CHILDREN'S VILLAGE

Never in the history of Rhyl has quite so much scorn been heaped on a new development as on Children’s Village. Originally planned to be around the base of the Skytower, the marzipan village (as some call it) was bumped sideways onto a hump over a car park, obliterating the sea view and removing an important access point to the beach.

More than a decade ago I campaigned to have it knocked down. My objections were about the bizarre look of the place and the underlying cynicism. Children’s Village was little more than a business park, and the prom had been reconstructed to force strollers to walk through it.

Lately there have been some changes. The photographs above were taken yesterday by Yours Truly. The one at the top shows that a unit facing West Parade has been demolished. In the middle photo the high wall at the back has been replaced by a lower wall; if you stand close enough you can see the beach and sea even though you can’t get down there.

Finally, the view from the cinema end shows that the big round orange-and-yellow canopy has gone from over the car park entrance. Only time will tell whether its removal was a good idea, a bad idea or a pointless gesture.

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QUIZ QUESTION # 48

This photograph was taken last week in Rhyl. In the photo, foreground left, there is a street sign blanked out.
The question: What is the missing name?

Please send your answer by email to: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

Correct answers received before midday on Tuesday 13th April 2010 will go in a hat and then I'll ask somebody to draw one at random. The result will be published next day.

If you don’t want to do the quiz this time, and you’d like draw the winner from hat on Tuesday afternoon, please let me know.

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QUIZ ANSWER # 47

Last Wednesday I posted the photograph above (TOP) and said that the building getting a facelift was house number 17. The question was: What is the name of the street?

Answer: Bedford Street.
The building is No.17 which has had a variety of uses and was for a while a branch of YMCA / Young Women's Christian Association.

This week’s winner is Sue Handley. First win for Sue.

The winner was drawn from hat by professional photographer Fred Burns, Phoenix Studio, 44 Bedford Street, tel (01745) 356900. Fred does a lot of weddings, family portraits and passports. Last year in Ruthin he had an exhibition titled ‘Gothic Extravaganza’ featuring models in morbid and mysterious Goth fashions.

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THU 22nd MAR 2018 UPDATE: Ex-Rhylite Kevin Nolan has emailed to say that Fred Burns' studio at 44 Bedford Street was in the late 1970s the Fiveways Cafe run by a Mrs. Mortimer. Thanks, Kev.
Fred retired last year; the premises are derelict at present.

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PORTRAITS

These portraits are postcards from new contributor Mrs. Geraldine Griffiths; the lower pictures are details from the larger ones. The postcard on the left was sent in 1910 from Rhyl to a lady in Old Swan, Liverpool, picturing Rhyl May Queen, Miss Nancy Thomas.

The postcard on right was sent in 1904 from Rhyl to a lady in Old Trafford. Manchester, saying, “This is the favourite Pierrot, Mr. Sutcliffe.” Bill Ellis says this was one of the leading performers in Adeler and Sutton’s Pierrots and the leader of Arthur Sutcliffe’s Entertainers. Mr. Sutcliffe, described in Bill’s notes as a light comedian, was very popular in Rhyl and Llandudno.

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SUN 11th JUN 2017 UPDATE: Portrait of Arthur Sutcliffe in his civvies:

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By the way, Bill Ellis was born in 1944 in a nursing home in Rhyl. The address is given as Wavecrest, Palace Avenue. There is no house of that name there now. Does anyone know the present name or house number, or have any clues to offer? If so, please send an email to: rhylbillellis@yahoo.co.uk

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HMS RHYL # 8

Recently these images of HMS Rhyl came to hand via an anonymous donor to whom I send thanks and best wishes.

Rhyl maritime pictures and information are always welcome on this site. Please send to: rhyl.colin.jones@live.co.uk

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WED 13th SEP 2017 UPDATE: Here is a rare photo bought recently by Yours Truly. HMS Rhyl (F129) is shown at Gibraltar. In the background on your left is HMS Blake.

