireland divided into two countries by an imaginary border.

My second wish would be for an independent Scotland with its own seat in the EU, and my third wish would be for Wales to break its allegiance to England and form an alliance with Scotland.

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THE NAME OF THE GAME

If scaffolding is your delight, take a trip to Queen Street, Rhyl, where the northeast side between The George Hotel and the former Savoy building is being renovated. The project is being carried out by Denbighshire council with funding supplied by Welsh Government (WG had owned most of the properties for years and done nothing useful with them).

The proposed new use is mainly retail and partly residential.

Denbighshire is in bed with Neptune Developments who are partners in the schemes involving our former Sun Centre and forthcoming Waterpark. In the council’s own words:

“Denbighshire has recently signed Heads of Terms with Neptune Developments for a comprehensive redevelopment of the Rhyl Waterfront area for which the Queens Market site (including the Queen Street premises) is included within the “extended project area”. The Council is being actively encouraged to acquire freehold properties within this extended project area to both control and influence regeneration.”

So the authorities have their beady eye on the Queen Street to High Street block, north of Sussex Street. Pity they did not act soon enough to acquire Queens Market for demolition and redevelopment as a department store. We might have been able to offer Marks and Sparks new accommodation instead of having to let them go to Prestatyn.

Oh well, never mind. Regeneration is the name of the game, not Regret. The scheme in progress is good news for Queen Street and a step forward for the town centre.

Photo taken today by Yours Truly.
Colin Jones / email: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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FLASHBACK #22

Above is a typical Victorian cabinet card produced in this case by the photographer J. Brown of 3 Kinmel Street, Rhyl.

The card is signed by the subject, J. Rhydwen Jones. The name is remembered as part of Rhydwen Jones and Davies, a furniture shop in Queen Street – and we have Rhydwen Drive and Rhydwen Close in Rhyl.

J. Rhydwen Jones was one of the Rhyl Improvement Commissioners (forerunners of Rhyl Urban District Council) and was Chairman of the Commissioners for the two year period ending May 5th 1879.

He had been the contractor for the present Rhyl Town Hall which opened in 1876. [The word ‘contractor’ may not have meant exactly the same in that context as it does now.]

If he were around today I would ask J.R.J. why the front tower is leaning.

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SAT 26th MAY 2018 UPDATE: On the subject of early photography in Rhyl, J.W. Jones' book 'Rhyl And Roundabout' refers to an 1866 trade directory which lists only one photographer.
J.W. says, "The photographer was Signor L. Volpé of Shipley Street (now part of Kinmel Street). I have never come across any of his work; there must be some his Cartes-de-Visites still around somewhere."

What an interesting quote! The photographer's name looks like a mix of French and Italian and may be a Eurofake. Shipley Street we think of as an old name for part of Brighton Road and not Kinmel Street. Any road up, a Volpé card has turned up here at Jones Towers:

Click on the image to see fine details.
I would like to know more about this photographer. If a genuine foreigner, he would have stood out a mile in Rhyl of the 1860s. The logo below is on back of the card and gives his first name as Louis and family name as Volpe without accent over the é.

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THU 18th OCT 2018 UPDATE: The railway photo below carries no information about date or place. It gives the signor's name as (not Louis but) Luigi Volpé'.

The following is a detail from above:

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6720. Additional image added in July 2020:

Ladies and children with toys, spades & buckets by Luigi Volpé. I don't know why 2 of the 4 children's faces blurred.

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

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WATERPARK

Yesterday, Denbighshire councillors agreed to a new attraction for Rhyl described as a Waterpark, This is to be sited near the Skytower as shown in the designs above (which are not precise in every detail).

The Waterpark is a kind of replacement for the Sun Centre. Jamie Glover, one of Denbighshire's unelected officers, says the Sun Centre ". . . didn't really provide a significant economic return to the town given it was far removed from the town centre."

Hmmmm. That's not what shopkeepers were telling me when it closed. Prestatyn's Nova Centre is being hailed as a success after a £4-and-a-half million makeover – not exactly in Prestatyn town centre, is it?

Anyway the fun and games at Rhyl's new Waterpark should pull in the crowds at least while the attraction remains a novelty. I welcome it with open arms; Rhyl needs to be refreshed by something new.

The Sun Centre cost just over £4 million in 1991 (not much more than £6 million in today's money). The new water park is estimated at £15 million. I wonder how Denbighshire is going to pay for it.

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FRI 3rd MAR 2017 UPDATE: The official name of the project is Rhyl Waterpark and Leisure Attraction (RWLA) aka Aquatic Centre. For our purposes Waterpark will do.
As for the cost, Rhyl Town Council has put £2 million in the kitty, and there will be £800k from the Tourism Investment Support Scheme (TISS) operated by Welsh Government. Denbighshire County Council will borrow the remainder of the required £15.4 million.
Cost of relocating the present skateboard park is included in calculations. Even so, the Waterpark will by far the most expensive item in the history of Rhyl. I hope that councillors have compared costs with other waterparks to ensure that we are not getting ripped off.
There are more than a dozen waterparks in UK and the number is steadily increasing. By the time ours opens in 2019 it will not have much in the way of novelty value.
Failure to attract a sufficient number of users will put Denbighshire’s budget under strain, so let’s cross our fingers and hope for a big success.

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SAT 21st OCT 2017 UPDATE: Further to Mr. Glover's comment about the Sun Centre being "far removed from the town centre", this postcard is a reminder of how near/far it actually was - the roundabout on your left is at top of High Street.

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RHYL SCHOOLS

Ysgol Llywelyn is spelt Llywelyn so I have corrected previous mentions in this blog that referred to it as Llewelyn. The confusion arises because Ysgol Llywelyn is in Trellewelyn Road. 

Occasionally, spellings can cause confusion. The former school in Vaughan Street was Christ Church (2 words); the current one is Christchurch.

Recently the primary schools Llywelyn, Emmanuel & Bryn Hedydd were in the highest possible grade of Welsh Government rankings.
Da iawn!

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PASSING THE BUCK

Photo from Daily Post

(Owain) Arfon Jones, Crime Commissioner of North Wales Police, was elected to his post earlier this year. He was the Plaid Cymru candidate. Nowhere in his various statements before and immediately after the election do I recall his mentioning the subject of drugs.

Recently he has been in the news expressing the opinion that cannabis should be legalised for medical uses. (Nobody is arguing against that as long the NHS is in control.) Even more recently he has called for the legalisation of all drugs to be considered.

A few years ago the same call came from former Chief Constable Richard ‘The Clown’ Brunstrom whose antics brought North Wales Police into disrepute. Perhaps some influential person within North Wales Police is persuading his or her seniors round to this point of view – someone with budgeting responsibilities perhaps.

Legalisation of drugs would certainly save police forces a lot of money (not that the taxpayers would get a refund). Legalisation of everything would save them even more money and allow them more time to loll around in canteens and sit yawning in police cars.

Some young people are being discouraged from getting into illegal drugs because they don’t want to risk trouble with the law. Legalisation would remove that deterrence, increase the number of users and increase the long-term cost of care incurred by NHS and social services.

Police, having failed to enforce drug laws effectively, now wish to pass the buck to other agencies.

Crime Commissioner Jones’ comments may well encourage drug users and dealers and make the situation even more difficult in drug-blighted communities such as Rhyl West.

Plaid and ALL other parties should ensure their candidates are open and honest with the public on highly controversial topics such as abortion, illegal drugs, gay marriage, whatever. If they hold strong views (for or against) we should be told before we cast our vote and not after.

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EFTA YOU'VE GONE

Nissan image from Reuters

This week the car manufacturer Nissan announced that it is expanding its business in the UK. I take this to be a sign that the UK intends to withdraw from the European Union (EU) and join instead the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

I have referred previously to this option. EFTA members (presently only Iceland, Liechtenstein, most of Norway and most of Switzerland) can trade with EU without any restrictions or surcharges.

EFTA members do not have to adopt EU laws, but they do have to abide by the EU’s basic principles of free movement of goods, services, money and people.

If the UK joined EFTA, the majority of Brits who voted to leave the EU would get what they voted for, and Colonel Blimps who harrumph about “lost British sovereignty” would get it back, and people who voted to leave EU on racist grounds would get a well-deserved poke in the eye.

Joining EFTA would put us back to where we were in 1973 when, as I recall, we left EFTA to join the EU.

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RHYL WEST BY-ELECTION

This week's by-election was won by Labour. So now both of Rhyl West's county councillors are Labour Party people who do not live in the ward.

The turnout was 12 per cent. In other words, 88 out of every 100 residents who could have voted did not bother to do so.

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Plaid Cymru's annual conference is to be held here in Denbighshire at Llangollen Pavilion (shown above). The conference is on Friday and Saturday, 21st and 22nd October. 

The government's EU shambles is bound to be a major point of debate. Plaid's position is that leaving the EU would be extremely damaging to the Welsh economy and endanger a great many jobs.

If we are to be dragged out by circumstance, at least Plaid will be on the alert to see that Wales comes away with the best possible deal.

I am pleased to note that there will be a Scottish National Party guest speaker. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland need to be even more vigilant than usual to see that England does not have all its own way at this critical time.

Incidentally have you heard about Undeb Credyd Plaid Cymru / Plaid Cymru Credit Union? You can get information by telephoning 029 2049 1888 or email: post@ucpccu.org

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SHUFFLING THE PACK

Changes have been proposed that would reduce the total number of Westminster MPs and make constituencies more even in size in terms of population.

At present Wales has 40 MPs. This would reduce to just 29, losing us 11 seats (Conservatives would lose 4, Labour would lose 7).