The seller's description repeats some info posted earlier on Rhyl Life and adds more:

"HMS Rhyl was a Rothesay class frigate commissioned on 31st October 1960.
     "Following commissioning Rhyl served in the Far East, Mediterranean and on the East Africa station, including being diverted to stand-by off Goa following the Indian invasion in 1961.
      "She was leader of the 23rd Frigate Squadron by the time she attended Portsmouth Navy Days in 1965. She served, along with HMS Ark Royal and HMS Lowestoft on Beira patrol and then in 1966-7 served in the Mediterranean as Captain D 23rd Escort Squadron with HMS Lowestoft, HMS Dainty and HMS Defender.
     "HMS Rhyl returned to UK waters in 1967 to become Captain D Home Fleet, eventually decommissioning in Plymouth to undergo a major refit to upgrade to a Leander like specification.
     "She was sunk as a target ship in 1985."

Not only was there a previous HMS Rhyl (J36) but also a dredger to note. The British Transport steam suction and grab hopper dredger RHYL was built in 1911 and operated in North Wales ports:

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GRAND JUBILEE ORGAN

The pier’s Grand Pavilion has popped up in previous posts and you would find them under the label PIER/SANDS. The pier opened in 1866, and by the 1880s the novelty was wearing off. The private company that owned the pier built the Grand Pavilion in 1891 to boost public interest. The photo at the top shows its position (where Seaquarium is now).

Music was the big feature of this pavilion; it was as a concert hall. A huge theatre organ was installed  at an early stage; its measurements vary slightly depending on what source you read, but it must have been magnificent. From an official programme owned by Gaynor Williams and dated 1891, the advert above reads:

The Grand Organ of the Jubilee Exhibition, Manchester, specially made by Messrs Bishop & Sons, Marylebone Road, London, is now being erected in the Grand Pavilion, Rhyl, and will be opened in the first week in October. Facts!! 1 - This fine organ weighs 25 tons; 2 - It has 4 manuals, 3,095 pipes, and will be worked by a gas engine of 8 HP; 3 - 
It has been pronounced as the “King of Instruments” in Great Britain. Season Tickets admits to the daily organ recitals.

The organ (pictured above) was destroyed when the Grand Pavilion was wiped out in a spectacular fire on September 14th, 1901.

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ELMER KEENE

Ezra ‘Elmer’ Keene was born in 1853 in Nottinghamshire to a Quaker family. During the 1870s he switched from being a miller and baker to being an artist and photographer. Elmer married a Yorkshire girl Eliza Darlow and they had 11 children, four of whom became artists. The family moved to Leicester in 1901; Elmer died there in 1929.

He was known for producing card-friendly images in coastal and rural places, often moonlight scenes. The Rhyl postcards above seem typical of his work. The Foryd Harbour card is undated; the next one, Pavilion and Sands seems exquisite and was posted September 1918 in Kinmel Park Camp near Bodelwyddan from Maggie (a nurse?) to folks back home in County Down.

By direct comparison the final picture, Rhyl, Rough Sea, is rather disappointing. The storm is depicted convincingly but the Pavilion dome is misshapen. There may be compositional reasons for this. Artists will know, artists will tell me.

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SUN 4th APR 2010 UPDATE: Rhyl artist Judith Samuel says,
“The last picture could only have been made from a sketch from the end of the pier and, if it was so windy, he couldn't have been doing anything very detailed. The stormy sea is brilliant, and waves are very hard to do convincingly. Perhaps when he got it home, he decided it needed something in the middle to anchor the picture to, and he did the Pavilion from memory or from very rough sketches. Did they really have so many gannets off Rhyl? You see the odd one now, but not that many! The picture of the harbour is interesting for historical reasons; the current flood defence works are likely to sweep away yet more of the historic parts of the harbour, I fear.”

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WED 20th JAN 2016 UPDATE: Here is an Elmer Keene card postmarked 1930 - an attractive piece of work but, once again the dome doesn't seem quite right!

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