Rhyl is currently in the Vale of Clwyd constituency. Parts of this and parts of Delyn would be combined to create a brand new constituency named Flint and Rhuddlan.

Flint and Rhuddlan would comprise Bagillt, Brynford, Caerwys, Cilcain, Dyserth, Ffynnongroyw, Flint, Greenfield, Gronant, Gwernaffield, Halkyn, Holywell, Mostyn, Northop, Prestatyn, Rhuddlan, Rhyl, Trelawnyd & Gwaenysgor, and Whitford.

The runes predict that this would be a likely Labour seat so I hope our present MP James Davies (Conservative) would be parachuted to a safer place where he could continue his career.

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BUILDING FOR SUCCESS

Today, Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales - has launched a paper on the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW). Establishing this body was an important part of an agreement with Labour in May 2016.

Adam Price, Plaid's Shadow Minister for Finance & Economy, believes NICW has the potential to transform the Welsh economy by providing money to build new schools, roads, hospitals and improving broadband, thereby creating a large number of jobs in all parts of Wales.

Dai Lloyd, Plaid’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, says NICW is an innovative model that would allow Welsh Government to raise some £7.5 billion over ten years to invest in such projects. Over the long term it could reduce the economic gap between Wales and the rest of the UK.

You can read the document online or download in pdf format here:

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/plaid2016/pages/768/attachments/original/1475484271/Policy_paper_NICW.pdf?1475484271

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CATCHING UP WITH MARK

A few years ago Rhyl West residents saw large numbers of problematic people being dumped into the ward by resettlement agencies.

The uninvited guests included habitual criminals, addicts of alcohol and illegal drugs, antisocial types, dysfunctional families and so on.

The cost of Social Services went sky high and so did the crime rate.

Some old holiday accommodation in Abbey Street/ Aquarium Street area has been demolished and tenants dispersed – some as far as Denbigh. This should reduce the density of problems in Rhyl West.

Lately the ward seems a more relaxed place, not so low-life, and not so dangerous, but some fundamental difficulties remain. There is still a lot of poverty and deprivation.

One man who knows about the difficulties is Mark Webster who lives in Rhyl West and served as a ward councillor until his wife Coral became ill. (She has since passed away.)

Mark is concerned about disabled people having to switch to new benefits and have their conditions re-assessed by private companies that have no medical expertise.

He is unhappy about the prospect of our losing access to the European Regional Development Fund. Money is needed to help new businesses get started.

On the other hand, he feels optimistic about the forthcoming Marina Quay (ex-Ocean Beach) and other local indicators of better times ahead.

Mark Webster (pictured below) is casting around for a role to play. It would be no surprise to see him back in public life in due course.

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Daily Post has published a list of food places top-rated for hygiene. There are lots of top-rated places in Denbighshire, many in Rhyl:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/north-wales-eateries-five-rating-11887768

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CLEAR THINKING

In the current term of the Welsh Assembly, Plaid Cymru is the second biggest party to Labour and therefore the official Opposition.

Today Plaid published Programme for Opposition 2016-2021 a 23-page document setting out Plaid’s ideals, objectives and policies.

Long term aims include building a national community based on equality and social justice, and achieving independence for Wales within Europe.

The document spells out Plaid’s thoughts on Health & social care, Education, Economy & finance, Transport, Local government, Housing, energy & environment, Agriculture, Heritage culture & sport, Welsh language, and the EU & international relations.

You can read the document online or download in pdf format here:

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/plaid2016/pages/710/attachments/original/1473669673/Programme_for_Opposition.pdf?1473669673

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QUIZ ANSWER # 150

Last Sunday I posted the above picture of early-1920s-looking punters waiting for a trip to start from the booking office of White Rose Motor Tours, Rhyl. The question: On corner of what two roads/streets is the booking office?
The answer: West Parade and Water Street.
It is the corner where Les Harker's Monte Carlo arcade is now, photographed last week by Yours Truly:

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Also I posted a photo taken earlier this year with a place name blanked out. The question: What is the missing name?
The answer: Buckley Avenue.
Here is the photo with the name restored:

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Scoring 1 win for each correct answer:
Dilys Bagnall 1, Jane Shuttle 2, Sue Handley 2, The Great Gareth 1, Richard & Ceri Swinney 1. 

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GREEN GRASS OF HOME

Recent hi-tech flood defence work in the west end involved widening the promenade and then covering the new space with good old-fashioned grass. The result is that Rhyl is a safer and greener place, although no doubt plenty of people will find fault with it.

This scheme, like virtually all major schemes around here for decades, was made possible by European Union grant aid. It has long been policy of the EU to channel resources from the richer parts of Europe to poorer parts such as Wales. This Robin Hood aspect of the EU is often overlooked.

Don't run away with the idea that It's our money anyway. Wales is a net gainer from UK's membership of the EU.

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